A Techno-economic Analysis on Spinning Reserve Services of Battery Energy Storage Systems for Thermal

Some new battery energy storage techniques are suitable for spinning reserve services for thermal power plants due to their quick response to millisecond time scale adequate to balance instantaneous load fluctuation. Technical and economic performances of three kinds of batteries including lithium ion battery, sodium-sulfur battery and vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) are discussed as illustrations of standby supply of thermal power plants. As the spinning reserve power sources, they can achieve remarkable economic benefits in the life cycle despite their high power costs and energy costs. The reserve capacity of battery energy storage systems can improve generation rates of thermal power plants, decline gross coal consumption rates, decrease generating cost and the emission of carbon dioxide and pollutants, thus playing a significant role in energy conservation and emission reduction.