Energy Storage Systems

What is Energy storage?

• Energy storage devices are “charged” when they absorb energy,
either directly from renewable generation devices or indirectly from
the electricity grid.

• They “discharge” when they deliver the stored energy back into the
grid.

• Charge and discharge normally require power conversion devices, to

transform electrical energy (AC or DC) into a different form of
electrical, thermal, mechanical or chemical energy.
 Emerging needs for energy storage
systems
• Some phenomena occurring in power systems with a huge presence of RES-
based generation are:
– reduction of the inertia of the power system, with consequences on frequency
regulation;
– possible over generation, with consequences such as the necessity of rejection of
part of RES production;
– morning and evening load ramps with a steeper gradient, with consequence on the
steeper up/down power ramps to conventional plants;
– inverse power flow on the HV/MV and MV/LV stations, with consequence on voltage
and frequency regulation;
– congestions on the HV grids with strong concentration of RES plant as wind farms;
– reduction of the short-circuit power of the grid in low load periods with the
consequence of a large spread of voltage drops;
– market price distortions, due to the crisis of conventional plants linked to priority of
RES dispatching at zero marginal price and due to higher power reserve margin.
 Emerging needs for energy storage
systems
• All the listed phenomena can be solved with upgrading actions on the
electrical infrastructure that usually requires high capital investments and
long periods for implementation, often not so compatible with the typical
time of diffusion of RES plants.
• A good alternative, in terms of costs and of time of implementation, has been
considered the employment of ESS in power systems.
• In the last year, it has been evaluated as a fast measure without further
modifications on the operation of the networks and upgrading actions on
electrical equipment.
• ESS are an alternative to other solutions such as better weather forecasting,
T&D reinforcements, “flexibilization” of conventional plants, application of
Smart Grids technologies for demand and RES plant, providing ancillary
services.
Where energy storage system in power systems?
 Technologies for ESS in power systems
• Different technologies are useful for ESS in power systems:

• The first two categories are the most advanced and ready for, or just present in,
the market of power systems application.
 Batteries
 Batteries store energy chemically and uses electrochemical reactions to produce
electricity at a fixed voltage

 Pros:
– Convenient voltage Characteristics
– Convenient sizing
– Extensive design history

 Cons:
– Limited cycle life
– Voltage and current limitations, requiring complex series/parallel systems
– Often present environmental hazard

 Battery Application Suitability

– Batteries are suitable for applications that require the supply of relatively large amounts
of energy storage (>1 MWh) over long periods of time (15 minutes or more), where
rapid recharge is not necessary and where maintenance can be reasonably performed.
– They are not especially suitable for environmentally sensitive sites, remote locations,
or applications that require rapid discharge and absorption of energy.
 Flywheel
 Flywheels store energy in the form of momentum in a rotating wheel or cylinder.

 Principle:
 An electric motor spins the rotor to a high velocity to charge the flywheel.
 During discharge, the motor acts as a generator, converting the rotational energy into
electricity.
 Power electronics are used to ensure that output voltage has appropriate voltage and
frequency characteristics

 Pros:
– High power density
– High cycle life
– Quick recharge Independent
– Power and Energy sizing

 Cons:
– Low energy density
– Large standby losses
– Potentially dangerous failure modes
 Electro chemical/Super/Ultra capacitors
 Electrochemical capacitors (EC), also known as super capacitors, ultra
capacitors, or electrical double-layer capacitors (EDLC), store energy in
the electrical double layer at an electrode/electrolyte interface.

 Pros:
• High power density
• High cycle life
• Quick recharge

 Cons:
• Low energy density
• Expensive
• Sloped voltage curve requires power electronics
Superconducting Magnetic Energy storage

 SMES systems store energy in the magnetic field produced by current flowing
through a superconducting coil.

 The DC current is converted to three-phase AC output using a solid-state

power-conditioning system.

 Pros:
– High Power
– Quick recharge

 Cons:
– Low energy density
– Large parasitic losses
– Expensive
 Pumped Hydroelectric Storage
 Water is pumped from low elevations to higher elevations to
store energy as gravitational energy, and run down through
hydroelectric turbines to generate electricity.

 Pros:
– Huge energy and power capacity

 Cons:
– Requires special locations
– Expensive to build
 Energy storage possible applications
Generation
Transmission Distribution Customer Services
Conventional Renewable
Distributed
Black start Generation Participation to the primary Capacity support End-user peak
flexibility frequency control shaving
Participation to the secondary Dynamic, local Time-of-use energy
Arbitrage Capacity firming frequency control voltage control cost management
Support to Limitation of Participation to the tertiary Contingency grid Particular
conventional upstream frequency control support requirements in
generation perturbations power quality
Curtailment Improvement of the frequency Continuity of
minimisation stability of weak grids Intentional islanding energy supply

Reactive power Limitation of

Investment deferral compensation upstream
disturbances
Participation to angular Distribution power Compensation of
stability quality the reactive power
Limitation of
upstream
perturbations
 Energy storage possible applications
 Energy Arbitrate: Storing cheap off-peak energy and dispatching it as
peak electricity which requires large storage reservoir required at large
capacity.
o Examples: Compressed air and pumped hydro
 Load Regulation:
 Responding to small changes in demand
 Energy Storage technologies were suitable for load/frequency
regulation due to their high response time and high partial load
efficiency.
 They have to be
 Highly reliable
 Continuous change in output power
 Suitable for frequent on-off
 Examples: Flywheel, Ultra capacitors, Batteries
 Energy storage possible applications
 Contingency Reserves: Mainly used as alternatives for
generators when there is transmission line trip or grid failure.

 These are categorised into three types:

– Spinning reserve: operates with in 10 min of outage
– Supplemental reserve: Comes into operation when spinning
reserve is fully discharged.
– Back up reserve: Acts as a back up in case of
spinning/supplemental reserve failure.

 In all the services the load regulation service yields more revenue but
each storage technology can participate in more than one market.
 Energy storage possible applications
 Load following: To fill the difference or gap between demand and
supply.
– Difference between load following and load regulation is the time
scale.
– The range for load regulation is a few seconds.
– The range for load following is with in minutes.

 Capacity supply: The capacity supply reduces the investment for new
thermal or other conventional generation technologies. The investor
could rent the storage capacity in the market.

 Transmission and distribution loss reduction: With the rise in demand

new transmission lines has to be set up which increases capital cost
and the transmission losses. Energy storage at the load centres
resolves both of the problems.
 Energy storage possible applications
 Power quality: Main purpose is frequency and voltage
regulation.
 Operating range: Seconds to few minutes
 Examples: Flywheel, Ultra capacitors, SMES, Batteries

 Bridging power: Main purpose is to act as contingency reserves

and ramping of load.
 Operating range: Few minutes to one/two hour
 Examples: High energy density batteries.

 Energy Management: The main purpose is load following,

Capacity supply, Reduction of transmission and distribution
losses.
 Operating range: Few hours to days
 Advantages of Electrochemical Energy
storages (Battery) compared to other ESS
1 Energy can be stored from mili Ah to Mega Ah ( to electrify the village)

2 Energy efficiency is > 85 % . Coulombic efficiency is 95% to 99.9%

3 Recyclable and hence less stress on natural resource

4 Response time is in mS

5 Life is > 15 years

6 Rechargeable in nature and for recharging solar energy can be used. Hence we
can recharge anywhere
7 De-centralised power system hence no transmission loss

8 Less pollution

9 Minimum global warming

10 Affordable
 Types of Batteries
Type Nominal Voltage

Lead Based Lead –Acid 2.0 – 2.1

Nickel – Cadmium 1.2

Nickel based
Nickel - MH 1.2
Oxide Based 3.6 – 3.8
Lithium Based Spinel based 4.4-4.5
Phosphate based 3.2
Zn- Br 1.8
Flow Battery
Vanadium redox flow 1.15 – 1.55
Na – S 3.7
High temperature
Na – Nicl2 3.8
Zn – air 1.5
Metal Air
Al - air 1.2
Fuel cell H2-O2 0.6 – 0.7
 Lead–Acid (PbA) Battery
• This type of secondary cell is widely used in vehicles and other applications requiring
high values of load current.
 Nickel–Cadmium (Ni–Cd) Battery
A nickel-cadmium battery (Ni-Cd) is a rechargeable battery used for portable
computers, drills, camcorders, and other small battery-operated devices requiring an
even power discharge.
 Nickel–Metal Hydride (Ni–MH)
Battery
The Ni–MH battery currently finds widespread application in high-end portable
electronic products, where battery performance parameters, notably run time, are major
considerations in the purchase decision.
 Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) Battery
• Li-ion battery chemistries have the highest energy density and are considered safe.

• No memory or scheduled cycling is required to prolong battery life.

• Li-Ion batteries are used in electronic devices such as cameras, calculators, laptop
computers, and mobile phones, and are increasingly being used for electric mobility.
 Sodium–Sulfur (Na–S) Battery
• Na-S exhibits a high energy density, high efficiency of charge and discharge (89%–
92%), and a long cycle life, and is fabricated from inexpensive materials.

• Because of its high operating temperatures of 300°C–350°C and the highly corrosive
nature of sodium polysulfides, such cells are primarily used for large-scale nonmobile
applications such as electricity grid energy storage.
 Redox Flow Battery (RFB)
RFBs are charged and discharged by means of the oxidation–reduction reaction of ions of
vanadium or the like.
 State of charge (SOC)
of its current capacity (𝑄(𝑡)) to the nominal capacity (𝑄𝑛). The SOC can be defined as
 The SOC is one of the most important parameters for batteries which is defined as the ratio

follows:

 The nominal capacity is given by the manufacturer and represents the maximum amount
of charge that can be stored in the battery.

 As the SOC is an important parameter, which reflects the battery performance, so accurate
estimation of the SOC can not only protect battery, prevent over discharge, and improve
the battery life but also allow the application to make rational control strategies to save
energy.

 However, a battery is a chemical energy storage source, and this chemical energy cannot be
directly accessed. This issue makes the estimation of the SOC of a battery difficult.

 Accurate estimation of the SOC remains very complex and is difficult to implement,
because battery models are limited and there are parametric uncertainties.
 Depth of charge (DOD)
 Depth of Discharge (DoD) is defined as the capacity that is discharged from a
fully charged battery, divided by battery nominal capacity.
 Depth of discharge is normally expressed as a percentage. For, example, if a 100
Ah battery is discharged for 20 minutes at a current of 50 A, the depth of
discharge is 50 * 20 / 60 / 100 = 16.7 %.
 The depth of discharge is the complement of state of charge: as one increases,
the other decreases.
DoD = 1- SoC
 The more frequently a battery is charged and discharged, the shorter its lifespan
will be. It’s generally not recommended to discharge a battery entirely, as that
dramatically shortens the useful life of the battery. Many battery manufacturers
specify a maximum recommended DoD for optimal performance.
 Life Cycle
 Cyclic life is the number of charge/discharge cycles are battery can sustain in its
useful life and depends on how much of the battery’s capacity you normally use.

 If you regularly discharge the batteries at a lower percentage amount, it will have
more useful cycles than if you frequently drain the battery to its maximum DoD.
Temperature

• Another factor affecting the lifetime of

your battery is how well you maintain it,
and more particularly the temperature
it’s kept in.

• Batteries in a hot environment (over 30

deg C) may overheat, which shortens the
lifetime of the battery. Very cold
temperatures also have a negative impact
on the battery, because it has to work
harder and at a higher voltage to charge.

• To maximize your battery’s useful life, try

to keep it in a relatively mild environment
– not too hot and not too cold.
 Battery Charge Controllers

Charge controllers
manage interactions
and energy flows
between a PV array,
battery, and electrical
load.

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Mathematical Problems on Battery Capacity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hICYeyBSO8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ab87SkO-KYY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YsCs7hUOVM