How does battery storage support frequency regulation on the grid? And how is the battery storage operator compensated?
In: Engineering
When you connect two (or more) AC sources together it’s really really REALLY important that they by synchronized. Otherwise you induce huge currents in at least one of the systems and will likely damage very large expensive equipment. This happens when you connect two electrical grids, or when you connect an additional generator to a grid.
How fast you can synchronize depends on the generating technology. Large slow mechanical systems might take several minutes to sync up. A battery, because it’s DC going through an electronic DC-to-AC converter, can respond almost instantly. So a battery bank can very quickly kick in, synchronize, and start providing power “instantly” while the main generator takes its time to spin up and synchronize. Batteries make very good bridges for adding power to the grid…they just can’t do it forever. So if a grid needs more power and it’s going to take a few minutes for a new generator to connect, battery storage can provide the buffer to keep the grid up while the generator comes online.
The battery operator, if they’re not the utility themselves, will have a two-way power meter…they pay for power when they take it from the grid, and the utility pays them (or reduces what they owe) when they send power to the grid.
Latest Answers