BESS deployment and Virtual Power Plant: Technical and financial analysis of the Senelec network to assess the relevance Maguette SARR Renewable Energy Laboratory, Electrical Engineering Department Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique Dakar Dakar, Senegal maguettesarr@live.fr Mouhamadou THIAM Laboratoire des Sciences et Techniques de l’Eau et de l’Environnement Ecole Polytechnique de Thiès Thiès, Sénégal mthiam@ept.sn Boubacar NIANG Renewable Energy Laboratory, Electrical Engineering Department Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique Dakar Dakar, Senegal boubacar.niang@esp.sn Oumar BA Renewable Energy Laboratory Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique Dakar Dakar, Senegal oumar.ba@esp.sn Lamine THIAW Renewable Energy Laboratory Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique Dakar Dakar, Senegal lamine.thiaw@esp.sn Abstract- This article analyses the operating data of the Senegalese electrical network (Senelec). It highlights the importance for it to implement Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in the context of the massive deployment of photovoltaic and wind power plants connected to the HV network. It presents the technical and financial opportunities of a strategy for the development of storage solutions combined with a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) to manage their optimal operation. This study completes the work carried out on the same electrical network and which suggests BESS to optimize the penetration rate of photovoltaic energy in the Senelec network and to improve the stability of these network. Based on the simulations of Senelec’s network previously carried out using Power Factory software and the operating data of the electrical system as well as the energy purchases made, it was demonstrated that there is a real financial impact of VPP implementation supported by the BESS. Indeed, the deployment of the VPP will allow Senelec to meet the requirements of primary frequency control on the Interconnected Network. The focus of this work consists in the installation of storage capacities managed by the VPP to allow the grid operator to store the overage of energy produced by the PV and Wind power plants and to restore it at peak hours. It has been shown that this solution also allows for savings of at least 1 billion (XOF) avoiding in addition to request additional generation (thermal or gas) to meet peak hour demands. Keywords–Energy, BESS, Virtual Power Plant, photovoltaic, network stability. I. INTRODUCTION In order to optimize the penetration rate of photovoltaic energy in the Senelec (Senegalese company) electricity network, based on a choice of diversification of electricity production, the work in [1] and [2] consisted on the one hand in determining the maximum penetration rate of photovoltaic energy in the Senelec network. On the other hand, they consist also in proposing methods for optimizing this rate. Among the solutions, [2] proposed the implementation of electricity storage systems. The synthesis of these results is presented in Table 1. They show that it was possible to go from a PV penetration rate of 17.3% to a rate of 24.53% by opting for PV energy storage devices; stored power would be then by 26.25MW. Indeed, taking advantage of favorable weather conditions for the development of renewable energies, Senegal has built numerous wind and solar power plants with a total installed capacity of 324.7 MW [3] for a total grid capacity of 1499.04 MW, i.e. a ratio of 21.66% in 2021. In this respect, it becomes essential to put in place technical solutions that will make all these investments profitable while maintaining the stability of the electricity network. On this basis, this paper aims firstly to present the technical applications of storage solutions and those that would correspond to Senelec's needs. Secondly, it will outline the TABLE 1. MAXIMUM PENETRATION RATE [1] Taux de Penetration Without optimization [1] 17,3 % With Optimization (Connection of storage device) [2] 24,53 % Storage capacity 26.25 MW perspectives for the deployment of the "Virtual Power Plant" concept around storage solutions as a technical support. Finally, an analysis of the financial impact of these different solutions for the grid operator will be presented. The Senelec power system used here is the one presented in [2]. The analyses will be based mainly on theoretical notions as well as on simulations and other calculations, with a view to highlighting the financial and technical opportunities that lie in the implementation of storage batteries and their operation as virtual power plants. This article is structured in five sections. Following the introductory part, the second section presents the theoretical study on BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) and on VPP (Virtual Power Plant). The third section details the results obtained. The fourth step is devoted to the discussion of these results. This is followed by the fifth section, which contains the main conclusions. II. THEORETICAL STUDY In this section we will first study the grid applications of battery energy storage systems and then present the Virtual Power Plant solutions. A. Grid Applications Of Battery Energy Storage System Different use cases for energy storage are possible, depending on the use and the type of user. These are for : • Network owners: peak management or deferring investment in system reinforcement. 10th IEEE International Conference on Smart Grid June 27-29, 2022, Istanbul, TURKEY icSmartGrid 2022 118 978-1-6654-8604-0/22/$31.00 ©2022 IEEE 978-1-6654-8604-0/22/$31.00 ©2022 IEEE 2022 10th International Conference on Smart Grid (icSmartGrid) | 978-1-6654-8604-0/22/$31.00 ©2022 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/ICSMARTGRID55722.2022.9848743 Authorized licensed use limited to: Centrale Supelec. Downloaded on September 08,2022 at 13:35:56 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.