Ali Ahmadian

Rechargeable grid-scale batteries are suitable and mature technology for energy storage in active distribution networks. Battery energy storage (BES) units have many advantages and are used for several purposes in electric systems and distribution grids. They are used not only for peak shaving and voltage regulation, but also for reliability enhancement and dispatching the renewable-based distributed generation (DG) sources. However, BES technologies are still expensive and need to be employed optimally to prevent excess investment cost. Optimal planning of BES is a complex approach that determines the type, location, capacity and power rating of energy storage units. The optimization should handle the uncertain conditions and it requires to develop the appropriate models and methods. There are many effective components that should be addressed. These components influence the results of the optimal planning and make it more complicated. In this chapter the optimal BES planning methodologies are presented. Firstly the optimization problem is formulated considering different economic perspectives. Then the approaches and strategies for solving the combinatorial problem are described. In this way, both the probabilistic and possibilistic methods and models are displayed. In addition, the most important components and factors that affect the optimal planning are characterized and analyzed, including conventional DGs, renewable-based DGs, capacitor banks, plug-in electric vehicles, etc.