Usage of Battery Energy Storage Systems to Defer Substation Upgrades

Electricity is generated and distributed instantaneously. In electricity utilities, this is occasionally an enormous amount of wasted capacity. Illegal connections may contribute to overloads and trips, as the network is carrying more users than what it was designed for. Before substation upgrades may take place, new and existing consumers who need additional electricity are rejected, due to capacity constraints in existing substations. The installation of large scale battery energy storage systems may support the long-term carbon mitigation strategy of South Africa, to transition to a low carbon economy. The aim of this paper is to propose a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) design that may lead to costly network upgrade deferral and reduced demand charges.