Quantifying Reliability Contribution of an Energy Storage System to a Distribution System

This paper presents a Monte-Carlo simulation based framework to quantify the reliability benefit brought by the integration of an Energy Storage System (ESS) to an active distribution system. The benefits associated with ESS integration, such as reliability improvement at load point and system level, the reliability worth, deferral of immediate distribution system expansion, and better utilization of renewable distributed generation resources are quantified using a suitable reliability model of ESS. Assessments are conducted on a radial distribution test network with photovoltaic arrays and ESS. A range of case studies are performed to assess the reliability contribution of ESS, and conclusions are drawn based on the results obtained.