Cost Effectiveness of Energy Storage to Manage Wind Variability’s Impact on the Electrical Grid

This paper examines the cost-effectiveness of a battery energy storage system for the 135-MW Pine Tree Wind Power project in Southern California. A neural network model was used to represent the wind load shifting and wind smoothing performance demands on a 10-MW/20-MWh battery array according to four actual ramp events recorded at the wind farm. The economic performance of such a system is also studied by way of a cash flow analysis over the assumed 20-year life of the battery array.