Abstract
The ambitious target of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in the UK, which includes the decarbonisation of heat and electricity, means the increase of instantaneous power from non-dispatchable renewable energy sources (RESs). The intermittency of RESs will cause stability issues for the grid resulting from the mismatch between generation from RES and load demand. Battery energy storage systems (BESS) can match loads with generation and can provide flexibility to the grid. This study is proposing the health sector as a new flexibility services provider for the grid through BESS. The health sector has large loads that run throughout the year, and by managing this load it can provide flexibility to the grid. Four different scenarios have been evaluated for a range of behind-the-meter (BTM) BESS for a hospital in the UK to provide arbitrage and ancillary services considering the option of installing a photovoltaic (PV) system. It was found that BESS would not be economically viable through arbitrage alone since the payback period was always greater than the BESS lifetime. However, bundling services by participating in the ancillary services market resulted in payback periods as low as 3.10 years for some systems, and the net present value (NPV) could reach more than £5 million. This work provides evidence that the health sector can be a significant player in the transition to a renewables-led energy system, an exemplar for other sectors, and one of the solutions to recovery from the COVID19 pandemic.
Highlights
Electricity costs were calculated considering an electricity tariff derived from wholesale market data that varies during the same day, differs from weekdays to weekends, and differs from summer months to winter months
It was found that Battery energy storage systems (BESS) is not economically viable for arbitrage only since the payback period is always higher than the expected system lifetime of 15 years
When income from the DS3 ancillary services market is included in the revenue stack, the simple payback period (SPBP) can be as low as 3.35 years, and the maximum SPBP was 10.95 years which is still less than system expected lifetime
Summary
On average in the first three quarters of 2020, renewable electricity contributed to 37.1% of the total electricity gen eration in the UK, and this contribution was 47.2% for the first quarter, 44.4% in the second quarter, and 40.2% in the third quarter of 2020 [2]. The major variable renewable energy sources (RESs) are wind and solar photovoltaic (PV). Wind meets 35% of total NI electricity demand, and the connected wind capacity is 1.30 GW which is divided into 1.155 GW (90.5% of total wind) connected to the distribution network (DN) and only 0.12 GW (9.5% of total wind) connected to the transmission network. Wind and PV contribute to 92 % of the total RES capacity, both of which are non-dispatchable resources. Instantaneous wind power can exceed the total demand in NI. During 2020 wind power penetration reached 119% of NI demand
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