ESS Site Operation Optimization for Maximizing Useable Energy

An energy storage system (ESS) customer’s primary objective is to optimize their system’s useable energy and improve revenue generation. Ultimately, we all want to get the best results possible from our investments! However, there is often a gap between the installed energy capacity and the actual usable energy. This gap can lead to significant revenue losses during market participation and has a negative impact on the system integrator's availability metrics, potentially resulting in Liquidated Damages (LD). Cell voltage imbalance is a major contributing factor to this issue. Both Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) and Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (NMC) batteries can be affected by cell voltage imbalance, which results in revenue loss during market participation. This presentation aims to analyze the impact of cell voltage imbalance on the energy output of an ESS, substantiated with real-world examples. We will evaluate the consequences of site-level imbalances for energy utilization and revenue generation and share practical steps in mitigating underlying issues and improving the throughput. Additionally, we will explore the impact of site-level operations on cell balancing and discuss best practices to effectively address the issue.