According to Litgrid, Lithuanian electricity transmission system operator, when the Baltic balancing market begins to operate in 2025, up to 1,512 MW of electricity capacity will be ordered.
The Baltic operators estimate that from 2025 to 2031, the demand for automatic frequency restoration reserves will grow from 134 MW to 193 MW, and from 677 MW to 1,112 MW for manual frequency restoration reserves. So far, grid capacity in the countries would be sufficient, but there would be periods when excess solar and wind energy would need to be stored somewhere. To this end, businesses are being encouraged to invest in smart batteries that help balance energy volumes during surplus or shortage.
A team at Inion Software has developed an artificial intelligence-based e-tool to determine how much it would cost companies in the three Baltic States to have smart batteries, how long it would take for the storage devices to pay for themselves, and whether it would be possible to earn extra money from them.
Inion Software analysed a 1MW/1MWh smart battery costing €730,000. Batteries with this kind of capacity are normally used at larger factories. The study covered three regions: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
Artificial intelligence analysed the storage devices according to three possible operating scenarios.
– Electricity is bought and sold only at Nord Pool exchange prices;
– Electricity is bought at Nord Pool exchange prices and sold at Nord Pool or balancing market prices;
– Electricity is bought at Nord Pool or balancing market prices and sold at Nord Pool or balancing market prices.
„Our study was based on electricity price data for the past 12 months. The results show that the battery would be the fastest to pay for itself and give the highest return in Estonia. In this region, the storage device would pay for itself in two years and earn the company an additional €213,000 in just over six months by selling the stored electricity to Nord Pool. In Lithuania, a battery like this would pay for itself in 2.3 years and could generate another €163,000 in revenue in the remaining 0.6 years,“ said Dr Robertas Janickas of Inion Software.
Inion Software’s calculations also showed that the storage device would allow business to remain highly competitive by using electricity from the grid when it is cheap and not using it when prices are up. This would help manage the company’s costs significantly.
