BACKGROUND
As the Department of Defense (DOD) focuses on reliable and stable energy solutions for bases, energy storage presents a redundant technology option. There are several technical applications for energy storage, including back-up power, peak shaving, and providing ancillary services to the grid. The business case for energy storage is often dependent on “value-stacking,” which is a combination of revenue streams that boosts profitability and brings resilience as it avoids being dependent on a single source of income.
The goal of Air Force Office of Energy Assurance is for Air Force installations to optimize energy storage while still enabling energy companies to sell services to the grid to help make projects economically feasible.
CHALLENGE
Air Force civil engineers need to optimize energy storage on an Air Force installation in order to maintain power and electricity.
LIMITATIONS
– Energy storage will need to integrate with the external grid
– Cyber security restrictions at Air Force bases may limit access to data
– Air Force requires specific security requirements for storing their data in the cloud
– Air Force data is stored in different systems and data availability may be limited or non-existent
Blog Posts
3/8/18
This week we explored new technologies that may be potential solutions for the energy storage problem we are working on and started building a potential timeline for implementation for the technologies. We understand that some of the technologies we looked at are not feasible for instant implementation, but the intent is to consider multiple potential solutions before selecting the “best” fit. We also started our cost analysis models and will continue building them over the next few weeks.
We discussed the computational models that current JHU PhD students use to minimize expenses and maximize lifespan of energy storage resources. They helped us design a formula to use in our calculations and analysis for finding the most optimal combination of energy storage technologies that will ensure resiliency and be financially solvent for the Air Force. Below is our updated mindmap which highlights several potential technologies we can implement in our proposed model.
3/15/18
This week we spoke with EDF, a third party battery operator, who has been involved with the CRADA at the JBMDL base. They provided feedback about our current scope and discussed what has already been investigated by industry (e.g. technology choice and battery optimization). We will continue to discuss with our sponsor to narrow down our scope to be most feasible for an early May completion timeline.
3/29/18
This week we had a call our sponsor regarding our approach and current scope. We will be looking into current business models that have been shown to be profitable. Specifically, these models utilize much more battery capacity by integrating stacked services including ancillary services to generate revenue “behind-the-meter.” We are also looking at different energy storage technologies that could supplement battery storage to generate economic benefit.
