Analysis Tools for Sizing and Placement of Energy Storage in Grid Applications

In recent decades, research and development has significantly improved the cost and reliability of energy storage systems. However, a relatively small percentage of that work has focused on engineering tools for integrating energy storage into existing or future electric grids. This literature review revealed that only a small number of software tools exist, and that those tools only partially address the needs for placement, sizing, and overall control strategies of stationary energy storage within a smart grid infrastructure. None of the tools comprehensively captures the benefits of energy storage, which would reveal all of the potential values. None of the tools or models provides optimization features that identify optimal placement and sizing options within a transmission or distribution system context. This review identifies a need for tool development to fill the gap in the grid analytics and provides some recommendations of guiding principles for advancing the analytical capabilities needed for the engineering and grid planning communities.