Battery storage systems in smart grid optimised buildings

The building sector is responsible for a significant proportion of the consumed energy and the consequent carbon emissions. Currently, electricity and natural gas are the most popular fuels used in the UK Services sector and the industry. Furthermore, buildings constitute a key component of the power network, in both its current conventional form and its evolution, the smart grid. The smart grid is expected to integrate energy storage, distributed generation and buildings into the network. This paper introduces the concept of Smart Grid Optimised Buildings (SGOBs), recognising the importance of energy storage to establish a dynamic interaction between the building and the smart grid. SGOBs are expected to be fully electric, make the best use of the available resources and utilise their embedded battery storage systems to respond to notifications issued by the smart grid and to dynamic electricity prices. Assuming that buildings have access to the day-ahead electricity market, initial results show that battery storage can be successfully used to change a building’s electricity profile and perform load-shifting (arbitrage) and peak-shaving while the excess electricity is exported back to grid to take advantage of the price difference and relieve pressure on the infrastructure.