Integrating battery storage into Croatia’s power grid is economically viable and can pay back in approximately ten years, according to a study presented at SolarFlex Croatia. The researchers simulated storage across three scenarios on an hourly basis over a full year, using a regional model of the south-east European electricity market that includes all generation units and the full transmission network topology. “Battery systems contribute to reducing system costs by three to fifteen percent, depending on the scenario,” said Dražen Balić, one of the authors of the study.
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Less curtailment for solar and wind plants
Balić focused on the study’s assessment of the economic viability of battery storage. This is primarily driven by reduced grid bottlenecks and the resulting improved integration of renewable energy. Without storage, wind and solar power plants must be curtailed during periods of grid congestion, meaning energy that could have been produced is lost. Batteries absorb surplus energy during these periods and feed it back into the grid when demand is higher.
Potential for higher revenues
This surplus underpins the calculated payback period of around ten years, which is based solely on system savings from bottleneck reduction. Additional income can be generated from operating the storage systems, such as arbitrage trading on the electricity market or providing grid services. The actual payback period could therefore be shorter.
Croatia – storage shaping the grid flexibility agenda
Storage serves system stability first
The market analysis also indicates that batteries are primarily deployed for system stabilisation rather than for profit through market arbitrage. The simulation revealed numerous hours in which one storage system was charging while another was discharging. This suggests that both systems were operating to resolve grid bottlenecks rather than to optimise prices, explained Dražen Balić.
In the next part of the series on the Croatian storage study, we examine how large battery power plants can influence the expansion of renewable energy facilities. The first instalment analysed which locations are strategically favourable for building storage systems. The complete study is currently available in Croatian for download on the website of the Croatian Renewable Energy Association (OIEH). An English-language version is in progress. (su)
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