Battery Energy Storage Systems: Grid Applications, Technologies, and Modeling Saeed Kamalinia, Ph.D., S&C Electric Company

 

Dr. Kamalinia then dives into his focus for the webinar – battery energy storage systems (BESS). From fuel cell to nickel-iron to flow battery, there are numerous battery technologies in the market; however, the challenge is to decide what battery technology fits your project. Dr. Kamalinia explains that it is important to look at the characteristics of the battery technology to help make decisions about what technology to pick. He presents a decision making model that takes into account both the technological capabilities as well as financial considerations.

Next, Dr. Kamalinia takes a step back to share the drivers behind why grid-connected energy storage is growing so fast. Renewable energy penetration, aging T&D infrastructure, microgrids, and policy regulations are all demand drivers for this storage. In addition, decreasing costs, new chemistries and better financing are driving demand on the supply side.

Along with the drivers, Dr. Kamalinia goes over three grid storage benefits. First, the strategic benefits include preparation for new revenue models, new renewable and reliability mandates, and new customer behaviors. Second, the service benefits include T&D capital deferral, service reliability (DA), improved system efficiencies, and voltage regulations. Lastly, the market benefits include energy arbitrage, frequency regulation, and generation capacity. All three benefits work together to justify widespread storage deployment. Dr. Kamalinia ends his webinar with examples and models of energy storage projects that highlight different end goals from reliability to emission efficiency.