Poor commercial and technology decisions could undermine the promise of co-located projects

Sharing is caring – but anyone who’s shared a bathroom, a desk, or a grid connection knows that success depends on finding smart ways to avoid stepping on one another’s toes.

Co-locating solar or wind with battery energy storage systems (BESS) is widely seen as a great opportunity to maximise grid efficiency, reduce curtailment and unlock extra revenue whilst managing value capture risk. However, as projects scale across the UK and other mature renewables markets, early examples are beginning to reveal where misaligned commercial structures and technology decisions can lead to unintended consequences.

Coordinating the operation of BESS alongside co-located renewables assets is difficult. Getting the commercial structures right – and deploying the appropriate technology – is therefore a crucial part of a co-location strategy. If these elements are poorly executed, the consequences can be significant. At worst, they create real system inefficiencies (with those costs ultimately borne by the consumer). At best, they simply reduce the overall performance of the site.

In the first article of a new series for PV Tech, Arenko’s Daniel Moore Oats explores how misaligned ownership models and optimisation incentives between PV and BESS assets can impact both operational performance and value capture, and why a whole site optimisation approach is critical to ensuring co-located projects deliver on their full potential.

Read the full article on PV Tech here: https://www.pv-tech.org/poor-commercial-and-technology-decisions-could-undermine-the-promise-of-co-located-projects/