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Energy & Renewables vocabulary · Energy Storage

Round-trip efficiency

Meaning in energy & renewables, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In energy & renewables, round-trip efficiency means: The share of the energy put into a storage system that can be taken out again after losses in charging, storing and discharging, shown as a percentage.

In Turkish: çevrim verimi, gidiş-dönüş verimi

How it is used

A key performance figure in storage contracts and tenders, shortened to RTE. Lithium-ion systems typically reach about 85 to 90 percent and pumped hydro about 70 to 80 percent, while storing energy as hydrogen gives much less.

Example sentences

  1. With 88 percent round-trip efficiency, we get 88 MWh back for every 100 MWh we store.

  2. The contract guarantees a round-trip efficiency of at least 85 percent in the first year.

Common collocations

  • round-trip efficiency (RTE)
  • guaranteed efficiency
  • charging losses
  • auxiliary consumption
  • energy storageTechnologies that capture energy when it is available and release it later when it is needed, such as batteries, pumped hydro and thermal storage.
  • battery storageStoring electricity in large rechargeable batteries so it can be released later, for example during the evening peak or when the grid needs fast support.
  • pumped hydro storageStoring energy by pumping water up to a higher reservoir when electricity is cheap or plentiful, then releasing it through turbines to generate power when needed.
  • green hydrogenHydrogen produced by splitting water in an electrolyser powered by renewable electricity, so that its production releases almost no carbon dioxide.

More terms: Energy Storage

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