Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) sizing and location

Increase the self-consumption of local PVs, avoid load peaks
Determine the optimal use-case and location for BESS.
Identify possible battery dimensions.
Analyse sensitivity to network parameters and consumer behavior.
Evaluate economics of use-cases, investment analysis and risks.
Assess the environmental impacts (e.g., fire security risks, CO2 footprint, recycling) of various BESS technologies

Swiss utility company with rural network and high PV-penetration (Figure)
Net export of electricity at noon (PV-surplus), high load peaks during night.
How can a battery storage improve the economic operation?

Estimation of household profiles using sparse measurements.
Load flow analysis, using network data, shows no congestions at potential battery locations.
Time series analysis in hourly resolution for whole year to identify the battery dimension for peak-shaving and self-consumption.
Economic and investment analysis to determine optimal battery size.
Identifying the BESS technology by taking into account the utility considerations on environmental impacts.
Contacting vendors, collecting and analyzing offers.

Partners: ETHZ (FEN) and a Swiss utility
Duration: pre-study in 2018, main study in 2020
Funding: Swiss utility
Project Leader: ETHZ
Project Team: Dr. Alexander Fuchs