Battery Automated Dispatch (Version 2020.2.29)

Hi,
Attempting to run a PV + Battery simulation in PPA Single Owner model using "Automated dispatch: Perfect look ahead". I've set TOD rates high in the evening to drive the dispatch and allowing the battery to charge from PV only. I'm running version 2020.2.29.

I'm probably doing something wrong but the battery is not charging or discharging. I've toggled several related options but still cannot get the battery to charge/discharge under either the Perfect Look Ahead or 1-Day Look Behind options.

Apologies if I've missed something simple but would appreciate a quick check to see where I've gone wrong. I've attached my model.

Thanks!
- Jason

Hi Jason,

We just released SAM 2020.2.29 Revision 1, which is an update to SAM 2020.2.29 that fixes a few issues with the front-of-meter battery dispatch model. Please update your version of SAM to Revision 1.

The front-of-meter automated dispatch options respond to the time-of-delivery (TOD) PPA price multipliers on the Revenue page, so you can adjust those to see how the battery responds.

The dispatch algorithms are also sensitive to the battery cycle costs, and we are still working through some issues with that that we will fix in another update soon. For now, you might try removing the effect of cycle costs by choosing the Input cycle costs option under Battery cycle costs, and setting the battery cycle cost to $0/cycle-kWh.

We appreciate your feedback as we work through some kinks in the algorithm. Please let me know if you find other issues?

Best regards,
Paul.

Thanks Paul,
Yes, the Revision 1 appears to have fixed the problem. Thanks for the response!
Jason

Hello all,

I have an issue using the automated dispatch option in a standalone battery - PPA single owner model. I am using version 2021.12.2 but thought that this thread would be appropriate for my post, please let me know if I should start a new one.

To simulate a utility BESS (50MW - 2h capacity) earning revenue only from energy arbitrage, I'm setting the PPA price=1 and TOD factors as multipliers instead of using the Merchant Plant ( see "Cleared capacity Merchant Plant" ). Choosing automated dispatch -> perfect look-ahead -> 24 hours period, the "profit" (= revenue - electricity_purchase ) was much lower than I would expect. The "Electricity to/from grid" time-series showed that the system realized one cycle per day, maybe even less on average. Looking at the average daily per-hour price of electricity, one would expect a 2h system to make two full cycles per day on average (cycle degradation penalty already set to 0).



So I switched to manual dispatch under the following scheme, which indeed raised the profit significantly.

Hi Alk,

Please attach screenshots as image files (you can then insert them into your message) instead of copying and pasting them into the message editor. Copying and pasting often pastes the image as a long URI string instead of an image.

You can plot the battery SOC (state of charge) variable to get some insight into why the battery is not dispatching as you expect.

Please attach a copy of your .sam file if you would like me to investigate.

Best regards,
Paul.

Some text and a pasted image got lost, I will try re-posting this and add the .sam file. My bad, sorry.