Behind-the-Meter Storage Analysis

In 2019, the Army successfully deployed a behind-the-meter battery energy storage system (BTM BESS) at Fort Carson. The battery, along with an existing solar photovoltaic system, was dispatched to reduce demand charges and is projected to shave an estimated $500,000 off Fort Carson's utility bill each year. Interested in replicating this success, the Army tasked NREL with identifying additional opportunities across 80 U.S. installations.

To identify sites with high potential for cost-effective deployment of BTM BESS without conducting an in-depth assessment at each one, NREL developed a novel phased analytical approach. This methodology could be applied by other federal agencies and organizations interested in identifying BESS opportunities across a large number of sites.

To learn more, read Behind-the-Meter to Front of the Line: Prioritizing Battery Storage Opportunities Across a Portfolio of Sites, NREL Fact Sheet (2021).

Mounting energy demands and the addition of more EVs to rental car center fleets, taxis, and ground transportation are highlighting the need to upgrade energy infrastructure at U.S. airports. On-site energy generation and BTMS solutions can help airports build additional grid capacity and reduce costs while navigating infrastructure investments with confidence. Using EDGES, NREL partnered with Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to evaluate how BTMS and solar photovoltaic energy generation could reduce the costs of rental EV charging.

NREL has already successfully demonstrated an advanced control method to optimize the operation of DFW's central plant with thermal storage, resulting in considerable savings in power consumption and power demand. Now, using EDGES, NREL identified that adding solar photovoltaic generation and BTMS system options resulted in a 41% reduction in life cycle costs over 20 years compared to a base case without BTMS and solar PV energy resources. That is the equivalent of between $14 and $131 million in cost savings, depending on the EV adoption rate. These savings could be attributed to lower utility costs and a 70% decrease in required electrical distribution infrastructure upgrades.

The methodologies developed will be fine-tuned and de-risked through hardware demonstration and experiments at NREL's ARIES: Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems.

As e-commerce continues to grow, parcel delivery companies are considering replacing existing fleets with battery-electric vehicles.

NREL, together with Argonne National Laboratory, is assessing charging requirements (e.g., power demand) and the impacts of various charging management and grid integration strategies for several illustrative sites. Based on the analysis, the laboratories will develop an estimate of energy and power requirements for the U.S. Postal Service fleets, ultimately informing charging strategy recommendations.

Should the U.S. Postal Service choose an electric vehicle design, the impacts to the U.S. power grid would be significant. Follow-up analyses may investigate integrating on-site storage and solar generation.