Annualized return on energy storage projects

Evaluating potential revenue streams from flexible assets, such as energy storage systems, is not simple. Investors need to consider the various value pools available to a storage asset, including wholesale, grid services, and capacity markets, as well as the inherent volatility of the prices of each (see sidebar, “Glossary”).

Several key factors influence the ROI of a BESS. In order to assess the ROI of a battery energy storage system, we need to understand that there are two types of factors to keep in mind: internal factors that we can influence within the organization/business, and external factors that are beyond our control.

This is understandable as energy storage technologies possess a number of inter-related cost, performance, and operating characteristics that and impart feed-back to impacts to the other project aspects. However, this complexity is the heart of the value potential for energy storage systems.

Developing an operation program for energy storage assets will encompass a number of components. A central components will be a centralized Network Operating Center (NOC) that provides insights leveraging the energy management system that is used to manage and control the different assets in the portfolio.

Such complexity means the expected economic returns are often undervalued, especially if shortcuts are taken to simplify the analysis. Adopting a holistic approach that considers all revenue streams across a broad range of external events could improve the outlook of energy storage returns.

12 PORTFOLIO VALUATION Developing a portfolio of assets can be seen as the inevitable evolution for energy storage project developers and private equity investors who are interested in leveraging their knowledge of the technology, expertise in project development, and access to capital.