Dissatisfied with ability of open-source and other tools available on the market to estimate the marginal revenue and costs savings that can be captured by behind-the-meter (BTM) battery energy storage systems (BESS), SEA created our own revenue estimator, the Battery Revenue Analysis Tool (BRAT).
Anyone who has tried to estimate BTM BESS project revenue knows it’s complicated. The benefits of BTM BESS may include (depending upon the state, utility, end-user rate class and usage patterns):
- Revenue:
- Demand Response (DR) incentives
- Other state incentives (e.g., Massachusetts SMART Program, NY-SUN, etc.)
- Capacity
- Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC)
- Clean Peak Energy Certificates (Massachusetts only)
- Resiliency incentives (and non-direct monetary benefits)
- End-use Customer Savings:
- Demand Charge Management (DCM, i.e., shaving peak kW from utility electric bill)
- Capacity Tag management
- Time-of-Use (TOU) arbitrage
Other publicly available tools have fallen short, in that they…
- Often fail to capture the latest state-specific assumptions/programs
- Lack sufficient context (policy) or transparency for user to understand how to interpret results
- May overestimate savings by assuming perfect foresight (primarily w/r/t DCM)
- Contain unreliable default or hardwired input assumptions (CPS revenues, retail rate forecasts, etc.)
We built the BRAT to provide transparency in BESS revenue estimation for ourselves, and now you. While originally built to handle Connecticut and Massachusetts revenue estimation, we have enhanced the model for adaptation to any BTM territory and use case.
We incorporate BRAT analysis with our consulting services, where solid estimates of avoided retail rates and revenue capture of incentives is paramount to realistic and defensible estimates of the financial benefits of adding BESS BTM. Deliverables include a BRAT license so you can run your own cases internally.
Contact Stephan Wollenburg or Tom Michelman for more BRAT information and a demonstration now!