Large-scale battery storage, short-term market outcomes, and arbitrage Articles uri icon

authors

  • LAMP, STEFAN ANDREAS
  • SAMANO, MARIO

publication date

  • March 2022

start page

  • 1

end page

  • 16

issue

  • 105786

volume

  • 107

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0140-9883

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1873-6181

abstract

  • The expansion of the share of renewable energy in the portfolio mix of the electricity generation sector has accelerated the development and integration of large-scale battery storage facilities. We document charging and discharging patterns in the California market and show how the utility-scale batteries' activity correlates with load and real-time prices during 2018 and 2019. The empirical findings are partially consistent with the optimal solution of an arbitrage maximizer, indicating that battery owners respond to price incentives only at certain hours of the day. In addition, we provide evidence that battery deployment in the years 2013 through 2017 lowered average intra-day wholesale price spreads and that current market conditions limit the profitability of batteries in this market.

subjects

  • Economics
  • Environment
  • Renewable Energies

keywords

  • battery storage; electricity markets; renewable energy; equilibrium prices