A BESS (or Battery Energy Storage System) is a type of energy storage system that captures energy from various sources and stores it in rechargeable batteries for future use. Depending on its capacity, measured in Kilowatt-hours (kWh), and its power, measured in Kilowatts (kW), it can be used to supply a large number of applications, supplying energy to homes, vehicles, industrial facilities and businesses. Although in some cases they can operate in isolation, they are usually connected to the distribution network.
What is the difference between BESS and ESS?
Both BESS and ESS are acronyms from English that respectively mean Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) or Energy Storage System (ESS). The main difference is that BESS systems use electrochemical batteries as a storage medium, while ESS is a more generic term, which does not distinguish the medium used to store energy, whether chemical, thermal, kinetic or gravitational.
What is a BESS for?
.Its main function is to store electrical energy for later use at another time of greatest need. This translates into a contribution of flexibility to the installation that integrates it, whether local or the electrical system to which it is connected, since it allows generation and demand to be balanced efficiently.
What benefits does the use of BESS offer?
The use of BESS offers multiple benefits:
- Economic benefit: providing storage to a self-consumption photovoltaic installation, would allow surplus energy to be stored for use after the moment of production, where production is low or non-existent. This allows savings by reducing or avoiding the purchase of energy in periods of high demand and higher prices. Or also generating income by moving the sale of surpluses to the moment when the purchase price is higher.
- Technical benefit: using storage to increase the available power at an access point with network congestion or when the increase in contracted power requires a costly expansion of the distribution network infrastructure. This can occur at gas stations/electro stations, which when they want to incorporate electric vehicle chargers see that they do not have enough power to carry out fast charges, which affects the charging time of their customers.
- Environmental benefits: by allowing greater use of renewable generation, which reduces dependence on fossil fuels. At a technical level, they are a viable substitute for combined cycle turbines, which are currently used to support the grid when there are peaks in demand, but which are emitters of greenhouse gases. Furthermore, compared to other traditional storage methods, such as hydraulic pumping, BESS has a lower environmental impact by requiring less use of space, less water consumption, less landscape impact and less impact on the surrounding flora and fauna.
How are BESS storage systems classified?
According to their power, BESS storage systems can be separated by sectors:
- Network, with powers from 5MW to hundreds of MW. They provide flexibility to the transportation network, balancing generation and demand.
- Commercial and Industrial, from 30kW to 5MW. In facilities such as hospitals, universities, the public sector or large shopping centers, among others.
- Residential, for domestic applications with powers between 3 and 15kW. Greater powers can also occur in shared self-consumption or small businesses.
Vector Energy already offers a Residential Storage solution with its range of SUNVEC Hybrid inverters: with 3, 5 and 7.5kW single-phase inverters and 5, 10 and 15kW three-phase inverters. Both versions are compatible with two battery models; the 3kWh SUNBAT-30, for configurations up to 12kWh. The 5.8kWh SUNBAT-58, for configurations up to 23.2kWh.
The optimal application of a BESS will depend on its scale and this is linked to its connection point with respect to the public distribution network:
- In-Front-of-the-Meter: For large-scale applications where storage participates in wholesale markets or provides support services (or ancillary services).
- Behind the meter: (or Behind-the-Meter) For residential, commercial or industrial applications, where the storage is located within a private network, behind the meter of the Distribution company.
Why install a BESS in industrial facilities?
The price of energy is a determining factor, especially for large industrial consumers with production processes.
A high or unpredictable energy cost affects the competitiveness of the production plant, which is why more and more companies implement energy efficiency measures. In many cases, renewable generation has been installed, such as photovoltaic roofs, to reduce energy costs. The next step is to incorporate storage into these facilities, to obtain the following benefits:
- Greater operational flexibility (use energy when required)
- Greater use of surpluses (export reduction)
- Lower transmission losses
- Better network quality
- Greater security of supply.
- Lower carbon footprint
What are the most common batteries in the new BESS?
The most common Energy Storage Systems (or SAE) are those that use electrochemical batteries, particularly with lithium ion-based cells due to their energy density and efficiency. Configurations currently used:
- NMC (lithium-nickel-cobalt-aluminum oxide or LiNiMnCoO2)
- NCA (lithium-nickel-cobalt-aluminum oxide or LiNiCoAlO2)
- LTO (Lithium Titanate or Li4Ti5O12)
- LFP (lithium iron phosphate or LiFePO4)
The latter, despite not being the best in terms of technical performance, has satisfactory performance in stationary applications and is one of the safest at a thermal level, as it does not overheat as much and does not release oxygen during combustion. Therefore, it has favored its adoption for both stationary and electromobility applications.
What changes are expected for the BESS in 2024?
Over the next 12 months, changes are expected in the Spanish electricity market, such as a new Capacity Market and new storage auctions are also being studied, both for new and existing installations. This will offer new, more stable and predictable amortization paths, which will stimulate the investment and profitability of these technologies.
Eduard Sanz,
Product Manager VECTOR Energy.
More information about BESS SUNVEC Storage
Contact us for more information or to ask any questions:
Tel. Office: 935 748 206
Tel. SAT Sunvec: 937 617 771