Revenue opportunities for battery storage
A self-contained energy system that can be connected to the grid dynamically, or be permanently off-grid. Primarily a commercial application, examples include: an off-grid holiday home, or a guaranteed supply for a factory. When connected to the grid, it requires the ability to connect/disconnect from the grid in a safe and consistent way i.e. be able to provide the voltage frequency on site while disconnected, and be able to synchronise back to the grid on re-connection. If power must be available, then the output of the system (factory, holiday home) will determine the financials. While connected to the grid, it can be considered similar to behind the meter energy management (as noted below).
Managing provision of capacity to the grid. Opportunities include the balancing mechanism, making capacity available in the form of bids and offers to the grid at agreed times, to help it balance network supply and demand. Other system services include dynamic containment and firm frequency response, which require sub-second responses to help even out fluctuations in grid frequency. There is also the ability to bid for capacity market contracts, which can provide up to 15 years of revenue for stored capacity.
Network charges are more beneficial in some locations than others in the UK. Storage assets can earn revenue from embedded locational benefits, such as the Embedded Export Tariff (EET) or the benefit of avoiding charges such as Transmission Network Use of System (TNUoS) in specific areas.
