Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and Battery Management System (BMS) for Grid-Scale Applications

TLDR

The electric grid wastes energy because supply and demand are mismatched, with power plants overproducing for quality, but battery energy storage systems (BESS) can reduce these inefficiencies if accurately monitored and controlled through advanced modeling. The paper aims to review state‑of‑the‑art BMS modeling and propose a pathway to enhance BMS for better utilization of BESS in grid‑scale applications. The authors describe a physics‑based BMS that controls BESS operation, detail its system architecture for monitoring and control, and review advanced modeling techniques for lithium‑ion and vanadium redox‑flow batteries.

Abstract

The current electric grid is an inefficient system that wastes significant amounts of the electricity it produces because there is a disconnect between the amount of energy consumers require and the amount of energy produced from generation sources. Power plants typically produce more power than necessary to ensure adequate power quality. By taking advantage of energy storage within the grid, many of these inefficiencies can be removed. When using battery energy storage systems (BESS) for grid storage, advanced modeling is required to accurately monitor and control the storage system. A battery management system (BMS) controls how the storage system will be used and a BMS that utilizes advanced physics-based models will offer for much more robust operation of the storage system. The paper outlines the current state of the art for modeling in BMS and the advanced models required to fully utilize BMS for both lithium-ion batteries and vanadium redox-flow batteries. In addition, system architecture and how it can be useful in monitoring and control is discussed. A pathway for advancing BMS to better utilize BESS for grid-scale applications is outlined.