Technical and economic value of utility-scale wind-storage hybrid power plants
M.K. Mehta (TU Delft - Wind Energy)
G.J. van Holthoon (TU Delft - Wind Energy)
D.A. von Terzi (TU Delft - Wind Energy)
M B Zaaijer (TU Delft - Wind Energy)
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Abstract
The potential technical benefits of wind-storage hybrids, mainly arbitrage, imbalance reduction, and frequency support, are convincing enough to launch demonstration projects. However, a quantitative analysis of these benefits, including economic considerations, is lacking. The aim of this study is to establish at what costs such technical benefits can be achieved, and whether developers reap sufficient economic advantage to make the development of such hybrid plants attractive. A wind-storage power plant is simulated for arbitrage, imbalance revenue maximization, and secondary frequency support using the Internal Rate of Return as a parameter to measure the economic performance. It is found that, for a wind-farm developer, deploying batteries just for arbitrage and/or imbalance revenue maximization does not improve profitability at current levels of battery costs. However, there is a strong economic incentive for a wind farm developer to deploy batteries to participate in the secondary frequency market.