Techno-Economic Analysis of a Stationary Battery Storage Operating on Frequency Regulation Markets in a Church Powered with PV System
Abstract
In Sweden, Svenska Kyrkan (the Church of Sweden) has over 3300 churches. A majority of the churches are electrically heated. Usage patterns of electrically heated buildings such as church buildings, creating problems for the grid and the church organization through increased grid fees. Simultaneously, interest in deploying Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESSs) is growing. A significant challenge is determining the specific services the BESS should provide to maximize profits for the owner. For church load profiles, with the help of a battery, the church consumption peaks can be shaved. Additionally, when the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) is not used for this purpose, it can instead be employed to support the grid through participation in the frequency regulation market. Frequency control services are activated in response to changes in the electricity grid frequency, with the BESS providing support during frequency fluctuations. The objective of this study is to investigate the economic value of installing BESS in a church powered by a PV system. Various frequency regulation services, with a focus on primary reserve, are explored. The model operates on other energy markets, which are local flexibility and day-ahead markets. The inputs include selected services, feed-in and feed-out profiles, historical frequency data, and frequency regulation and energy market prices over the year 2023. The case study involves measured data from Kila Church, which has a 60 kWp solar power system and is located in mid-western Sweden. The economic metrics are net present value and payback period, whereas technical and environment metrics are the battery degradation and CO2 emission equivalents, respectively. This study indicates that the investment in BESS is profitable if the BESS operates on frequency stability services together stacked with Peak Shaving (PS). The results show a 1.6-year payback period for a 120 kWh/60 kW BESS. A sensitivity analysis explores future changes in prices of the frequency regulation market and BESS shows that FCR-D Up has more sensitivity for a drop in the prices in the future. Nevertheless, FCR-D Down has more economic potential value. Conclusively, BESS would be a beneficial investment for churches and facilities with similar load and PV power generation profiles, both from an economic and societal perspective.