Jil Godwin-Enwere | MEL Candidate | Dec, 2023.
Mentor: Keith Ainsley, Knight Piesold | Sponsor: Sam Mottram, Knight Piesold
Abstract
Hydro pumped storage and Battery Storage are two matured forms of energy storage, however both options have varying advantages and disadvantages based on application, size of deployment and the objective of the stakeholders. For this research, we consider the proposed Ontario 1GW energy storage project which is approved by necessary government bodies in alignment with plans to add 8-12GW of energy storage between 2022 and 2035. Being aware that the ancillary services requirement of storage options may impact how much energy can be delivered to the end user by selling through the grid, the ancillary requirements of both options are compared. We realize that for pumped storage only 49% of the energy generated goes into ancillary services while for the battery storage about 65% goes into ancillary which in effect qualifies the system as an ancillary standalone.
When batteries storage is integrated with renewables, either charging from the grid or with a renewable source or both, the levelized cost of electricity, NPV and other factors change accordingly. A battery plus Photo-voltaic setup that charged solely from the solar system, has the highest levelized cost of electricity of about 73 cents/kwh. Pumped storage maintains the best NPV compared to all other battery options however with incentives such as tax credits, NPV and internal rate of return for battery and renewable integrations will compete economically.