The Transmission Value of Energy Storage and Fundamental Limitations

TL;DR

This paper explores the fundamental relationship between energy storage and transmission infrastructure in electric grids, providing theoretical limits and reformulating optimization models to optimize capacity planning based on average rather than peak power needs.

Contribution

It introduces a novel formulation linking storage and transmission, derives explicit capacity limits, and demonstrates how storage can replace transmission lines under certain conditions.

Findings

Transmission capacity can be based on average power needs with sufficient storage.

Explicit capacity limits for storage and transmission are derived.

Numerical experiments validate the theoretical models.

Abstract

This study addresses the transmission value of energy storage in electric grids. The inherent connection between storage and transmission infrastructure is captured from a "cumulative energy" perspective, which enables the reformulating of the conventional optimization problem by employing line power flow as the decision variable. The study also establishes the theoretical limitations of both storage and transmission lines that can be replaced by each other, providing explicit closed-form expressions for the minimum capacity needed. As a key departure from conventional practice in which transmission lines are designed according to the peak power delivery needs, with sufficient storage capacity, the transmission line capacity can be designed based on the average power delivery needs. The models of this paper only rely on a few basic assumptions, paving the way for understanding future storage as a transmission asset market design. Numerical experiments based on 2-bus, modified RTS 24-bus, RTS-GMLC, and Texas synthetic power systems illustrate the results.