Revenue increase from combined operation of hydropower plant and sophisticated Merus™ energy storage
The electricity market operators plan their consumption and production in advance but in reality, there is a deviation within each hour. Balancing market ensures that electricity production equals to consumption at all times. The deviation between production and consumption can be observed from the frequency of the electricity grid. This deviation is balanced with frequency containment reserve services. Increase of renewable energy also increases the required capacity of grid supporting services. Transmission system operators encourage the operation on the frequency containment reserve market by direct income for example.
Combined operation of a hydropower plant with a sophisticated Merus™ battery energy storage system enables the hydropower plant’s operation on the frequency containment reserve market. Depending on the dynamics and controllability of the turbine, the capacity of the frequency containment reserve sold to the market can be twice the power capacity of the energy storage system. Furthermore, the number of hydro turbine movements has reduced by 90% and the distance of movements by more than 50 %. These movements are related to material stress cycles, turbine blades fatigue and wear on the runner blade bearings.
Merus™ battery energy storage system can operate on a frequency containment reserve market on its own, but combined operation with hydropower plant increases the income even more. Depending on the type of the hydro turbine and its control mechanics, the hydropower plant may or may not be able to operate on the frequency containment reserve market on its own but our battery energy storage can bridge the hydropower to frequency containment reserve market. Combined operation with Merus™ battery energy storage increases revenue of existing hydropower asset and reduces wear and tear on the mechanical parts and thus eliminates the risk of premature failure of critical components.
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