Grid connection limitations and their impacts on BESS development

One of the main limiting factors for BESS development in Europe is the access to the grid. Indeed, with large amounts of renewable projects being deployed, the grids accommodation capacity is reaching saturation in almost all European countries. Finding the correct grid connection option for a BESS project is therefore on the critical path of any BESS developer, typically with an even stronger priority than finding a suitable land plot.

As grid connection requests multiply, grid operators tend to propose flexible grid connection options, in which the grid operator has the right to temporarily constraint the charge or discharge capability of the BESS. These flexible connection offers are a positive step towards BESS deployment, as they largely increase the number and capacity of grid connection points available to connect a BESS.

However, these flexible options also create more complexity in terms of project development, as :

• Information provided by the grid operators are usually partial, and provide only a number of hours during which the grid connection can be unavailable to charge and discharge
• The scenarios considered by grid operators are often maximal ones, aiming at determining the upper bound of the limitations to which the project can be subject to
• The grid limitations are stochastic by nature, as they are caused by either demand variations, renewable intermittency or equipment failure on the grid infrastructure
• The evolution of these limitations is uncertain and highly dependent on the future grid upgrades

All these factors make the analysis of a given project much more difficult. The objective of this webinar is to provide possible solutions on how to outcome these uncertainties. In particular, the webinar will tackle the following topics:

• What are the causes for limitations, and how can these limitations be anticipated through publicly available data
• How to build a realistic limitation scenario to be considered in a business model
• What is the impact of a given number of limitations on a project’s profitability
• How does the presence of limitations in a given project be contemplated in the agreement with the Route to Market provider

Clean Horizon will share its observations and industry best practices used to continue developing storage projects despite this additional complexity.

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