Economic Feasibility of V2G Frequency Regulation in Consideration of Battery Wear

An economic feasibility study of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) frequency regulation is performed in consideration of battery wear. Usually, a transaction for frequency regulation is made in terms of power capacity while the battery-wear proceeds in proportion to the absolute amount of energy transferred. In order to relate the two quantities, we first estimate the amount of transferred energy in terms of contracted power capacity, and hence regulation income, by analyzing actual regulation signals and transactions. On the other hand, the amount of transferrable energy during the life cycle of a battery is estimated analyzing some pervasive specifications for electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The expected V2G income is then estimated and compared with battery prices to judge the economic feasibility of V2G regulation. In the latter part of the paper, the assessment result is validated with actual cycle life data of an EV battery cell. As a result, it is concluded that the estimated profit exceeds current market price of EV batteries, indicating that V2G regulation is an economically feasible service.