The economics of utility-scale portable energy storage systems in a high-renewable grid

TL;DR

This paper explores the economic viability of portable, utility-scale energy storage systems that can be trucked to different locations, enhancing renewable integration and revenue potential in California.

Contribution

It introduces a novel spatiotemporal decision model for portable energy storage, demonstrating its potential to increase revenues and support renewable energy in high-renewable grids.

Findings

Mobilizing storage increases lifecycle revenues by up to 70%.

Portable storage can alleviate local transmission congestion.

In some California regions, storage costs are fully recovered through arbitrage.

Abstract

Battery storage is expected to play a crucial role in the low-carbon transformation of energy systems. The deployment of battery storage in the power gird, however, is currently severely limited by its low economic viability, which results from not only high capital costs but also the lack of flexible and efficient utilization schemes and business models. Making utility-scale battery storage portable through trucking unlocks its capability to provide various on-demand services. We introduce the potential applications of utility-scale portable energy storage and investigate its economics in California using a spatiotemporal decision model that determines the optimal operation and transportation schedules of portable storage. We show that mobilizing energy storage can increase its life-cycle revenues by 70% in some areas and improve renewable energy integration by relieving local transmission congestion. The life-cycle revenue of spatiotemporal arbitrage can fully compensate for the costs of portable energy storage system in several regions in California, including San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area.