PNNL

Abstract

An enticing prospect that drives adoption of energy storage systems (ESS) is its ability to be used in a diverse set of use cases and the potential to take advantage of multiple unique value streams. The Energy Storage Grand Challenge (ESGC) technology development pathways for storage technologies draw from a set of use cases in the electrical power system, each with their own specific cost and performance needs. In addition to the need for cost and performance improvements for storage technologies, there a need for robust valuation methods to enable effective policy, investment, business models, and resource planning. There are numerous storage valuation tools available to the public, many of which can analyze the value of an ESS project with inputs and characteristics that reflect a specific storage use case. To effectively reach ESS stakeholders that may be interested in learning about valuation models, this report will draw from publicly available tools developed by the Department of Energy (DOE) and frame their functionalities and capabilities within the context of three distinct use case families. This report examines three of the ESGC use case families in depth and provides a methodology in which interested stakeholders can determine which DOE modeling tool is best suited to value ESS for their specific case. The high-level objectives for this report include: • Provide specific sub use-cases for each use case family for further characterization • Provide technical parameters and relevant data for three example use cases that could be used in a valuation tool • Identify a list of publicly available DOE tools that can provide energy storage valuation insights for ESS use case stakeholders • Provide information on the capabilities and different options in each modeling tool • Make conclusions on which are best suited for valuing certain functional/performance requirements and which tools might be applicable to other use cases • Show the methodology that informs a Model Selection Platform (MSP) framework that educates stakeholders on different DOE models and provides a streamlined way to choose the right model that most closely matches their needs.