Analyzing energy storage system for energy arbitrage

Abstract

The need for integration of renewable energy to the electricity grid promotes research and development of new energy storage technologies, as well as models and techniques to study them. In this sense, the present work proposes a model to evaluate the benefit that can be harnessed through energy arbitrage in function of a daily hourly rate differentiation. The Vanadium Redox Battery is one of the energy storage technologies that have proven most interesting for stationary applications in recent years, especially to medium and large-scale installations. A mathematical model is presented and applied to a case study to evaluate the feasibility of investing in an energy storage system of vanadium redox batteries. The results indicate that at present the capital cost should decrease around 75% to be considered profitable for the case study. Finally, real options approach analysis is suggested to assess the flexibility offered by VRB ESS, such as relocation, expansion and abandonment.