Implementation of Energy Storage in MV distribution networks – A Cost/Benefit Analysis in the Italian regulatory framework

The content of the paper describes the main results of a project for the Cost/Benefit Analysis (CBA) of the energy storage integration in the Italian MV distribution system. Firstly, the potential services offered by Energy Storage Systems (ESSs) have been selected and ad hoc metrics have been formulated to quantify these benefits. Then, an agreed procedure has been defined for determining the cases when an ESS integration project has a cost lower than the benefits it can provide. It consists of three steps: 1. A Multi-Objective (MO) optimization finds the Pareto set of ESS configurations on MV networks, characterized by different locations, rates and daily energy schedules. The MO approach avoids assigning different weights to the single objective functions and defining a priori market rules. The optimization has been applied to the representative networks of the MV Italian distribution system, in order to strengthen the general validity of the results. 2. By using suitable monetization assumptions and fixing a discount rate, a CBA is performed on the results of the MO optimization in order to assess the effective implementation of ESSs. 3. Clustering techniques identify MV network classes where ESSs of specific characteristics are able to provide with a reasonable probability a positive balance between benefits and costs. The results, summarized in simple look-up tables, can be used to recognise immediately the acceptability of ESS allocation projects without additional assessments and proofs. The projects that appear unsuitable from these tables can be related to not-ordinary conditions and, thus, their adequacy have to be demonstrated by the proponents with specific analyses that uses the same metrics adopted in this study.