Ancillary Service (area regulation) Using Battery Energy Storage vs Pumped Hydro vs Gas Turbine

M

Thread Starter

miguelantonio

I was informed that a battery energy storage system can provide two time its nameplate capacity for regulation. Does this mean that if the three power supply system all have an available 40 MW for ancillary service, the battery can deliver twice as much as the pumped hydro and the gas turbine? Does this mean that the battery energy storage system should be paid double for its service?

Kindly compare the three in terms of being an ancillary service provider to the grid.

Thank you.
 
Miguel, your query is not simple to answer. As a start, I suggest you obtain the 2012 study by The Global Energy Institute (GENI), authored by Andreas Oberhofer.

He has shown that there is no clear winner amongst the 3 technologies you are comparing. For example, while the highest efficiency is battery (assuming Li-Ion is what you meant) it lacks the required large capacity (at this time). Secondly, efficiency is not the only indicator. A 2nd consideration is output cost ($/kWhr)... and Hydro is the winner! A 3rd consideration is the number of Life-Cycles... for the battery, say 2,000 over 5-years, while Hydro can be limitless!

Hopefully, the study will provide you with a start!

Regards,
Phil Corso
 
M

miguelantonio

Thank you Phil. i will look into the 2012 study by GENI. In the meantime, my issue with the three power source is the way the battery is treated with regards to payment as an ancillary service provider. I was informed that the battery can be considered as 2x its nameplate capacity x hours in a year x capacity payment. After some research, a study indicated that a battery energy storage can double its nameplate capacity when providing regulation service to the grid (Battery energy storage for intermittent renewable electricity production by Steffen Gortz). How is this possible? Does it mean that the battery can perform two ancillary services at one time? Or, does it mean that for a 40 MW plant (battery, hydro & GT), the battery can deliver 40 MW while the hydro and GT only 20 MW as an ancillary service provider?

Hope you can help me out on this.

Best regards,

Miguel
 
Miguel, kWhr is the unit of energy provided by a battery!

Can you reveal the technical reference (literature/source) claiming "a study indicated that a battery energy storage can double its nameplate capacity when providing regulation service..."

Regards,
Phil
 
Miguel,

the copy of the "Gortz" study I obtained lacked specifics. I believe, however, the "doubling" effect is related to a principle, thought to be possible in the 1980s.

It was tried during development of a DC power source for the "Rail-Gun" (also called "Space-Gun" and "Smart-Rock").

It was thought, then, a battery could be discharged at twice its rated capacity, if the discharge was brief. At the time some 50-90 MJ of was the goal. Unfortunately, when it was tried using several hundred vehicle-batteries in series, it failed miserably.

Please send a copy of the study you have to me at "[email protected]"

Ps: Did you note that the per $/kWhr cost, is at least Three-Orders-of-Magnitude higher than today's technology technology can yield!

Phil
 
M

miguelantonio

Hi Phil,

This is the study: Battery energy storage for intermittent renewable electricity production, A review and demonstration of energy storage applications permitting higher penetration of renewables by Steffen Gortz
 
M

miguelantonio

Hi Phil,

I was reading through the FERC ORder 755 on how payment for ancillary services are discriminatory because some AS provider actually does more than another provider. Hence, FERC thought just that they be compensated more. Is this what the doubling effect of a battery is? I mean, a battery can ramp up energy pretty quick as compared to conventional power plants. So, if let us say, a 10MW/min ramp up is required by the grid operator it will probably require more two conventional power plants to provide this, but a battery can provide this service by itself. Hence, an energy storage must be paid more than a conventional power plant.

Likewise, am I correct in saying that only an energy storage device like battery, flywheel, etc. can absorb excess energy in the grid? Conventional power plants (except pumped hydro) cannot do this? Could this be another reason why an energy storage device must be paid more for its ancillary service as compared to a conventional power plant?

I hope I am getting nearer to the reason as to why an officer of the transmission grid will say that a battery energy storage system can double its capacity with regards to the capacity payment (albeit it was said unofficially because current ancillary service purchase agreement has no such payment scheme).

Thanks a lot,
Mike
 
Miquel... obtain a copy of the May, 2015 issue of "Power Magazine", pages 22-25.

It contains an article titled, "Batteries Are Carving Out Space on the Grid" revealing Southern California Edison's (SEC) installation of a 260 MW storage-resource. It uses Li-Ion Batteries and will cover about 50% of SEC's 2020 commitment.

Regards,
Phil
 
Top