Battery valuation and management for battery swapping station

Battery swapping station (BSS), a business model of battery energy storage (BES), has great potential in future integrated low-carbon energy and transportation systems. However, frequent battery swapping will inevitably accelerate battery degradation and shorten the battery life accordingly. To model the tradeoff of BSS use between energy and transportation applications, we develop a life-cycle decision model that coordinates battery charging and swapping in which the sensitivity of demand to price for battery swapping is considered and the optimal marginal degradation cost (MDC) of BSS is determined to maximize the BSS benefit across time and application. The proposed model is applied to manage a BSS that simultaneously provides battery swapping services to electric vehicle customers and provides flexibility service to the power grid, including energy arbitrage and reserve. The case study shows that while the end of the battery physical life occurs faster with battery swapping, the economic life becomes considerably longer. The results also reveal that the optimal MDC depends on the battery values in each application, and we analyze how the battery swapping price affects the optimal MDC and battery life. The proposed model can also provide decision support for on-demand BSS service, such as battery trading and renting.

Automated summary

Battery swapping station (BSS), as a business model of battery energy storage (BES), has vast potential in future low-carbon energy and transportation systems. However, frequent swapping leads to accelerated battery degradation, although it extends the economic life of the battery. A life-cycle decision model is proposed to optimize the marginal degradation cost (MDC) of BSS for maximizing its benefits in energy and transportation applications.