Project Summary
The urgent need for an affordable shore power solution in ports is driven by the increasing number of electric and hybrid vessels that require significant power supply while berthed. Connecting directly to the port’s DNO sub-station can result in high energy costs during periods of peak demand. To address this issue, energy storage systems (ESS) can be installed in ports, enabling time-shifting of heavy loads to times of low demand and low prices. However, the optimal ESS capacity and type remain uncertain. The ESSOP project aims to evaluate candidate ESS options and simulate their performance under realistic usage scenarios. This will assist ports in selecting the most suitable and cost-effective ESS for deployment before 2030.
Project Achievements
The project has successfully modelled the operation of different storage types under a range of duty cycles, and with varying levels of in-port PV solar generation. Real-world wholesale electricity price data and PV solar productivity, alongside battery cost and performance data from desk research, has been used. A levelized cost of energy delivered by storage algorithm has been developed, including PV solar. This shows a wide variation of delivered energy cost depending on the duty cycle, including use-cases where optimised battery storage and PV solar achieve a cost lower than £200 per MWh. Communications activity has attracted a useful level of interest in the ESSOP capability. Collaboration with a first-mover harbour authority has been established, considering how ESSOP could inform their ongoing decarbonisation investments
Conclusions
• In-port battery storage can offer a cost-effective solution to port energy management, allowing PV solar resources to be optimally exploited; • Battery storage is especially valuable for high-cycle use-cases, for example ferries that need shore power several times per day; • Although lithium-ion batteries are market leader with lowest capital cost, vanadium flow batteries appear more attractive in high-cycle applications due to their longer life; • The ESSOP tool needs refinement in terms of its ability to model a port microgrid. It is likely that a DC microgrid would offer significant benefits in terms of efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Next Steps
The ESSOP tool has demonstrated that detailed modelling of a port energy system in a dynamic electricity market is needed to understand behaviour and cost-effectiveness. The tool is presently designed for in-house consultancy use. Further refinement to cover a wider range of use-cases and improved data quality are justified. Discussions with several early-adopter users has generated interest, and one harbour authority is aiming to use ESSOP data to inform its decarbonisation options. The project has highlighted the potential role of DC microgrid architectures in port energy systems, and extension of the ESSOP model to properly model such architectures should be considered.
