Costs and Constraints of Transporting and Storing Primary Energy for Electricity Generation

This article describes the fuel transportation and storage components of the supply chain for electricity. We focus on dispatchable generation based on transportable fuels. Coal has very flexible transportation and storage requirements. Natural gas requires pressurized pipelines and storage facilities; or it can be liquefied, then stored and transported at very low temperatures, and then revaporized. Biomass presents logistical challenges related to its relatively low energy intensity and seasonality of supply. We review ways to model the physical constraints and cost characteristics that govern the transportation and storage of these fuels and examine their implications for decision models in restructured electricity markets.