Building upon both strands of work, we propose to characterize business models of energy storage as the combination of an application of storage with the revenue stream earned from the operation and the market role of the investor.
We propose to characterize a “business model” for storage by three parameters: the application of a storage facility, the market role of a potential investor, and the revenue stream obtained from its operation (Massa et al., 2017).
Although academic analysis finds that business models for energy storage are largely unprofitable, annual deployment of storage capacity is globally on the rise (IEA, 2020). One reason may be generous subsidy support and non-financial drivers like a first-mover advantage (Wood Mackenzie, 2019).
Where a profitable application of energy storage requires saving of costs or deferral of investments, direct mechanisms, such as subsidies and rebates, will be effective. For applications dependent on price arbitrage, the existence and access to variable market prices are essential.
Investment in energy storage can enable them to meet the contracted amount of electricity more accurately and avoid penalties charged for deviations. Revenue streams are decisive to distinguish business models when one application applies to the same market role multiple times.
A straightforward and computationally efficient tool for estimating revenue and optimizing energy storage sizing is useful to help interested parties consider appropriate energy storage systems to invest in for maximizing the benefits of their generation assets. This paper focuses on the revenue estimation portion of such as tool.