Energy Policy 94 (2016) 126137

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Energy Policy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol

Economic feasibility of stationary electrochemical storages for electric

bill management applications: The Italian scenario
E. Telaretti a, G. Graditi b,n, M.G. Ippolito a, G. Zizzo a
a
b

DEIM - Universit di Palermo, Italy

ENEA Portici Research Center, Italy

H I G H L I G H T S

We examine the convenience of using BESS to reduce customer electricity bill.

We make a comparison among different types of batteries for end-user applications.
We evaluate the convenience of using storage in presence of demand charges.
A parametric analysis changing the BESS cost, electricity prices and demand charges has been carried out.
A case study is performed to show the advantages/disadvantages of this approach.

art ic l e i nf o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 28 September 2015
Received in revised form
11 March 2016
Accepted 2 April 2016
Available online 13 April 2016

Battery energy storage systems (BESSs) are expected to become a fundamental element of the electricity
infrastructure, thanks to their ability to decouple generation and demand over time. BESSs can also be
used to store electricity during low-price hours, when the demand is low, and to meet the demand
during peak hours, thus leading to savings for the consumer. This work focuses on the economic viability
of BESS from the point of view of the electricity customer. The analysis refers to a lithium-ion (Li-ion), an
advanced lead-acid, a zinc-based, a sodium-sulphur (NaS) and a ow battery. The total investment and
replacement costs are estimated in order to calculate the cumulated cash ow, the net present value
(NPV) and the internal rate of return (IRR) of the investment. A parametric analysis is further carried out
under two different assumptions: a) varying the difference between high and low electricity prices, b)
varying the peak demand charges. The analysis reveals that some electrochemical technologies are more
suitable than others for electric bill management applications, and that a prot for the customer can be
reached only with a signicant difference between high and low electricity prices or when high peak
demand charges are applied.
& 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Battery energy storage
load shifting
technical-economical evaluation
peak demand charges
case study

1. Introduction
Stationary energy storage systems (ESSs) are gaining a lot of interest in recent years, mainly because of the deployment of renewable
energy sources (RESs) in the electricity sector, like wind and solar
photovoltaic (PV) (Campoccia et al., 2008; Telaretti and Dusonchet,
2014; Pecoraro et al., 2015; Favuzza et al., 2015). Indeed, the variability
and non-dispatchable nature of the energy produced by these renewable sources has led to concerns regarding the stability and the
reliability of the power grid (Bueno et al., 2016). ESSs represent a valid
solution to the stability problems, mainly thanks to their ability to
n

Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: telaretti@dieet.unipa.it (E. Telaretti),
giorgio.graditi@enea.it (G. Graditi), ippolito@dieet.unipa.it (M.G. Ippolito),
zizzo@dieet.unipa.it (G. Zizzo).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2016.04.002
0301-4215/& 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

decouple generation and demand over time, also providing the ancillary services necessary to ensure a proper operation of the power
system. For these reasons, ESSs are expected to become a fundamental
element of the electricity infrastructure in the coming years. Among
energy storage technologies, electrochemical storage systems attracted the interest of the scientic, industrial and political community, thanks to their favourable characteristics such as fast response
time, modularity and scalability. Furthermore, many electrochemical
technologies have a high cost reduction potential, although several
problems remain to be solved, such as safety issues, utility acceptance,
and regulatory barriers.
ESSs can provide many benets to the power grid, that can be
classied as (Divya and stergaard, 2009; Sandia, 2010; Sutanto
and Lachs, 1997):

benets related to load/generation shifting;

E. Telaretti et al. / Energy Policy 94 (2016) 126137

Nomenclature
BESS
BOP
DOD
DOE
ESS
HV
IRR
Li-ion
LV
MV
NaS
NY

battery energy storage system.

balance of plant.
depth-of-discharge.
department of energy.
energy storage system.
high voltage.
internal rate of return.
lithium-ion.
low voltage.
medium voltage.
sodiumsulphur.
New York.

benets related to ancillary services;

benets related to grid system applications.
A description of energy storage applications according to the Department of Energy (DOE) database is reported in Table A1 of Appendix A (Sandia, 2016). In all these applications, custom devices need
to be used to ensure a proper interconnection and a reliable control
system, according to national technical specications (Ippolito et al.,
2013; Falvo et al., 2015; Ippolito et al., 2014a, 2014b; Cataliotti et al.,
2013).
Among many applications, ESSs can also be used to store electricity
during low-price hours, when the demand is low, and to meet the
demand during peak hours, thus leading to savings for the consumer.
This application, also known as Time-of-Use (TOU) energy cost management, could yield major benets, including a reduced need for
peak generation (particularly from expensive peaking plants) and reduced charge on transmission and distribution (T&D) systems.
This work focuses on the economic viability of stationary battery systems from the point of view of the electricity customer.
The analysis refers to a lithium ion (Li-ion), an advanced leadacid, a zinc-based, a sodium-sulphur (NaS) and a ow battery. The
case study focuses on a commercial facility, a food supermarket
located in climatic zone E (RDS, 2008).
The total investment and replacement costs are estimated in order
to calculate the cumulated cash ow, the net present value (NPV) and
the internal rate of return (IRR) for the battery energy storage systems
(BESSs) used in load shifting applications. A range of updated investment and replacement costs is considered for each electrochemical
technology, and the economical evaluations are repeated for each
extreme value (minimum and maximum). Furthermore, based on the
capital cost decrease for each BESS technology estimated in the next
ve years, the economic indicators are recalculated and nal considerations are presented. As a further step, a parametric analysis is
carried out under two different assumptions: a) varying the difference
between high and low electricity prices, b) varying the peak demand
charges. The analysis reveals that some electrochemical technologies
are more suitable than others for electric bill management applications and that a prot for the customer can be reached only with a
signicant difference between high and low electricity prices or when
high peak demand charges are applied. Simulation results also show
how the facility power prole varies as a consequence of the storage
operation.
The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 describes the state-of-the art in the electrochemical storage sector. Section 3 provides an overview of stationary electrochemical technologies. Section 4 describes the economic formulation and the operational assumptions. Section 5 presents the case study, showing the
seasonal power proles with and without storage contribution.

NPV
O&M
PCS
PV
RES
SLA
SOC
TEPCO
TOU
TSO
T&D
VRB
VRLA
WACC

127

net present value.

operation and management.
power conversion system.
photovoltaic
renewable energy source.
sealed batteries.
state-of-charge.
Tokyo electric power company.
time-of use.
transmission system operator.
transmission and distribution.
vanadium redox battery.
valve regulated lead-acid.
weighted average cost of capital.

Section 6 describes the simulation results. Finally, Section 7 summarizes the conclusion of the work.

2. State-of-the art
The evaluation of the economic feasibility of a storage system
has been addressed by several authors in the literature. Walawalkar et al. (2007) considered a NaS battery for arbitrage and
ywheels for frequency control in the New York (NY) City region.
The analysis indicates that both energy storage technologies have
a high probability of positive NPV for both energy arbitrage and
regulation. Sioshansi et al. (2009) analyzed the arbitrage value of a
price-taking storage device in the U.S. during a six-year period
from 2002 to 2007, to understand the impact of fuel prices,
transmission constraints, efciency, storage capacity, and fuel mix.
Dufo-Lopez et al. (2009) found that the selling price of the energy
provided by the batteries during peak hours should be between
0.22 and 0.66 /kW h, in order to gain the arbitrage breakeven
point of a windbattery system installed in Spain. Campoccia et al.
(2009) evaluate the effects of the installation of ice thermal ESSs
for cooling on the power daily prole of residential buildings, and
examine the economic repercussions on the electricity billing.
Ekman and Jensen (2010) analyzed a number of large scale electricity storage technologies, concluding that the possible revenues
from arbitrage on the Danish spot market are signicantly lower
than the estimated costs of purchasing an electricity storage system, regardless of the storage technology.
Shcherbakova et al. (2014) simulated the operation of small
storage devices in South Korea, showing that the present market
conditions do not provide sufcient economic incentives for energy arbitrage using NaS or lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. Telaretti
et al. (2014) described the application to a medium-scale public
facility of a simple BESS operating strategy which aims to maximize the arbitrage customer savings, highlighting the variation of
the power prole as a result of the proposed charging strategy. The
battery operating strategy has been further expanded and generalized in Telaretti et al. (2015).
Graditi et al. (2014) and Graditi et al. (2016) have recently evaluated the economic viability of using a Li-ion, a NaS and a vanadium
redox battery (VRB) for TOU applications at a consumer level, when
exible electricity tariffs are applied. A parametric analysis is also
performed by changing the capital cost of the batteries and the difference between the maximum and the minimum electricity price,
revealing that the use of BESSs for TOU applications can be economically advantageous for a medium-scale public institution facility only
if there is a signicant difference between maximum and minimum
electricity prices. Ippolito et al. (2015) evaluated the economic viability

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E. Telaretti et al. / Energy Policy 94 (2016) 126137

of using a NaS battery, referring both to the hourly national prices and
to the zonal electricity prices of the Italian energy market.
In the last years, electrochemical energy storage sector is attracting
the interest of stakeholders, and a large number of storage installations are being deployed all over the word. Figs. 1 and 2 show the
countries leading in terms of cumulated MW installed and number of
electrochemical storage installations (in operational status), respectively.
The U.S. DOE Energy Storage database was used for gathering
the data (Sandia, 2016).
The U.S. is on the rst place with a total estimated power of
385 MW (196 storage installations). Japan is at the second place in
terms of MW installed (97 MW), but at the fourth place in terms of
total number of plants (35 storage installations). China is at the third
place in terms of MW installed (48 MW), at the second in terms of
number of plants (53 storage installations). Follow South Korea with
38 MW, Chile (32 MW), Germany (29 MW), U.K (22 MW), Netherlands (14 MW) and France (11 MW). The other countries are below
10 MW of estimated power. It is worth noting that Chile only has two
battery installations of very big size, while Italy and France show
comparatively a high number of storage installations compared to
their MW capacity (below 10 MW in both countries).
The data shown in Figs. 12 underestimate battery installations,
since decentralized storage plants are not included, due to the
small size and private nature of these infrastructures.
Referring to the specic Italian situation, electrochemical storage systems started to attract attention among stakeholders in
the last years, due to the increasing spread of RES plants in the

country, both PV and wind.

This situation has prompted the Italys Transmission System Operator (TSO) Terna to develop many ESS projects in order to balance
the demand and supply of electricity instantaneously, ensuring the
safe and cost-effective management of the transmission grid. In order
to cope with this new scenario, Terna Storage (a subsidiary of the
Italian TSO) launched an innovative storage investment plan that
consists of two macro-projects: energy-intensive projects and powerintensive projects (Terna Storage, 2016). The power-intensive project
(approved by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development in 2012)
includes a total of 40 MW of stationary energy storage projects of
different technologies, with the main goal to increase the security of
electricity grid in Sicily and Sardinia. The rst phase of the project,
called Storage Lab, includes the installation of different storage
technologies, for a total MW capacity of 16 MW. The electrochemical
technologies include 9.18 MW of different Li-ion batteries, (Lithium
Iron Phosphate, Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminum and Lithium Titanate
batteries), 3.4 MW of sodium-nickel-chloride batteries (also known as
ZEBRA batteries), 1.5 MW of vanadium redox ow batteries and
1.92 MW of electro-chemical capacitors. Based on the results of the
rst phase of the project, additional 24 MW will be installed. They will
include a 20 MW Li-ion battery and a 4 MW sodium-nickel-chloride
battery. The main applications, according to the nomenclature of the
DOE storage database (see appendix A) are: frequency regulation,
electric supply reserve capacity (spinning), voltage support, voltage
regulation, transmission support and black start.
The energy-intensive project was launched in 2011 with the
aim to increase the stability, efciency, exibility and safety of the

Fig. 1. Estimate of battery storage (MW) in the power sector by country (in operational status).

Fig. 2. Number of battery storage in the power sector by country (in operational status).

E. Telaretti et al. / Energy Policy 94 (2016) 126137

power system, allowing a reduction of the electricity costs and a

greater penetration of wind e PV energy into the grid. In order to
achieve this goal, in 2013 Terna signed an agreement with the
Japanese NGK Insulators company (the most important manufacturer of NaS batteries in the word) in order to provide 70 MW
(490 MW h for 7 h of discharge) of NaS batteries for installation in
the Italian transmission grid (NGK Insulators, 2013).This represents the rst large scale NaS battery ESS installation in the
European transmission system.The rst phase of the project includes a total of 34.8 MW of NaS batteries installed in the southern
Italy, for about 100 million euros. The NaS batteries will be used to
stabilize the transmission grid, providing transmission congestion
relief, frequency regulation and voltage support.
In addition to the energy-intensive and the power-intensive
projects, other small-sized electrochemical energy storage projects
were developed in Italy, for several applications. The split of battery projects by application in Italy is shown in Figs. 3 and 4 (according to the storage DOE database), expressed in terms of MW
capacity, for large-sized and small-sized projects, respectively.
In addition to the energy-intensive and the power intensive
projects, Fig. 3 shows a total of 6 MW (3 Li-ion battery projects) for
T&D upgrade deferral and ramping. The three projects are located
in Puglia (SAFT batteries, 2013), Calabria (NEC, 2014) and Sicily
(ABB, 2013) regions (southern Italy). The rst two battery installations are located in areas with a high level of variable and
intermittent power from RES that can cause reverse power ows
on the high voltage (HV)/medium voltage (MV) transformers. Both
ESSs have been connected to primary substations. The battery
storage systems will be used to control the energy ows, reducing
the variability of power exchanges. The third battery project is
housed in three factory-tested containers, two containing the Liion batteries and a third accommodating the power conversion
and energy management systems. It will help to maintain grid
stability, to enhance power quality and to meet peak demand.
Fig. 3 also shows a total of 1.3 MW (2 Li-ion battery projects) for
electric energy time shift and electric supply capacity. The rst
project involves a total investment of 10 million euros for the
realization of one of the rst smart grid in Europe, located in
Isernia (Molise) (IGreenGrid, 2016). The pilot smart grid project
encompasses the integration of renewable sources on low voltage
(LV) and MV networks, equipments installed in homes to allow
customers to monitor their consumption, recharging stations for
electric vehicles and a Li-ion battery system of 0.7 MW of capacity
to optimally regulate the bi-directional ows, also contributing to
the voltage control and peak shaving. The second battery project
includes 0.3 MW (0.6 MW h) of Li-ion battery installed in the
Ventotene island, in the Tyrrhenian Sea (Campania region), directly connected to the distribution network (ENEL, 2014). The Liion battery will be integrated with the diesel generators, in order
to store electricity for use when there are peaks in demand,

129

allowing greater integration of PV energy into the island and enhancing the network exibility.
Fig. 3 also includes 1 MW (1 MW h) of Li-ion battery installed
in Forl(Emilia Romagna region), used to compensate for intermittency and the attenuation of the peaks load, as well as to
support the re-ignition of the electrical system in case of power
failure situations (ENEL, 2013). The project has been realized by
Loccioni Group, with the collaboration of Samsung SDI.
A split of small sized energy storage projects in Italy is shown in
Fig. 4. Storage projects include, among others:

a 180 kW (230 kW h) sodium-nickel-chloride battery, realized

by FIAMM s.p.a. company, to provide on-site power services;

three different ESSs (lithium ion batteries, vanadium redox ow

batteries and ZEBRA batteries) tested at Enel's research facility

in Livorno, for renewable capacity rming and renewable energy time shift applications (ENEL, 2012);
a smart polygeneration microgrid developed by the University
of Genoa for the University campus of Savona, including, among
others, a sodium-nickel-chloride battery of 63 kW (150 kW h)
used for renewable capacity rming and renewable energy time
shift applications (Siemens, 2014);
two Li-ion batteries of 32 kW (32 kW h) each one, realized by
Loccioni Group, with the collaboration of Samsung SDI, to regulate voltage in LV lines (Loccioni, 2016);
a 35 kW (105 kW h) ZEBRA battery installed in a microgrid
storage system located in SantAlberto (Ravenna, Italy), also
including a wind turbine (7 KW) and a PV plant (17 KW), inside
a sheep farm and cheese factory. This ESS guarantees self-sustaining production and independency of the farm from the grid
instability, providing renewable energy time shift, grid-connected commercial (reliability & quality) and onsite renewable
generation shifting (Wikipedia, 2015).

3. Overview of stationary electrochemical energy storages

A wide variety of electrochemical technologies are currently
available for stationary applications, with different performance
and characteristics. The most common technologies are: lead-acid
and advanced lead-acid batteries, Li-ion batteries, high temperature batteries and ow batteries. Zinc based battery is another
promising electrochemistry, although it remains yet unproven in
widespread commercial deployment. The main characteristics and
performance are described in the following sections.
3.1. Lead-acid batteries
Lead-acid batteries are the oldest type of rechargeable battery.
Thanks to their low cost, lead-acid batteries remain widely used in

Fig. 3. Split of large-size battery projects by application in Italy (operational, announced, under construction).

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E. Telaretti et al. / Energy Policy 94 (2016) 126137

Fig. 4. Split of small-size battery projects by application in Italy (operational, announced, under construction).

stationary applications. The main drawbacks of lead-acid batteries

are the low energy density (50 W h/kg), the low cycles number
(often below 500 cycles) and maintenance requirements. Modied
versions of the standard cell have been developed in order to reduce maintenance requirements. They are denoted by valve
regulated lead-acid (VRLA) or more commonly by sealed batteries
(SLA). Unlike the traditional lead-acid batteries, they do not require upright orientation to prevent electrolyte leakage and do not
disperse gas during the charging cycle. More recent versions of
lead-acid batteries can make 2800 cycles at 50% depth-of-discharge (DOD), with a life time up to 17 years (Trojan Battery
Company, 2013). Advanced lead-acid batteries made their appearance since 1970, both in the automotive and in the energy
sector. The main innovation consists in adding ultracapacitors
composed of several layers in one or both electrodes (Pike Research, 2012), in order to improve performances and durability.
Compared to the traditional lead-acid batteries, they have longer
lifecycles, higher charging and discharging efciency and a better
performance under partial state-of-charge (SOC) conditions. They
nd applications in renewable power integration, frequency response and ramping.
3.2. Lithium-ion
The main advantages of Li-ion batteries are the high energy
density (80200 W h/kg), the high power densities, the high
roundtrip efciencies (9095%) and the long lifecycles. Conversely,
they still have high costs and important safety problems, although
companies are currently conducting research in order to reduce
these drawbacks. They offer good characteristics both in power
and energy applications and are extensively used for back-up applications, frequency regulation, utility grid-support applications,
energy management and renewable energy rming. The most
common electrochemistries are: lithium cobalt oxide, lithium iron
phosphate, lithium manganese spinel, lithium nickel cobalt aluminum and lithium nickel manganese cobalt.
3.3. Flow batteries
Flow batteries consist of two separate tanks that contain two
electrolyte solutions circulating in two independent loops. The
external tanks can be sized according to the needs of the user.
When connected to a load, the migration of electrons from the
negative to positive electrolyte solution creates a current. The
main advantages are the long service life, the power/energy design
exibility (the power rating is independent of the energy storage
rating due to the separation between the electrolyte and the

battery stack), the layout exibility, the low standby losses and the
simple cell management. The main drawbacks are the relative high
cost, the parasitic losses (due to the pump working) and the wide
layout areas. The most mature ow battery technologies are vanadium redox and zinc-bromine batteries. The discharge duration
oscillate from 2 to more than 8 h.
3.4. Zinc-air batteries
Zinc-air battery is a metal-air electrochemical cell technology. Zincair batteries are energized only when the atmospheric oxygen is absorbed into the electrolyte through a membrane. Zinc-air batteries are
non-toxic, non-combustible and potentially inexpensive to produce.
They have higher energy density than other type of batteries (since
the atmospheric air is one of the battery reactants) and have a long
shelf life. Conversely, they are sensitive to extreme temperature and
humid conditions. Anyway, the technology remains unproven in
widespread commercial deployment.
3.5. High temperature batteries
High temperature batteries include two main technologies: NaS
battery and sodium-nickel-chloride battery (also known as ZEBRA
battery). Both use an electrolyte solution based on molten salts
and therefore need to operate at high temperatures (from 300 C
to 360 C). Electric heaters are used to reach the operating temperature during the start-up, while the same temperature is
maintained by the joule losses during the normal operation.
NaS battery is a relative mature technology. The electrochemistry
consists of liquid sulphur and sodium separated by an electrolyte in
the form of solid ceramic (beta alumina). NaS batteries nd applications in renewable power integration, T&D grid support and load leveling applications. Originally, thy were developed for electric vehicle
applications. In the last 20 years the technology was modied by
TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) and by the company NGK
Insulators, for the electricity market.
NaS batteries have a limited cycle life (15003000 cycles), high
energy density (150250 W h/kg) and medium charge and discharge efciencies (7590%). Conversely, they have some safety
problems due to the high operating temperature. NaS batteries are
generally used for long discharge periods lasting 6 h or even
longer.
4. Economic analysis
The economic analysis is carried out by calculating the cumulated cash ow, the NPV and the IRR of the investment for each

E. Telaretti et al. / Energy Policy 94 (2016) 126137

BESS technology.
The cash ow, Ct*, generated in the generic year t can be expressed by:

Ct* = Pt

i Ci, t

(1)

where Pt is the customer benet in year t and i Ci, t is the sum of

all the BESS costs, including the initial capital and replacement
costs and the O&M costs.
The customer savings depend on the battery parameters, on
the BESS operation mode, on the demand charges and on the gap
between high and low electricity prices. The yearly customer
benet can be expressed as the sum of all the daily savings, Pd :
365

Pt =

Pd

(2)

d=1

The daily savings are composed by two separate components,

proportional to the consumed energy and to the maximum power
draw, respectively:

Pd = CE , d CE, d =

24

h = 1 ch, d. (Eh, d Eh, d ) +

ckW . P
Nmonth

(3)

where:
ch, d is the electricity cost in hour h of the day d (/kW h-day);.
ckW is the demand charge. Typically demand charges are applied to the maximum demand during a given month, hence units
are /kW-month;.
P is the reduction in the maximum power draw during a given month, resulting from the BESS operation (kW-month);.
Nmonth is the number of days in a month;.
Eh , d , Eh, d are the hourly users consumptions with and without
storage, respectively.
CE , d ,CE, d are the daily customer electricity bills with and without
storage, respectively.
The demand charge component is always present in the electricity bill of commercial and industrial consumers, and it is calculated based on the peak electricity demand during the billing
period. Demand charges are applied by utilities as a way to cover
the xed cost of electricity provision, providing an incentive to
commercial and industrial consumers to reduce their peak
consumption.
The total BESS cost is usually decomposed into three different
components:
initial capital cost of DC components (battery cost);
initial capital cost of AC components (Power Conversion System
- PCS cost);
initial other owners costs (Balance Of Plant - BOP costs).
The total BESS cost, CTOT , expressed in terms of BESS capacity is:
u
u
u
CTOT = CPCS + CSTOR + CBOP = ( CPCS
+ CSTOR
+ CBOP
)CBESS

(4)

where:
CPCS , CSTOR , CBOP are the PCS, the storage and the BOP costs of the
BESS, respectively;.
u
u
u
, CSTOR
, CBOP
are the PCS, the storage and the BOP per unit
CPCS
costs, respectively;.
CBESS is the BESS capacity (in kW h).
After calculating all the costs and all the prots, the discounted
cash ow, Ct , is calculated by:

Ct = Ct*/(1 + j )t

(5)

where j is the weighted average cost of capital (WACC).

Finally, the NPV and IRR indexes are calculated according to
(Telaretti and Dusonchet, 2014).

131

In the calculations, the following assumptions are made:

the project life of all kind of BESS is 10 years and the simulations
are carried out assuming a 10 years reference period (the BESS
replacement costs are neglected);
the annual electricity price escalation rate is neglected;
the WACC is assumed equal to 3%;
the use of the storage device does not inuence the price of
electricity in the energy market;
the battery performs a full charging/discharging cycle per day,
with a DOD 80%;
at the end of each charge/discharge cycle the battery returns to
the initial SOC. Doing so the battery energy constraint is automatically satised, i.e. the storage level cannot exceed the rated
energy capacity of the device, at any time.
In addition to the above mentioned hypotheses, the battery
self-discharge is disregarded and the battery capacity is assumed
constant throughout the battery life, without degradation.

5. Case study
The case study focuses on a commercial property, a food supermarket located in climatic zone E (RDS, 2008). The benet of
using BESS in load shifting applications is obtained estimating the
hourly power diagram of the facility. The latter is shown in Fig. 5,
in winter, summer and shoulder seasons, for weekdays, Sunday
and public holidays, respectively.
The commercial facility is billed through a two-hourly electricity tariff structured as follows:

CF1=0. 3/kWh;

CF 2=0. 15/kWh

(6)

on-peak hours (F1): MondayFriday, from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.

m.;
off-peak hours (F2): Monday- Friday, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.
m.; all day Saturday, Sunday and holidays.
The electricity costs, CF1, CF2, include all components and taxes.
The demand charges are assumed equal to:

CkW =50 /kWyear

(7)

The economical evaluations are carried out assuming that the

BESS is operated only on weekdays (around 250 days per year).
The BESS has been sized in order to maximize the load shifting
benet for the customer, partially offsetting the power diagram
when the electricity prices are the highest (through the battery
discharge) while increasing it in the off-peak periods (through the
battery charging). The optimum condition will be achieved if the
battery is sized so as to completely smooth the customer power
diagram in the day of the year corresponding to the attest power
prole, consistent with the charging/discharging constraints and
with the need to charge during off-peak periods and discharge
during on-peak times. Under this sizing assumption, the storage
will be able to completely level the customer power diagram in the
attest daily usage pattern (assumed coincident with the shoulder
seasons/weekdays daily power prole), while it will produce a
peak shaving effect in all other days. As a consequence of this
statement, the power ow will always be directed from the grid to
the load and the stored energy will only be used for load compensation, without selling to the utility.
Fig. 6. a and b shows the hourly power diagrams of the food
supermarket with and without BESS and the BESS power prole,

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E. Telaretti et al. / Energy Policy 94 (2016) 126137

Fig. 5. Hourly power diagram of the food supermarket, in winter, summer and shoulder seasons, for weekdays, Sunday and public holidays.

Fig. 6. Hourly power diagram of the food supermarket with and without BESS and BESS power prole, a) in shoulder seasons - weekdays; b) in summer - weekdays.

in shoulder seasons/weekdays and summer/weekdays, respectively, under the above mentioned sizing conditions.
Fig. 6a shows that the facility power diagram is attened in
shoulder seasons, except from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., since the BESS is
not allowed to discharge in the off-peak hours. Otherwise, in
summer seasons (Fig. 6b) the BESS only produces a peak shaving
effect on the facility power prole, notwithstanding the power
peak between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m.
The facility power diagrams when the storage is added and the
corresponding BESS power proles for each reference seasonal
period are reported in Fig. 7a and b respectively.
It is worth noting that the power peaks could have been
avoided if the billing period had been chosen according to the
hourly facility power prole. Such a result would be obtained if the
off-peak hours were from 9:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m., as shown in
Fig. 8. The power prole in shoulder seasons/weekdays is, indeed,
perfectly attened is in this case.
Table 1 shows the main operational parameters and the cost of
components for each BESS technology. The BESS costs are updated
to 2015 and derived from (Lazard, 2015).

As shown in Table 1, a range of min-max investment and replacement costs is considered for each electrochemical technology,
and the economic indexes are calculated for each extreme value.
Furthermore, based on the capital cost decrease for each BESS
technology estimated in the next ve years (shown in Table 2)
(Lazard, 2015; IRENA, 2015), the NPV and IRR are recalculated,
assuming the new cost indicators. The simulation results are
summarized in the next Section.

6. Simulations results
Fig. 9a and b shows a comparison of min/max NPV and IRR
values, respectively, for the different electrochemical technologies.
The diagrams show the values of the economic indexes referred
both to 2015 and 2020 BESS prices. The following important
considerations are derived:
at the current BESS prices, none of the considered electrochemical technologies is cost effective. Zinc-based, Li-ion and

E. Telaretti et al. / Energy Policy 94 (2016) 126137

133

Fig. 7. (a) Facility power diagram when the storage is operated; (b) corresponding BESS power prole, for each of the reference seasonal periods.

Fig. 8. Facility power diagram when storage is added and the billing period is chosen according to the hourly facility power prole.

Table 1
Operational parameters and cost components for each BESS technology.

Energy capacity (MW h)

Power rating (kW)
N. cycle per year
DOD per cycle (%)
Project life (years)
Charge/discharge eff. (%)
CuSTOR (/kW h)
CuPCS (/kW h)
CuBOP (/kW h)
O&M costs (/kW h)

Zinc based battery

Li-ion battery

Lead-acid battery

Flow battery

min

max

min

max

min

max

min

max

min

max

2.6
500
250
80
10
72
220
54
41
4.5

80
375
54
64
12.5

91
290
54
51
4.5

93
971
54
153
12.5

86
508
54
85
13.4

86
1750
54
270
51.8

72
223
54
42
3.6

77
910
54
145
27.7

75
380
54
65
9.82

76
1230
54
193
29.5

Table 2
Estimated capital cost decreases (20152020) (Lazard, 2015; IRENA, 2015).

5-year capital
cost decrease

Zinc based
battery

Li-ion
battery

Lead-acid
battery

Flow
battery

NaS
battery

5%

47%

24%

38%

6.5%

ow batteries approach the break-even point (at their maximum

NPV and IRR values);
in 2020, some electrochemical technologies will already be affordable for electric bill management applications, even without

NaS battery

incentives. The Li-ion technology will be the most convenient

technology in 2020, essentially thanks to the sharp cost decrease
expected in the coming years (see Table 2). Also ow batteries
will be cost effective, but at a lesser extent than the Li-ion
technology;
advanced lead-acid and NaS batteries seem to be less convenient. This is essentially due to the relative high cost of both
technologies. NaS battery is a relative mature technology and
the expected cost reduction is limited. Otherwise, advanced
lead-acid battery yet has room for improvement in terms of
performances and lifetime, and a greater reduction of costs is
expected;
zinc based battery approaches the break-even point in both

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E. Telaretti et al. / Energy Policy 94 (2016) 126137

Fig. 9. Comparison of (a) NPV - (b) IRR values, in 2015 and 2020, for the different electrochemical technologies.

Fig. 10. IRR values versus electricity price ratio for the different electrochemical technologies.

Fig. 11. IRR values versus peak demand charge ratio for the different electrochemical technologies.

situations (2015 and 2020). This is essentially due to its potentially low cost, thanks to the abundance of the primary metal.
However, this technology remains currently unproven in widespread commercial deployment.

A parametric analysis is further carried out in order to evaluate

the inuence of the two separate components of the electricity bill
on the breakeven point for each BESS technology. The analysis is
performed under two different assumptions: a) varying the

E. Telaretti et al. / Energy Policy 94 (2016) 126137

difference between high and low electricity prices, b) varying the

peak demand charges.
The following two indices have been dened:

k=

CF1
CF 2

(8)

h=

h
CkW
CkW

(9)

where k is the electricity price ratio, h is the peak demand charge

h is the parametric value of the peak demand charges and
ratio, CkW
CkW the reference value dened in (7). In other words, the difference between maximum and minimum electricity prices (electricity prices ratio) is assumed variable according to the k index.
The peak demand charges are assumed variable according to the h
index.
Figs. 10 and 11 show the IRR for different values of k and h
indexes, respectively. Peak demand charge reductions have been
calculated assuming a power prole perfectly attened, as shown
in Fig. 8.
It is important to remark that zinc-based, Li-ion and ow batteries appear once again the most convenient electrochemical
technologies for load shifting applications. Advanced lead acid and
NaS batteries do not approach the breakeven point even when the
electricity price ratio and the peak demand charge ratio take the
highest values. Furthermore, the IRR value appears to be more
sensitive to the electricity price ratio rather than the peak demand
charge ratio. This is essentially because the energy component has
a greater impact on the electricity bill than the power component.

7. Conclusion and policy implications

This work focuses on the economic viability of stationary battery systems from the point of view of the electricity customer. The
analysis refers to a Li-ion, an advanced lead-acid, a zinc-based, a
NaS and a ow battery. The total investment and replacement
costs are estimated in order to calculate the cumulated cash ow,
the NPV and the IRR of the investment. A parametric analysis is
further carried out under two different assumptions: a) varying

135

the difference between high and low electricity prices, b) varying

the peak demand charges.
The analysis reveals that some electrochemical technologies are
more suitable than others for electric bill management applications and that, at the current BESS prices, none of the considered
electrochemical technologies is cost effective. Zinc-based, Li-ion
and ow batteries appear to be the most convenient (thanks to the
higher values of NPV and IRR indexes). Conversely, advanced leadacid and NaS batteries seem to be less convenient, essentially
because of the relative high cost of both technologies. The analysis
also reveals that in 2020 some electrochemical technologies will
already be affordable for electric bill management applications,
even without subsidies. The Li-ion technology will be the most
convenient technology in 2020, essentially thanks to the sharp
cost decrease expected in the coming years.
The parametric analysis also reveals that a prot for the customer can be reached only with a signicant difference between
high and low electricity prices or when high peak demand charges
are applied.
The results of the present paper highlight the need to foster the
reduction of storage costs, in order to make more protable the
use of BESS in load shifting applications. The reduction of storage
costs will be made possible only dening new rules in the electric
regulatory policy and introducing support measures for the development of BESS, such as capital subsidies, tax credit, etc. Some
countries have already started to introduce supporting measures
for stationary energy storages, such as Japan, Germany and several
U.S. states. The results of the present paper will allow to gain an
insight into the future of possible energy policies in the storage
sector and to predict how the storage market could evolve in
different countries. In a future work the authors will extend the
technical economic analysis to an active electricity customer
(prosumer), equipped with RES plants such as PV or wind energy.
The benet for the end-user will be evaluated in presence of
exible electricity tariffs, under the assumption that the energy
ows in both directions.

Appendix A
See Appendix Table A1.

Table A1
-Description of energy storage applications according to the DOE database
Black Start
Distributed upgrade due to solar

Distributed upgrade due to wind

Electric Bill Management

Electric Bill Management with Renewables
Electric Energy Time Shift
Electric Supply Capacity

Electric Supply Reserve Capacity - NonSpinning

Electric Supply Reserve Capacity - Spinning

Frequency Regulation
Grid Connected Commercial (Reliability &

A black start is the process of restoring a power station to operation without relying on the external electric power
transmission network.
Use of a relatively small amount of modular storage to: a) defer the need to replace or to upgrade existing distribution
equipment or b) to increase the equipment's existing service life (life extension), in presence of a high penetration of
PV energy in the power grid.
Use of a relatively small amount of modular storage to: a) defer the need to replace or to upgrade existing distribution
equipment or b) to increase the equipment's existing service life (life extension), in presence of a high penetration of
wind energy in the power grid.
Energy storage used by end-use customers in a variety of facets to reduce electric bills.
Energy storage used by end-use customers in a number of facets, and in conjunction with renewable generation resources, to reduce electric bills
Energy time shift involves storing energy during low price times, and discharging during high price times.
Depending on the circumstances in a given electric supply system, energy storage could be used to defer and/or to
reduce the need to buy new central station generation capacity and/or to rent generation capacity in the wholesale
electricity marketplace.
Generation capacity that may be ofine, or that comprises a block of curtailable and/or interruptible loads, and that can
be available within 10 min. Unlike spinning reserve capacity, non-spinning reserve capacity is not synchronized with
the grid (frequency). Non-spinning reserves are used after all spinning reserves are online.
Generation capacity that is online but unloaded and that can respond within 10 minutes to compensate for generation
or transmission outages. Frequency-responsive spinning reserve responds within 10 seconds to maintain system
frequency. Spinning reserves are the rst type used when a shortfall occurs.
Frequency regulation involves moment-to-moment reconciliation of the supply of electricity and the demand for
electricity. The reconciliation is done every few seconds.
The electric reliability application entails use of energy storage to provide highly reliable electric service. In the event of

136

E. Telaretti et al. / Energy Policy 94 (2016) 126137

Table A1 (continued )
Quality)

Grid-Connected Residential (Reliability)

Load Following

On-site Power
Onsite Renewable Generation Shifting
Ramping
Renewable Capacity Firming

Renewable Energy Time-shift

Stationary T&D Upgrade Deferral

Transmission Congestion Relief

Transmission Support
Transmission upgrades due to solar

Transmission upgrades due to wind

Transportable T&D Upgrade Deferral

Voltage Support
Demand response

Resiliency
Transportation Services

a complete power outage lasting more than a few seconds, the storage system provides enough energy to a) ride
through outages of extended duration or b) to complete an orderly shutdown of processes, c) transfer to on-site
generation resources. The electric power quality application involves use of energy storage to protect loads downstream against short duration events which affect the quality of power delivered to the load.
The electric reliability application entails use of energy storage to provide highly reliable electric service. In the event of
a complete power outage lasting more than a few seconds the storage system provides enough energy to a) ride
through outages of extended duration or b) to complete an orderly shutdown of processes, c) transfer to on-site
generation resources.
Load following resources output changes in response to the changing balance between electric supply (primarily
generation) and end user demand (load) within a specic region or area, over timeframes ranging from minutes to a
few hours.
Energy storage provides power on-site when the grid is not energized.
Energy storage to perform renewables energy time-shifting for end-use customers that generate renewable power
onsite.
Changing the loading level of a generating unit in a constant manner over a xed time (e.g., ramping up or ramping
down). Such changes may be directed by a computer or manual control.
Use of storage to mitigate rapid output changes from renewable generation due to: a) wind speed variability affecting
wind generation and b) shading of solar generation due to clouds. It is important because these rapid output changes
must be offset by other dispatchable generation.
Centralized or distributed Electric Energy Time Shifting specically related to the uncontrollable nature of renewable
generation.
The T&D Upgrade Deferral benet is related to the use of a relatively small amount of modular storage to: a) defer the
need to replace or to upgrade existing T&D equipment or b) to increase the equipment's existing service life (life
extension).
In this application, storage systems are installed at locations that are electrically downstream from the congested
portion of the transmission system. Energy is stored when there is no transmission congestion, and discharged (during
peak demand periods) to reduce transmission capacity requirements.
Energy storage used for transmission support improves T&D system performance by compensating for electrical
anomalies and disturbances such as voltage sag, unstable voltage, and sub-synchronous resonance.
Use of a relatively small amount of modular storage to: a) defer the need to replace or to upgrade existing transmission
equipment or b) to increase the equipment's existing service life (life extension), in presence of a high penetration of
PV energy in the power grid.
Use of a relatively small amount of modular storage to: a) defer the need to replace or to upgrade existing transmission
equipment or b) to increase the equipment's existing service life (life extension), in presence of a high penetration of
wind energy in the power grid.
In addition to what said for Stationary T&D Upgrade Deferral, transportable systems can be moved to where they are
needed most on the grid.
The purpose of voltage support is to offset reactive effects so that grid system voltage can be restored or maintained.
Changes in electric usage by end-use customers from their normal consumption patterns in response to changes in the
price of electricity over time, or to incentive payments designed to induce lower electricity use at times of high
wholesale market prices or when system reliability is jeopardized
Ability of an energy system to tolerate disturbances and to continue to deliver affordable energy services to consumers.
Energy storage used in transportation applications

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