Battery System Augmentation: Optimizing Initial Deployment and Augmentation

Corrie Austin, Segment Manager – Solar • Dynapower

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One of the most important factors for Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) equipment costs is optimal battery sizing, which is heavily influenced by sizing for Beginning of Life (BOL) versus End of Life (EOL) and/or future augmentation.  As battery vendors and integrators respond to a rapidly evolving market, it is important to factor in as much flexibility as possible for planned augmentation. When this balance is optimized, it is possible to reduce initial deployment capital equipment costs and reduce overall kWh of batteries deployed over life of the project (in some cases). Augmentation strategies addressed in this presentation include DC-Coupled via DC-DC converter and augment behind existing PCS with battery shuffling. Generally speaking, some projects are better-suited for augmentation (as opposed to EOL sizing) than others, and some battery configurations lend themselves toward ease of future augmentation.  This discussion will provide project owners and developers the optimizing augmentation strategies for energy storage projects, as well as the pros and cons of differing scenarios, as well as which project types are best-suited for each method.   

 

Corrie Austin brings over fifteen years of experience managing people, projects, and sales to Dynapower’s Clean Energy Group.  Over the last four years at Dynapower, she has driven the successful execution and deployment of many multi-MW battery energy storage projects and implemented the first to market DC to DC converter for PV plus Storage applications. 

 

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