Integrating vanadium redox flow batteries with large-scale wind power

Abstract: Vanadium redox flow batteries have, in previous studies, shown to have great potential for large-scale energy storage applications. Due to their beneficial characteristics, such as long lifetime, safety and flexible sizing the technology could be used for several different applications. In this study, the economic and technological feasibility of integrating a vanadium redox flow battery with a 100 MW wind farm is assessed. Different applications and operating schedules were tested. Simulating models have been built using conditional statements or linear optimisation and solved in MATLAB. Results suggested that a model which stacked power levelling with frequency regulation had the highest profitability. For this model the payback time was shown to be 10 years and the net present value was around 1.2 M€ for a 5 MW/10 MWh battery. However, the battery had around 820 annual charge/discharge cycles, which could be a limiting factor of the battery’s lifetime. A sustainability assessment was carried out which concluded that the battery can be seen as sustainable, given that the battery is manufactured and operated under safe conditions.