Value of Energy Storage as Non-Wires Alternative for PV Integration and Stacked Services

Solar PV penetration at distribution circuits is growing steadily across the world. One of the distribution circuit limitations for high PV penetration is thermal violation where feeder line(s) get overloaded due to excess solar generation. Conventional measure to mitigate the thermal overload issue is by replacing or reconductoring the overloaded line(s). This paper presents a case study where energy storage is used as a non-wires alternative (NWA) for increasing PV penetration at distribution circuit. Besides increasing PV hosting capacity by deferring distribution line upgrade, energy storage can provide additional revenue from stacked services. EPRI's opensource valuation tool StorageVET® is used in this study to estimate the maximum economic benefit that the energy storage can provide from market participation. Cost-benefit analysis for the considered case study shows that the NWA approach is 18% more cost-effective than the conventional measure.