Balancing group deviation & balancing energy costs due to the provision of frequency containment reserve with a battery storage system in Germany

The energy transition in the electrical energy supply sector is leading to a steadily increasing share of fluctuating renewable energy sources in the power grid. Thus, control reserves such as frequency containment reserve are gaining in importance and need further investigation. In Germany, the power grid is divided into balancing groups, in which supply and demand must be balanced out. The provision of frequency containment reserve, creates an imbalance in the respective balancing group depending on the grid condition. However, this energetic imbalance and the resulting costs for the balancing group manager are further to be quantified. This work provides a simulation model that examines the energetic imbalances resulting from the provision of frequency containment reserve. We validate the simulation results with field-data from the operation of a 6 MW battery storage system and derive the resulting cost for the energy imbalances. In addition, flexibility options for batteries given by the regulatory framework in form of the degrees of freedom are evaluated. The results show, that the degrees of freedom enable a battery storage operator to additionally charge up to 8.68 MWh/MW frequency containment reserve per month or dis-charge up to 9 MWh/MW frequency containment reserve per month on average. The additional profits from the German imbalance settlement price vary on average between 302 euro and 1,068 euro per MW frequency containment reserve per month. In Conclusion, the field-data confirm the simulation data in terms of energy deviations in the balancing group due to the provision of FCR. Over the period of one month, the deviation usually leads to a cost-related advantage for the balancing group manager. The provision of frequency containment reserve as a grid service can therefore be seen as a positive gain for a balancing group. (c) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The energy transition in the electrical energy supply sector is resulting in an increasing share of fluctuating renewable energy sources in the power grid. The provision of frequency containment reserve creates an imbalance in the balancing groups, and this work provides a simulation model to examine this energetic imbalance. The results show that battery storage operators can benefit from the provision of frequency containment reserve, with additional profits varying between 302 euro and 1,068 euro per MW per month.