Integration of process-side energy storage and active distribution networks: Technical and economical optimisation

This paper is primarily aimed at demonstrating how energy tariffs with a significant price difference between day and night can make energy storage systems more profitable for an active customer. An optimisation procedure, based on the “energy hub” concept, has been devised and applied for a coordinated operation of local generation and process-side electric and thermal storages. The optimized integrated management of these systems enables an efficient use of primary sources, largely resorting to co-generation (CHP) and an optimal use of production and storage devices. Different case studies show how supply and distribution tariffs can influence the cost-effective operation of a CHP system, assuming the presence of various kinds of process-side storages.