Stacking energy storage values — capturing many value streams — can lead to profitable projects, even at current storage costs, according to a new report from economists at The Brattle Group.
The report, “Stacked Benefits: Comprehensively Valuing Battery Storage in California,” focuses on California, but its conclusions apply generally to the entire U.S., said Ryan Hledik, principal with Brattle.
Brattle conducted models and simulations using a 1-MW battery — which provides four hours of storage — and estimated the comprehensive savings associated with “stacking” battery storage uses, or operating batteries to capture the benefits from a number of value streams. Energy storage advocates say stacking is critical to take advantage of battery benefits.
The economists identified costs for utilities and others to acquire certain services, including energy, capacity and frequency regulation, and concluded that using batteries for these services could save $280/kW annually. That amount could be captured through utility bill reductions, by avoiding retail rates, or through a third party (an aggregator, for example) selling demand response into the market, said Hledik.
“We calculated the total system-level value that could be captured and divided it up among parties, depending on the situation,” said Roger Lueken, associate with The Brattle Group.
Recent Comments