How BKW turns battery storage systems into usable flexibility

With the expansion of renewable energies, volatility in the electricity system is increasing. Electricity production and consumption have to be balanced with each other at ever shorter notice. Batteries can play an important role here because they react very quickly and can both absorb and supply electricity. But this technical capability alone is not enough. What is crucial is how the battery is used in the market.

The limitation is not just capacity, but the right time of deployment

Technical operation ensures that the battery runs smoothly. Management determines when and how its flexibility is used in the market. Although a battery can react very quickly, its storage capacity is limited. If it is used at full power, the stored energy volume often lasts for only a few hours. This means that if it is used too early, it can no longer be used later in an even more advantageous market situation.

Batterie Blocks — A battery is initially a source of technical flexibility.

What determines economic success?

Whether a battery is operated successfully from an economic perspective depends on several factors. High technical availability is important (no failures and no severe degradation over time), as few restrictions from the electricity grid as possible, and a very good understanding of, as well as access to, the relevant markets. At the same time, speed counts. Especially with multi-market batteries, prices, forecasts and availabilities are constantly changing. In order for the battery to respond to this, information must be processed quickly and translated into concrete decisions. Current data is used to generate forecasts. These show, for example, how prices or market opportunities could develop. Based on this, optimisation models calculate the most sensible use of the battery. The trading decisions must then be implemented and transmitted to the battery as schedule signals.

This sequence must function quickly and reliably: data is collected, forecasts are updated, deployment is calculated, trading decisions are implemented and the battery is controlled accordingly. And this around the clock, every quarter of an hour. That is why automated trading processes, known as algo trading, a stable IT setup, technical understanding of the asset and the experience of the trading teams are decisive.

It should also be noted that battery management does not work in the same way in every country. Market mechanisms, products, regulatory requirements and operational processes differ depending on the electricity market. This is precisely why projects in different countries are important for building broad management expertise. With projects in Switzerland, Darstadt/Stalldorf in Germany, Hauts-de-France and Centre-Val de Loire in France and Northern Italy BKW is already systematically expanding its expertise in four key flexibility markets in Europe.

Visualisierung des 100-MW-Projekts in Hauts-de-France — Visualisation of the 100 MW Project in Hauts-de-France

From storage system to market participant

Batteries are already an important building block of the energy system and will become even more central in the future. What is crucial, however, is not to see them merely as storage systems. Their value is created when their flexibility is actively managed and deployed in the right markets. In this way, technical flexibility becomes tradable flexibility. And a storage system becomes an active market participant.

News & Stories