The potential of sodium sulfur battery energy storage to enable further integration of wind

Abstract

Wind generation is a strong contender towards securing clean, renewable and reliable energy supply. Seamless integration of higher amounts of wind generation into the ex- isting power system requires flexibility and accurate forecasts. Coupling energy storage with wind generation has the potential of improving the on-peak availability of wind, and mitigating the natural variability and the forecast errors in wind. Further, energy storage can check the curtailment of wind under low load conditions. Under the liber- alized markets, the effects of additional wind on the system manifest themselves in the energy and operating reserve prices. Offering storage in these markets has the potential to stabilize the prices while earning revenue to justify the investment in storage. This thesis presents analyses of the value of storage towards improving the on-peak avail- ability of wind generation, smoothing the wind farm output, and compensating for the forecast errors. The forecast errors from Persistence forecast are examined on a local and aggregated basis, and a statistical model for the local wind power forecast error has been developed. A strategy for optimizing the revenue in the energy markets has been proposed, and an analysis of the value offered by storage in the operating reserve market is presented. A strategy for siting the storage at the financially optimal location has also been proposed.