New battery algorithm for reduced electricity costs

23.08.2024

From January 1, 2025, all electricity suppliers in Germany must offer their customers dynamic tariffs. These are based on the current electricity prices on the electricity spot exchange. The dynamic prices are based on supply and demand, which can even result in negative electricity prices in times of high feed-in and low demand.

The Aachen-based storage system manufacturer Voltfang has developed a control algorithm for its battery storage systems known as the "Energy Trader". As the company explains, this is used to control grid consumption based on dynamic electricity prices, thereby optimizing the charging and discharging of the storage system. The Energy Trader reacts to low electricity prices by storing energy from the grid and to high electricity prices by delaying the discharge of the batteries. In this way, a reduction in electricity procurement costs of up to 40 percent is possible, as the company assures, citing the results of a pilot project.

The tool obtains the day-ahead market prices from the Epex electricity exchange and provides them at hourly intervals. The new solution reacts "proactively to price signals" and thus optimizes electricity consumption "intelligently and automatically", explains Roman Alberti, CSO and co-founder of Voltfang. In addition to cost savings, the temporary storage of surplus energy in battery storage systems stabilizes the grid. "And for electricity providers, this makes feeding green energy into the grid more attractive," continues Alberti.

As the Aachen-based company explains, the Energy Trader can also be used in combination with self-consumption optimization, as it optimizes the demand for grid electricity. Depending on consumption, the annual savings from the pilot project range from 3.36 euros/kWh to 18.76 euros/kWh with a battery size of 133 kWh.

Author: Davina Spohn
Source: Energy & Management Powernews