Energy arbitrage and market opportunities for energy storage facilities in Ontario

Fourier analysis is presented for 10 years of Hourly Ontario Energy Price data (2005-2015) to identify primary governing frequencies driving the price. As anticipated, a 24 h cycle was found to be most prominent each year. Simulation of the revenue generation performance of a standardized energy storage system of 1 MW power rating and 1 MWh energy capacity was completed with various charge and discharge times. The best performing operation programs are presented and discussed. Multi-cycle operation was also considered and an equation for multi-cycle yearly revenue has been defined based on a storage program performance coefficient. Overall, revenue simulations indicate that energy storage facilities are not financially viable under current market conditions without additional subsidies and payments from the grid controller.