Technical and Economic Feasibility of Applying Used EV Batteries in Stationary Applications

Abstract

The technical and economic feasibility of applying used electric vehicle (EV) batteries in stationary applications was evaluated in this study. In addition to identifying possible barriers to EV battery reuse, steps needed to prepare the used EV batteries for a second application were also considered. Costs of acquiring, testing, and reconfiguring the used EV batteries were estimated. Eight potential stationary applications were identified and described in terms of power, energy, and duty cycle requirements. Costs for assembly and operation of battery energy storage systems to meet the requirements of these stationary applications were also estimated by extrapolating available data on existing systems. The calculated life cycle cost of a battery energy storage system designed for each application was then compared to the expected economic benefit to determine the economic feasibility. Four of the eight applications were found to be at least possible candidates for economically viable reuse of EV batteries. These were transmission support, light commercial load following, residential load following, and distributed node telecommunications backup power. There were no major technical barriers found, however further study is recommended to better characterize the performance and life of used EV batteries before design and testing of prototype battery systems.

A model of the effects of automatic generation control signal characteristics on energy storage system reliability

“…Analyses of spinning reserve feasibility have shown mixed results, however. A study by Cready et al showed that costs incurred from spinning reserves were higher than potential revenue, while another study by Kempton et al found most vehicle batteries would be profitable with spinning reserves [11], [22]. Moura concluded that EDVs are unappealing for spinning reserves, but Sioshansi et al…”

“…Because it is inherently a quick-response market (generators must respond to the command signal sent every 2-4 seconds), it is intuitive that a battery system would be a superior candidate for this market in particular [7], [11]. Furthermore, regulation services account for 80% of the A/S expenditures by the Independent System Operator (ISO); it is a much larger and more valuable market than spinning reserves [6], [7], [22].…”

“…1), the signal has been presumed to contain significantly less energy than the other markets and services, which is beneficial for the small energy capacities of batteries [18], [19], [22], [24], [26], [28]. Because frequency regulation has been demonstrated by many as the best choice of energy market for DES systems, my analysis is based on this market [7], [11], [12], [16], [18], [19], [22][23][24].…”

“…This would be accomplished by switching between regulation markets when contracted and the energy market when not contracted. By employing a noncontracted period to charge to 50%, the reliability of the fleet increases due to the ability for each ES device to provide for either regulation up or down, as opposed to providing just one or the other due to incurring a saturation limit [11], [12], [33]. This device-level SOC management will be applied to the simple symmetric market (see section 7.0).…”

“…Firming refers to conditioning of the power output of a generator to improve compatibility with the grid [11].…”