New financial analysis tool for long-duration energy storage in deeply decarbonized grids

Renewable vigor procreation technologies specified arsenic solar, wind, and hydro proceed to summation popularity worldwide. As much and much renewable procreation enters the grid, the occurrence of these cleanable technologies volition progressively trust connected the improvement of long-duration vigor retention solutions that enactment variability successful electrical powerfulness generation.

Researchers astatine the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) person developed a rigorous caller Storage Financial Analysis Scenario Tool (StoreFAST) model to measure the levelized outgo of vigor (LCOE), besides known arsenic the levelized outgo of storage (LCOS). This exemplary tin place imaginable long-duration retention opportunities successful the model of a aboriginal electrical grid with 85 percent renewables penetration. Researchers designed StoreFAST based connected the palmy Hydrogen Financial Analysis Scenario Tool (H2FAST), which was created by NREL successful 2015 arsenic a convenient assistance for analyzing the fiscal aspects of installing hydrogen fueling stations.

"The H2FAST exemplary is precise flexible," said Michael Penev, an infrastructure systems expert astatine NREL. "There is thing inherently circumstantial to its usage for hydrogen. For example, we person utilized this model for analyzing outgo of long-haul trucking, ammonia production, electrical conveyance charging, and more. StoreFAST targets this investigation toward vigor retention to cipher the ratio of antithetic systems."

StoreFAST is simply a unsocial techno-economic instrumentality successful that it analyzes some vigor retention systems and flexible powerfulness procreation systems connected a side-by-side basis. The exemplary outputs visuals for 3 parameters: the LCOE, fiscal show parameters, and clip bid charts for each fiscal enactment items. Primary inputs to the exemplary see strategy powerfulness output capacity, capital costs, operations and attraction (O&M) costs, charging energy oregon fuel costs, retention duration, and capableness factors.

StoreFAST offers a accordant examination crossed each technologies by analyzing cardinal parameters describing strategy cost, performance, and capableness origin to cipher the nett contiguous worth of each capital, operating, tax, and financing expenses divided by the strategy beingness energy sales. This explanation of LCOE offers a accordant examination of retention technologies.

StoreFAST successful action

A caller Joule nonfiction provides a elaborate techno-economic valuation of assorted retention technologies. Penev presented the findings of that study, alongside a StoreFAST demonstration, during the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office's March H2IQ Hour. Researchers astatine NREL utilized the StoreFAST exemplary to analyse the strategy from 12 hours up to 7 days of retention duration. Duration standing of retention is defined arsenic however agelong it would instrumentality each strategy to wholly discharge vigor portion providing full-rated powerfulness to the grid.

"Our techno-economics investigation squad performed a rigorous lit reappraisal and gathered manufacture and DOE input connected today's outgo characteristics and the aboriginal outgo simplification imaginable for 8 antithetic long-duration vigor retention systems," Penev explained. "Those characteristics are condensed successful the exemplary and are conveniently disposable for analysts to benchmark with immoderate different vigor retention technologies of interest."

The survey recovered that for agelong durations of energy retention (e.g., much than 60 hours), cleanable hydrogen systems with geologic retention and earthy state with c seizure and sequestration are the lowest outgo options, careless of whether strategy costs are based connected existent oregon aboriginal technology. Researchers besides modeled the outgo of an innovative energy storage strategy utilizing substance cells designed for heavy-duty vehicles alternatively than accepted stationary substance cells, and recovered that this strategy achieved 13 percent–20 percent little LCOE.

Funding for this enactment was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Strategic Analysis Team, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, Solar Energy Technologies Office, and Wind Energy Technologies Office. In summation to Penev, cardinal contributors wrong NREL included Chad Hunter, Evan Reznicek, and Joshua Eichman.

Improving fiscal investigation astatine NREL

In summation to StoreFAST and H2FAST, NREL besides offers an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure—Financial Analysis Scenario Tool (EVI-FAST) that leverages the aforesaid model to exemplary side-by-side scenarios of electrical conveyance charging equipment. A caller Joule nonfiction reviews investigation from EVI-FAST to find the LCOE of charging electrical vehicles successful the United States.

The NREL squad is identifying caller ways to specialize the FAST models for aboriginal analyses, including integrating the look into Python to let researchers to look into capableness enlargement and refurbishments. Future versions of the models volition beryllium capable to measure the degradation of antithetic systems implicit time, arsenic good arsenic see statistic connected interaction analysis.

---

---