Hydro battery storage: Making renewables dispatchable

Integrated operation of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydropower, together with battery energy storage systems (BESS), offers a valuable combination of technologies that can support the wider energy system of the future by providing dispatchable power, while also helping address the energy trilemma (equity, security and sustainability). This paper describes Stantec’s Dispatchable Integrated Generating System (DIGS) model applied to specific cases in the UK, to explore opportunities for the integration of wind, hydropower and batteries, and presents results of modelling using real project data. The authors also explore technical challenges and propose further areas to be investigated.