Evaluation of the Economic Benefits of Community Energy Storage Systems for Prosumers

By comparing four different energy trading schemes (ETSs), this paper evaluates how placing and sizing a community energy storage system (CES) impacts the economic benefits for prosumers in a low-voltage grid. First, we consider an ETS where prosumers trade energy with the grid and the CES, second, an ETS where prosumers trade energy only with the grid, third, an ETS where prosumers trade energy only with the CES, and fourth, an ETS where prosumers with batteries trade energy only with the grid, and prosumers without batteries, trade energy with the grid and the CES. To size and place a CES under the four ETSs, we formulate mixed-integer linear optimization problems which minimize the operating costs (i.e., the cost of trading energy with the grid and/or the CES) of prosumers. Our experiments on a grid with 10 prosumers with batteries, and 20 prosumers without batteries show that the ETS where prosumers can trade energy with both the grid and CES, is the most profitable scheme, allowing prosumers to reduce their annual operating costs by 73% compared to the ETS, which delivers the least economic benefits.