Operational Validation of a Power Distribution Algorithm for a Modular Megawatt Battery Storage System

Batteries & Supercaps, vol. 6

Abstract

Abstract Large‐scale battery storage systems have become popular for various grid services in recent years. A worldwide market growth for battery storage has led to increased competition in several grid service markets. Modular large‐scale battery storage systems require a safe, highly available, and intelligent energy management system (EMS) in order to be economically competitive. One component of this EMS is the control for distributing the power requests between individual battery units of the large‐scale battery storage system. As the EMS is usually undisclosed intellectual property of the system manufacturers, there is only little information on real‐world operation available. To contribute, we present a rule‐based power distribution algorithm (SPDA) in this paper and validate it through field tests on a 6 MW/7.5 MWh system that is providing frequency containment reserve to the German power grid. The results show that especially when combining different battery technologies, the SPDA can exploit individual technological strengths. In this way, the state of charge of the batteries, energy throughput and power load of the batteries can be controlled to extend the lifetime. Moreover, the SPDA managed to shift nearly 80 % of the energy throughput to one battery unit to protect less cyclic stable batteries and make use of the advantage of cyclic stable battery technologies, while fulfilling all grid service requirements. By shifting those large quantities of the energy throughput to more cyclic stable battery units, the large‐scale battery storage system experienced in sum up to 45 % less cyclic aging with the SPDA than with a symmetrical power distribution algorithm. Furthermore, the operational efficiency of a large‐scale battery storage system can be significantly improved via additional software adaptations of the power distribution, depending on the system layout.

Authors 5

1. Lucas Koltermann corresponding Aachen Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA) Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS) E.ON ERC Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS)

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   52425 Jülich Germany

   Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA) RWTH Aachen University 52074 Aachen Germany

   Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS) E.ON ERC RWTH Aachen University 52074 Aachen Germany

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance JARA-Energy 52056 Aachen

   Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA), RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

   Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS), E.ON ERC, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

2. Kevin Jacqué Aachen Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA) Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS) E.ON ERC Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS)

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   52425 Jülich Germany

   Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA) RWTH Aachen University 52074 Aachen Germany

   Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS) E.ON ERC RWTH Aachen University 52074 Aachen Germany

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance JARA-Energy 52056 Aachen

   Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA), RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

   Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS), E.ON ERC, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

3. Jan Figgener Aachen Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA) Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS) E.ON ERC Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS)

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   52425 Jülich Germany

   Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA) RWTH Aachen University 52074 Aachen Germany

   Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS) E.ON ERC RWTH Aachen University 52074 Aachen Germany

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance JARA-Energy 52056 Aachen

   Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA), RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

   Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS), E.ON ERC, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

4. Sebastian Zurmühlen Aachen Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA) Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS) E.ON ERC Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS)

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   52425 Jülich Germany

   Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA) RWTH Aachen University 52074 Aachen Germany

   Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS) E.ON ERC RWTH Aachen University 52074 Aachen Germany

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance JARA-Energy 52056 Aachen

   Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA), RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

   Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS), E.ON ERC, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

5. Dirk Uwe Sauer Aachen Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA) Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS) E.ON ERC Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS)

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Helmholtz-Institute Münster · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   52425 Jülich Germany

   Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH Institute of Energy and Climate Research Helmholtz-Institute Münster: Ionics in Energy Storage (IEK-12)) 52425 Jülich Germany

   Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA) RWTH Aachen University 52074 Aachen Germany

   Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS) E.ON ERC RWTH Aachen University 52074 Aachen Germany

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance JARA-Energy 52056 Aachen

   Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA), RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

   Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems (PGS), E.ON ERC, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany