The other primary element of a BESS is an energy management system (EMS) to coordinate the control and operation of all components in the system. For a battery energy storage system to be intelligently designed, both power in megawatt (MW) or kilowatt (kW) and energy in megawatt-hour (MWh) or kilowatt-hour (kWh) ratings need to be specified.
Using these battery energy storage systems alongside power generation technologies such as gas-fired Combined Heat and Power (CHP), standby diesel generation, and UPS systems will provide increased resilience mitigating a potential loss of operational costs, whilst protecting your brand.
A full battery energy storage system can provide backup power in the event of an outage, guaranteeing business continuity. Battery systems can co-locate solar photovoltaic, wind turbines, and gas generation technologies.
The amount of time storage can discharge at its power capacity before exhausting its battery energy storage capacity. For example, a battery with 1MW of power capacity and 6MWh of usable energy capacity will have a storage duration of six hours. Depth of Discharge (DoD) expresses the total amount of capacity that has been used.
Battery storage systems have several advantages when paired with renewable energy and non-renewable forms of generation. Solar and wind can be unpredictable, so battery storage systems are a key component in steadying energy flow by providing a steady supply whenever required, irrespective of weather conditions.
Battery systems can co-locate solar photovoltaic, wind turbines, and gas generation technologies. In doing so, BESS co-location can maximise land use and improve efficiency, share infrastructure expenditure, balance generation intermittency, lower costs, and maximise the national grid and capacity.