Utility scale electrical energy storage systems

Julio C. Rimada

2018-11-20
Contents

1 The energy storage systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.1 Lithium-ion battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Sodium-sulfur (NaS) battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Sodium nickel chloride battery (NaNiCl) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.4 Flow batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.4.1 Vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4.2 Iron-Chromium battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4.3 Hybrid flow battery (HFB), Zn-Br batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2 Battery Energy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2.1 BES systems components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2 BES important parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.3 BES costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3 Battery Energy Storage projects in the world. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

List of Figures

Figure 1. BES system, based on Li-ion technology with 40 MW / 40 MWh at Minamisoma , Fukushima
Prefecture in Japan. BES from Toshiba Corporation owned by the federal utility company Tohoku
Electric Power Company. Commissioned on February 26th, 2016. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Figure 2. BES system, based on NaS technology with 50 MW / 300 MWh at Buzen Substation in
Buzen, Fukuoka Prefecture in Japan. BES from NGK Insulators and integrator company Mitsubishi
Electric corporation. Commissioned on March 3rd, 2016. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Figure 3. Flow batteries examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Figure 4. Different uses of electrical energy storage in grids, depending on the frequency and duration
of use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

List of Tables

Table 1. Some characteristics of the main BES systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Table 2. The 10 biggest BES systems operative in the world. [DOE 2018] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Table 3. The 5 biggest BES systems currently under construction. [DOE 2018] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

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1 The energy storage systems

The importance of the use of electrical energy storage (EES) for the grid stems from the the added flexibility,
efficiency and reliability that the EES provides. The main roles of the EES technologies can be summarized as
follows:
1. Time shifting: In this application, the energy of off-peak times can be stored, and then discharged during
peak hours. If the gap in demand between peak and off-peak hours is large, the advantage of storing
electricity becomes even larger. The generation output of generating facilities can become then flatter,
which leads to an improvement in operating efficiency and cost reduction in fuel. On the other hand, from
the point of view of generators of renewable energy, the EES can be used by storing surplus electricity
which can be used when necessary, for instance when the electricity price is high.
2. Power quality: The EES can help adjusting supply to changing demand, therefore helping the utility to
keep power voltage and frequency within tolerance values. EES can provide frequency control functions
and if located at the end of heavily loadede lines may improve voltage drops by discharging and reduce
voltage rises by charging electricity.
3. Making more efficient use of the network: The installation of large scale batteries at appropiate substations
may mitigate the congestion of the power network. In this way EES can help utilities to postpone or
suspend reinforcement of transmission/distribution lines that otherwise would be necessary to do.
4. Island grids: In isolated power networks, for example in the case of islands with distributed power gener-
ation, the power output of small generators and renewable energy must match the power demand, thus the
installation of EES can be a way to supply stable power to consumers.
5. Effective connection to the grid: For wind and solar power generation EES can be use for time shift in
order to absorb the natural fluctuation of these generation sources.
There are several technology types of EES currently available commercially, among them we have [IEC 2011]:
• Pumped hydroelectric storage
• Compressed air storage
• Flywheels
• Rechargeable (secondary) battery energy storage (BES).
Within the battery energy storage (BES) group, we can find a broad range of technologies. In this document we
will cover the most conventionally used in the stationary, utility scale applications, which are:
• Lithium ion battery
• Sodium-sulfur (NaS)
• Sodium-nickel-chloride batteries (NaNiCl2).
• Flow batteries, which constitutes a family of batteries that includes:
– Vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB)
– Zinc-Bromine battery (Zn-Br)
– Iron-Chromium battery (Fe-Cr)

1.1 Lithium-ion battery

Lithium ion batteries generally have a very high efficiency, typically in the range of 95 % - 98 %. Nearly any
discharge time from seconds to weeks can be realized, which makes them a very flexible and universal storage
technology. Standard cells with 5 000 full cycles can be obtained on the market at short notice, but even higher
cycle rates are possible after further development, mainly depending on the materials used for the electrodes.
Lithium ion battery technology is still developing, and there is considerable potential for further progress. Re-
search is focused on the development of cathode materials.

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 Figure 1. BES system, based on Li-ion technology with 40 MW / 40 MWh at Minamisoma ,
Fukushima Prefecture in Japan. BES from Toshiba Corporation owned by the federal util-
ity company Tohoku Electric Power Company. Commissioned on February 26th, 2016.

1.2 Sodium-sulfur (NaS) battery

NaS batteries have an operating temperature between 300 °C and 350 °C, reach typical life cycles of around
4 500 cycles and have a discharge time of 6.0 hours to 7.2 hours. They are efficient (AC-based round-trip effi-
ciency is about 75 %) and have fast response. These properties enable NaS batteries to be economically used in
combined power quality and time shift applications with high energy density. The NaS battery technology has
been demonstrated at around 200 sites in Japan, mainly for peak shaving, and Germany, France, USA and UAE
also have NaS batteries in operation. The minimal commercial power and energy range is on the order of 1 MW,
and 6.0 MWh to 7.2 MWh. These batteries are suitable for applications with daily cycling. As the response time
is in the range of milliseconds and NaS batteries meet the requirements for grid stabilization, this technology
could be very interesting for utilities and large consumers

1.3 Sodium nickel chloride battery (NaNiCl)

The sodium nickel chloride (NaNiCl) battery, better known as the ZEBRA (Zero Emission Battery Research)
battery, is, like the NaS battery, a high-temperature (HT) battery, and has been commercially available since
about 1995. Its operating temperature is around 270 °C, and it uses nickel chloride instead of sulphur for the
positive electrode. NaNiCl batteries can withstand limited overcharge and discharge and have potentially better
safety characteristics and a higher cell voltage than NaS batteries.

1.4 Flow batteries

Redox flow batteries are rechargeable batteries that are charged and discharged by means of the oxidation-
reduction reaction of ions of vanadium or the like. The energy is stored in one or more electroactive species
which are dissolved in liquid electrolytes that are stored externally in tanks and pumped through the electro-
chemical cell that converts chemical energy directly to electricity and vice versa. The power is defined by the
size and design of the electrochemical cell whereas the energy depends on the size of the tanks. With this charac-
teristic flow batteries can be fitted to a wide range of stationary applications.
Flow batteries have a high potential for larger battery systems (MW/MWh) but have only moderate energy
densities. They have excellent characteristics: a long service life with almost no degradation of electrodes and
electrolytes, high safety due to being free of combustible materials, and availability of operation under normal

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 Figure 2. BES system, based on NaS technology with 50 MW / 300 MWh at Buzen Substation in Buzen, Fukuoka Prefecture in
Japan. BES from NGK Insulators and integrator company Mitsubishi Electric corporation. Commissioned on March 3rd, 2016.

temperatures. These make the batteries ideal for use in power grid systems. Redox flow batteries are thus ex-
pected to serve as a technology to stabilize the power grids that will be needed to expand the introduction of
renewable energy including solar and wind power.

1.4.1 Vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB)

The VRFB uses oxidizing agent and reducing agent solutions based on Vanadium. The main advantage of this
battery is the use of ions of the same metal on both sides. Although crossing of metal ions over the membrane
cannot be prevented completely (as is the case for every redox flow battery), in VRFBs the only result is a loss in
energy. VRFB is the most mature of all flow battery systems available.
Vanadium redox systems can be designed to provide energy from 2 hours to more than 8 hours depending on the
application. The lifespan of flow-type batteries is not strongly affected by cycling. Suppliers of vanadium redox
systems estimate lifespan of the cell stacks to be 15 or more years, while the balance of plant and electrolyte can
have life-times of over 25 years. System suppliers also say they have achieved cycling capability of 10,000 or
more cycles at 100% depth of discharge. The physical scale of vanadium redox systems tends to be large due to
the large volumes of electrolyte required when sized for utility-scale (megawatt-hour) projects.

1.4.2 Iron-Chromium battery

This is a flow battery which uses abundant and cheaper materials. Among its advantages for utility applica-
tions, we can mention the long duration of discharge (4-12 hours) and grid scale with capacity in the order of
megawatts. Although there are some companies that currently are commercializing this battery, it is still consid-
ered a technology in the demonstration stage.

1.4.3 Hybrid flow battery (HFB), Zn-Br batteries

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 (b) VRFB system from Sumitomo Electric, located
(a) Schematic illustration of a redox flow battery. [(Qi2017)] at Yokohama, Japan. Power 1 MW, capacity 5 MWh.

Figure 3. Flow batteries examples

In a hybrid flow battery (HFB) one of the active masses is internally stored within the electrochemical cell,
whereas the other remains in the liquid electrolyte and is stored externally in a tank. Therefore hybrid flow
cells combine features of conventional secondary batteries and redox flow batteries: the capacity of the battery
depends on the size of the electrochemical cell. Typical example of a HFB is the Zn-Br. Zn-Br systems can be
found with unit capacities of up to 1 MW / 3 MWh for utility-scale applications and 5 kW/20 kWh systems for
community energy storage are in development as well.

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2 Battery Energy Systems

2.1 BES systems components

The BES systems in general are composed by three main sections: the Energy Storage Section, Power Conver-
sion System, and Balance of Plant. The Energy Storage section is composed of the battery technology used, the
battery management system (BMS) and the housing for outdoor applications. The Power Conversion System
(PCS) is the electronic equipment that converts the DC power for batteries to AC power onto the grid, and vicev-
ersa. It is capable to supplying and absorb real and reactive power. The Balance of Plant (BOP), includes the
control system, which takes information from the BMS and the external grid, commands the PCS to charge or
discharge and monitors system health to protect batteries and optimize performance. Additionally includes the
elements related to the grid connection, protective devices, building and foundations and needed HVAC systems.

2.2 BES important parameters

In order to select an appropriate battery technology for a certain application, the most important parameters are
the Power:Energy ratio. The Power:Energy ratio is a measure of the discard power (W) compared to the energy
storage capacity (Wh). In other words the Power:Energy ratio is a rating of the maximum discharge power you
can achieve while receiving all the energy stored in the device. The relation between power and energy is the
following: Power x Hours = Energy (Wh)
Then the selection of Wh depends on the application. For applications like time shifting, or renewables capacity
firming, the time scale needed is in the order of hours. Then for example if we have 1 MW battery and we need
to do the time shifting of the energy for 6 hours, the energy we need to store is 6 MWh. For applications related
to power quality (frequency regulation, voltage support) the times usually needed are smaller than 1 hour. Using
the same example, if we have a battery of 1 MW power and the requested application only need 30 min support,
then the energy from the battery should be of 500 kWh.

Figure 4. Different uses of electrical energy storage in grids, depending on the frequency and duration of use

As a rule, the price for BES offered by the different companies depends on the technology used (Li-ion, VRFB,
etc) and the energy stored.
Another important parameter is the round trip efficiency (RTE) which refers to the amount of energy (Wh) that
can be returned after stored. This efficiency is measured in the AC part only, which means that not only includes
all the losses in the chemical reactions that occurs inside the battery, but also the losses and energy consumed in
the conversion AC/DC/AC and in the operation of the BMS and the control system. RTE impacts the operational
cost of an energy storage device because for every W h you store, you only get a fraction of it back out. The net
energy consumed during the storage operation, reflected in the RTE value, can be then considered like a "storage
fee". Therefore, the lower RTE the higher "storage fee" paid.

2.3 BES costs

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For evaluating costs of BES systems usually two approaches are used: the Total Capital Costs (TCC) and Life
Cycle Costs (LCC) [Zakeri and Syri 2015].
TCC costs evaluates all costs that should be covered for the purchase, installation and delivery of a BES unit,
including costs of PCS, storage system (batteries), and BOP costs. The TCC expressed by unit of power ( C/kW)
are typically referred to costs of PCS. On the other hand, TCC expressed by unit of energy ( C/kWh) are related
to the costs undertaken to the construction of battery banks. BOP can be expressed per unit of power ( C/kW) or
unit of energy ( C/kWh) or a fixed amount depending on the technology and application. BOP costs also includes
project engineering, grid connection and integration facilities, construction management, etc. The total TCC can
be calculated per unit of output power rating in the following way:

TCC = CPCS + CBOP + CST OR h (2.1)

where h refers to the charging/discharging time.

The LCC is a more important indicator to evaluate and compare different BES systems, from the ownership
point of view as LCC includes all the expenses related to fixed operation and maintenance (O&M), variable
O&M, replacement, disposal and recycling in addition to TCC. LCC can be presented in levelized annual costs
( C/kW-yr) which is the yearly payment that the operator should maintain for all services, including repayment
of the loan and upfront capital costs. Most of the LCC costs reported are based on methodologies based on
TCC, because currently different LCC analysis can not be adequately established due to lack of many long-term
utilization and field experiences.

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 Table 1. Some characteristics of the main BES systems.

Type of BES
Total Capital Capital Fixed cost Replacement Lifetime (yr) Biggest operational
Costs per costs per O&M ( C/kW- O&M costs project
Power storage yr) (C/kW) /
Rating capacity replacement
( C/kW) ( C/kWh) time
Lithium-ion
1100 1000 6.9 360 / 5 yr 5-15 yr Germany Residential
Energy Storage
Systems, Multiple,
Multiple, Germany, 188
MW / 100 MWh
Sodium sulfur
2200 300 3.6 180 / 4 yr 10 -15 ADWEA NaS BESS,
(NaS)
Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates,
108 MW / 648 MWh
Sodium-
3300 700 5.5 180 / 8 yr 15 Annobon Island
nickel-
Microgrid Annonbon
chloride
Island, Annonbon
(ZEBRA)
Island, Equatorial
Guinea, 5 MW / 10
MWh
Flow batteries
Vanadium
2500 500 8.5 130 / 8 yr 5 - 10 Minami Hayakita
(VRFB)
Substation Hokkaido
Electric Power-
Sumitomo Abira-Chou,
Hokkaido, Japan, 15
MW / 60 MWh
Zinc-Bromine
1300 300 4.3 195 /15 yr 5 - 10 Kazakhstan - 25MW
(Zn-Br)
/ 100MWh - Flow
Batteries - Primus
Power
Iron- -
1100 220 3.3 29 /15 yr 10 - 15
Chromium
(Fe-Cr)

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3 Battery Energy Storage projects in the world.

Table 2. The 5 biggest BES systems currently under construction. [DOE 2018]

No.
Project Name Technology Rated Service use Commissioning
Type Power date
(MW) x
Time (hr)
1
Dalian VFB-UET / Rongke Vanadium Flow 200 x 4 • Electric Energy Time Dec, 31st,
Power, Dalian, Liaoning, China Battery Shift 2018
• Black Start
• Renewables Capacity
Firming
• Renewables Energy
Time Shift
• Resiliency

2 -
AES Alamitos Energy Storage Lithium-ion 100 x 4 • Electric Supply Capac-
Array, Long Beach, California, ity
United States
3 -
Foresight Group Port of Tyne Lithium-ion 35 x n/a • Frequency Regulation
35 MW ESS - RES (UK),
Port of Tyne, Tyne and Wear,
United Kingdom
4 -
Marengo Project, Marengo, Lithium-ion 20 x 0.25 • Frequency Regulation
Illinois, United States
5 -
Beacon Battery Storage, Kern Lithium-ion 20x0.50 • Electric Supply Reserve
County, California, United Capacity
States • Spinning
• Frequency Regulation
• Load Following (Tertiary
Balancing)
• Renewables Capacity
Firming

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 Table 3. The 10 biggest BES systems operative in the world. [DOE 2018]

No.
Project Name Technology Rated Power Service use
Type (MW) x Time
(hr)
1
Germany Residential Energy Lithium-ion 188 x 0.53 • Electric Bill Management
Storage Systems - 34,000 PV with Renewables
Battery Storage Systems @ 2 kW
- 188 MW distributed storage with
350 MWh capacity.
2
ADWEA NaS BESS Abu Dhabi, Sodium-sulfur 108 x 6 • Electric Energy Time
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Shift

3
Hornsdale Power Reserve Lithium-ion 100 x 1.28 • Frequency Regulation
100MW / 129MWh Tesla Battery, • Renewables Capacity
Jamestown, South Australia, Firming
Australia • Renewables Energy
Time Shift

4
Kyushu Electric - Buzen Sub- Sodium-sulfur 50 x 6 • Frequency Regulation
station - Mitsubishi Electric / • Renewables Capacity
NGK Insulators, Buzen, Fukuoka Firming
Prefecture, Japan
5
Nishi-Sendai Substation - Tohoku Lithium-ion 40 x 0.50 • Frequency Regulation
Electric / Toshiba, Sendai , Miyagi • Voltage Support
Prefecture, Japan
6
Minami-Soma Substation - To- Lithium-ion 40 x 1 • Renewables Capacity
hoku Electric / Toshiba, Minami- Firming
soma, Fukushima Prefecture, • Renewables Energy
Japan Time Shift

7
National Grid (UK) Glassenbury Lithium-ion 40 x 0.68 • Frequency Regulation
40 MW ESS - VLC Energy,
Glassenbury, Kent, United
Kingdom
8
Notrees Battery Storage Project - Lithium-ion 36 x 0.67 • Electric Energy Time
Duke Energy, Goldsmith, Texas, Shift
United States • Frequency Regulation
• Renewables Capacity
Firming

9
Rokkasho Village Wind Farm - Sodium-sulfur 34 x 7 • Electric Supply Reserve
Futamata Wind Development, Capacity
Rokkasho, Aomori, Japan • Spinning
• Renewables Capacity
Firming
• Renewables Energy
Time Shift

10
AES Laurel Mountain, Elkins, Lithium-ion 32 x 0.25 • Frequency Regulation
West Virginia, United States • Ramping

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References

DOE. 2018. “Global Energy Storage Database.” http://www.energystorageexchange.org/.

IEC. 2011. White Paper: Electrical Energy Storage. Tech. rep. IEC International Electrotechnical Commission
http://www.iec.ch.
Zakeri, Behnam, and Sanna Syri. 2015. “Electrical energy storage systems: A comparative life cycle cost analy-
sis.” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 42:5960. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2014.10.011.

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