Energy Storage as a Peaker Replacement: Can Solar and Battery Energy Storage Replace the Capacity Value of Thermal Generation?

In the past few years, battery energy storage systems (BESs) have seen a dramatic increase in adoption rates across many power grids. While battery storage remains a small portion of the grid, the pace of adoption has accelerated due to declining prices and the industry educating itself on the benefits of this technology. Many industry supporters see battery energy storage coupled with solar photovoltaic (PV) plants as a resource not only for dispatchable energy during evening and nighttime periods but also for deferring or replacing the need for conventional peaking generation for reliability. Given the variable nature of solar PV plants and the energy limits of battery energy storage, the ability to provide firm capacity for reliability is reduced. Additionally, the capacity value of these resources saturates at high penetrations, requiring a significant amount of solar and storage to replace conventional peaking capacity.