Coordination of aluminium crusher and battery energy storage system to provide multistage power system services

Abstract

Ancillary service provision and peak shaving (PS) play essential roles in the current day‐to‐day power system operation, which is challenged by the increasing renewable generation penetration. Providing these critical services using classical approaches such as peak load generators has been limited due to high operational costs and environmental impacts. The use of battery energy storage systems (BESS) is another popular method that is limited by high initial investment costs and high degradation rates. In this work, a novel approach to utilize industrial loads and BESS to provide multiple power system services in different stages is proposed. Industrial loads such as aluminium crushers are known for their intensive electricity consumption. Nevertheless, when applied in frequency regulation (FR), they perform poorly due to their discrete nature in operation. This drawback and the aforementioned BESS shortcomings are addressed by combining on‐site BESS with plant machinery to provide FR services and recover BESS related costs. Later, depending on the optimal capacity distribution, BESS usage is extended into the energy arbitrage market to provide PS services. This approach resulted in higher earnings for participating customers and network operators, as well as in less emissions, and minimal BESS degradations. An Australian case study of the South West Interconnected System, along with Worsley Alumina refinery data of Western Australia has been used to showcase the model performances.