The Customer Need
As renewable energy resources continue to grow, grid operators, utilities, and investors face significant challenges in evaluating the viability of long-duration energy storage (LDES) solutions. They must weigh the benefits of LDES against other commercial alternatives, such as battery energy storage systems (BESS), to identify the most reliable, cost effective solution.
To make informed decisions, they need to:
Quantify the economic value and grid impact of different LDES alternatives, comparing different technologies and configurations.
Identify the optimal locations for deployment to maximize renewable energy utilization and minimize curtailment.
Assess LDES viability in providing capacity reserves and replacing or reducing fossil-fuel generation .
Develop investment cases for regulatory approval and financing.
Without robust modeling tools, there is a risk high financial exposure when investing in LDES solutions without clear projections of revenues, costs, and system benefits.
The encoord Solution
encoord's software SAInt (the Scenario Analysis Interface for Energy Systems) provides a integrated approach to LDES asset evaluation, offering:
Flexible Storage Configuration: Charging, discharging, and storage capacities are independently defined, offering users full flexibility to customize various LDES configurations and operational modes to suit specific needs.
Grid-wide Simulations: SAInt models entire electricity networks, demonstrating how storage technologies integrate with existing and future grid conditions.
Market-Based Revenue Analysis: SAInt forecasts energy storage profitability under various
price and policy scenarios, helping investors validate business cases.
Curtailment Reduction & Grid Stability: By modeling charging/discharging cycles, SAInt quantifies how LDES optimizes the use of renewable (or other low cost) energy and stabilizes intermittent supply.
Policy & Investment Insights: The platform enables stakeholders to test different market conditions, seasonal behaviors, CO₂ pricing scenarios, and ancillary service revenue streams to optimize decision-making.
The Industry Value
By providing robust simulation of LDES performance, as well as financial insights, SAInt enables energy sector players to:
Drive Decarbonization: Minimize reliance on gas-fired generation by modeling LDES as a cleaner alternative.
Technology Comparison:
Enables the comparison of LDES with other commercial options, such as BESS, and potential grid expansions to identify optimal solutions based on the grid's seasonal requirements.
Enhance Grid Reliability: Ensure renewables contribute consistently to the grid, reducing variability risks.
Inform Policy & Investment Decisions: Support market reforms that incentivize LDES adoption, aligning regulations with emerging storage needs.
Expand Energy Storage Business Cases: Model and outline revenue models that strengthen funding strategies for energy storage projects.
As LDES technologies continue to scale, asset evaluation with SAInt will be critical in shaping the next generation of low-carbon, cost-efficient energy systems.
