Lifetime and economic analyses of lithium‐ion batteries for balancing wind power forecast error

Wind power plant operators are often faced with extra charges when their power production does not match the forecasted power. Because the accuracy of wind power forecasts is limited, the use of energy storage systems is an attractive alternative even when large‐scale aggregation of wind power is considered. In this paper, the economic feasibility of lithium‐ion batteries for balancing the wind power forecast error is analysed. In order to perform a reliable assessment, an ageing model of lithium‐ion battery was developed considering both cycling and calendar life. The economic analysis considers two different energy management strategies for the storage systems and it is performed for the Danish market. Analyses have shown that the price of the Li‐ion BESS needs to decrease by 6.7 times in order to obtain a positive net present value considering the present prices on the Danish energy market. Moreover, it was found that for total elimination of the wind power forecast error, it is required to have a 25‐MWh Li‐ion battery energy storage system for the considered 2 MW WT. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.