Utility-scale batteries are more commonly used for price arbitrage

In our annual survey of power plant activity, we ask operators of utility-scale batteries how they are using their systems, and one use case is increasingly prevalent: price arbitrage. Arbitrage involves buying electricity when prices are relatively low and selling that electricity when prices are high.

Utility-scale battery systems can be used for many applications. Common use cases include price arbitrage, frequency regulation, excess wind and solar generation, system peak shaving, load management, and more.

Last year, operators responded that 66% of all utility-scale battery capacity had arbitrage among its uses and that 41% of the total capacity was primarily used for arbitrage.

The next most common use case was frequency regulation, which was the primary usage for 24% of battery capacity. Frequency regulation involves maintaining the grid’s frequency of 60 cycles per second. In previous years, operators had reported that frequency regulation was the most common use case for their battery systems.

How else are operators using battery storage systems? Check out Today In Energy for more analysis.