Economic evaluation of energy storage options in a microgrid with Flexible Distribution of Energy and Storage resources

In this paper, an economic evaluation is carried out for energy storage options in an industrial microgrid comprising four distributed energy resources (DERs). It is assumed that each DER unit is accompanied by Li-ion battery and/or supercapacitor for load following under islanded mode of operation. Cost estimates are made for different energy storage options based on present value of life cycle cost. The cost calculations use published information from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Sandia National Laboratories, and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Two different scenarios of project life, viz., 20 and 30 years, are covered. The economic advantage of using the Flexible Distribution of EneRgy and Storage resources (FDERS) framework in microgrid operation is analyzed.