Shared Electrical Energy Storage Service Model and Strategy for Apartment-Type Factory Buildings

Electrical energy storage (EES) is a promising and convenient solution for energy efficient buildings, but the high cost of EES limits the expansion of its use. This study presents a shared EES (s-EES) service model including the architecture for implementing the service and a strategy for operating the service for apartment-type factory buildings composed of individually owned units. The proposed architecture for the s-EES service consists of physically connected energy and communication infrastructures, and logical operation of the EES virtually assigned to each participating unit. The conceptual scheme for the s-EES service is presented in the architecture. The service strategy is designed to meet the profit maximization problems of the participants and energy service provider (ESP). The optimal s-EES size and service price conditions are calculated using Lagrangian relaxation, and exchanging information between the participant and the ESP. A case study which uses data from Korea shows that more than 80% of the units in a building participate in the service because of the benefits. The benefits for both the ESP and the units grows with an increase in participating units and a decrease in EES cost. Considering 30%, 50% and 70% EES cost reduction, the ESP’s profit increases linearly to about 8, 850, and 1500 dollars a month, respectively. The additional total profit of participants increases exponentially to about 300, 640, 2400 dollars a month, respectively, when compared to individual EES usage. In the s-EES service model, an ESP can provide EES service at a low price through economies of scale, and units in the building can use the EES at a lower price than if they were installed individually.