Analysis of the effects of storage capabilities integration on balancing mechanisms in agent-based smart grids

Due to new energy transition policies fossil- and partially also nuclear based power production has been replaced by usually much more volatile renewable energy production. Volatility here means that it is substantially more difficult to keep energy production and consumption in balance. Such a challenge can be tackled by seamlessly integrating modern power storage technologies, such as batteries. This paper focuses on the role of battery storage providers to reveal their profitability and balancing potentials from the perspective of all parties, involved in the balancing process. Batteries are managed by broker agents, which are analyzed in the PowerTAC marketplace simulation environment. We first describe the Vickrey–Clarke–Groves auction mechanism to demonstrate how its pricing mechanism provides incentives for participants. Afterwards, we analyze the trading behaviors of different balancing settings to benchmark profitability levels of battery storage providers. We employ a broker agent for each setting so that variants publish a battery storage tariff with different up-regulation and downregulation prices. The results show that battery storage providers provide extra profit for brokers if exploited strategically in the balancing market. Additionally, they help stabilizing the grid with up and down regulations.

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