Sizing BESS for a peak shaving and valley filling control strategy for residential consumers based on their load-duration curves

Abstract:
Driven by the renewable energy transition and the increasing penetration of distributed generation on the distribution grid, many countries are rethinking their electricity tariff structures. The focus is shifting towards capacity-based grid tariffs, with users being charged more for their peak demands in order to make the tariff structure more cost-reflective. However, a group of residential consumers will be subjected to changing grid tariffs without established technologies, e.g. PV. To lower their invoice, they can only change their consumption behaviour via e.g. load shifting, as not all rooftops are suitable for PV installations. Consequently, this work investigates the sizing of battery storage systems for peak shaving purposes at the level of the individual household in the absence of local generation. We propose using the analytic form of the load-duration curve to determine the peak shaving threshold. The results show that on average under the proposed sizing methodology, the battery remains idle for more than 95% of the time while realising a mean monthly peak reduction of 50%. Therefore, the battery could and should provide additional services through aggregators at the low-voltage level, which would provide necessary complementary revenue streams that make such a system economically viable.