Multi Usage Applications of Li-Ion Battery Storage in a Large Photovoltaic Plant: A Practical Experience

The number of large energy storage units installed in the power system has increased over the last few years. This fact remains closely linked to the increase in the share of renewable energy in electricity generation. This is necessary to maintain the stability of the grid, which is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain due to the growing number of renewable energy sources (RES). Energy production from these sources is difficult to estimate, and possible unplanned shortages and surpluses in production are the cause of voltage and frequency fluctuations, which is an undesirable state. Consequently, the use of energy storage not only contributes to the regulation of grid operation but can also, under appropriate conditions, constitute an additional load if too much energy is generated by RES, or the source when the generation from RES is insufficient. The main contributions of this paper are as follows: A presentation of practical results achieved by implementing two optimal control strategies for a 1 MW (0.5 MWh) battery energy storage (BES) cooperating with a large 144 MW photovoltaic farm. In the first case, the BES was used to generate curtailment at photovoltaic farm to avoid power grid overload. The second case focuses on maximizing profits from selling the energy produced in periods when the unit price for energy was the highest according to energy market forecasts. In both cases, the storage was used simultaneously to cover the producer’s own demand, which eliminated the costs associated with the purchase of energy from the operator, especially during the night supply. A technical and economic evaluation was prepared for both cases, considering the real profits from the investment. The potential of using the BES to increase the functionality of photovoltaic energy sources was determined and discussed in the paper.