Investigating the participation of battery energy storage systems in the Nordic ancillary services markets from a business perspective

Abstract

Battery energy storage systems (BESSs) are gaining potential recognition in renewable-based power systems. To maintain the stability of such systems, BESSs units are being deployed for the provision of ancillary services (ASs). For BESS owners, it is vital to assess the business value of providing ASs to engage in a profitable trade. However, studies so far have mainly focused on the operational control of BESS units in ancillary services markets (ASMs) while ignoring investigations from a business viewpoint. Therefore, in this paper, we analyse the BESS-based provision of Nordic ASs from a BESS-business perspective. To this aim, we identify the profitable bidding hours for the BESS units by investigating hourly patterns in the market prices of the past six years. We also analyse the monthly and yearly trends in historic price datasets of ASs to help BESS owners develop long-term business plans. Moreover, for the BESS owners to choose between different markets, we investigate the revenue streams associated with each ASs and determine the yearly income from their availability and capacity payments. Our findings imply that BESS business viability in the Nordic ASMs can be increased by stacking ASs based on their availability payments, energy content, and activation requirements.