Work performed during the project and overview of the results:
Identifying the services offered leveraging on distributed storage for ELSA, these included both potential envisioned services and actual services that could be implemented at the project timeframe conclusion, depending on the regulatory situations. The Use Cases describe in detail the specific ELSA functionalities and the set of possible sequences of interactions between ELSA systems and other actors.
A baseline was also defined for ICT infrastructure. Starting from existing energy management systems, extensions were identified to evolve towards several ELSA integrated ICT platforms adapted to each local situation.
A regulatory and normative analysis have been carried out from international standards to national laws in six European countries of the ELSA consortium (France, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and Ireland) to identify and assess potential regulatory barriers and possible normative gaps for preparing future regulatory and normative framework to better promote the development of electricity storage solutions, an essential contributor to the low carbon grid.
The flexibility potential of each test site through an off-line assessment, implemented prior to deployment of the ICT platform, was done to give an indication of the range of flexibilities available at each pilot site and was tested successfully during the last period of the project.
The storage system has been deployed on six pilot sites (Germany, UK, Italy and France), three pilot sites have been retrofitted with the final storage and converter system to test it and obtain results.
Design of the storage system:
Starting from the existing architecture, the aim was to design for a mass production and test a new power converter for the ELSA storage System able to implement the different Use Case defined for the project. Different architectures were analyzed with potential suppliers to find the most appropriate in term of technical functions and cost. A converter system fully adapted to handle directly the 2nd life EV batteries was developed, tested on 3 pilot sites and is now fully operational, including the provision of grid services.
The cost of this new system produced industrially will be approximately one fourth of the cost of the initial pilots used during the project.
Scalable ICT platform for storage and grid services management:
Four Scalable ICT platforms for storage and grid services management have been developed and tested on the different test sites during 2017and 2018.
Installation and maintenance of the distributed storage systems:
Installation and commissioning requirements for the storage systems have been studied.
Safety considerations have been analysed in collaboration with inspection services, leading to the redaction of a Safety Concept document.
The storage system has been deployed on six pilot sites (Germany, UK, Italy and France), three pilot sites have been retrofitted with the final storage and converter system to test it and obtain results.
Economic and environmental impact assessment:
The market potential of the battery systems in the 5 countries of the project (UK, Spain, Germany, Italy and France) have been investigated and an assessment of the economic impact on the overall electricity system has been made. Operating ELSA battery storage systems can create significant benefits for the overall electricity system worth 2-3 times their cost. The study on the environmental impact shows that benefits in the operation phase out weight environmental costs of the other phases. In addition, ELSA systems have a clear environmental advantage over systems with new batteries.
