Battery energy storage revenues in Great Britain averaged £39k/MW/year in July. Excluding capacity market revenues this equated to £2,400/MW for the month, but some batteries earned up to 70% more than this. In this article, we look at the optimization strategies of three batteries that performed the best in July.
In our monthly market update, we discuss battery revenues including Capacity Market earnings, on a £/MW/year basis. For monthly battery operations updates, we will discuss revenues excluding the Capacity Market. That’s because Capacity Market revenue is not impacted by operational strategy.
Revenues and cycling were closer linked for two-hour systems than one-hour batteries
Two-hour battery revenues showed a strong relationship to cycling in July. The highest-earning battery in July was Hawkers Hill (Tesla, 20 MW). It was the only two-hour system to perform more than 1.5 cycles per day, cycling more than 1.7 times per day. This was 70% more than the average of 1 cycle per day for two-hour assets.
This helped Hawkers Hill outperform the two-hour BESS index by 55% in July.
Little Raith was the second-highest earning system, outperforming the index by 33% earning £3.6k/MW. It cycled 28% more than average, meaning it earned revenues from its cycles more efficiently than Hawkers Hill.
The link between cycles and revenues was less strong for one-hour batteries. Capenhurst 4 was the top-earning one-hour battery in July, generating £3k/MW, 36% higher than the one-hour BESS index. Capenhurst 4 performed an average of 1.5 cycles per day, 26% more than the average for one-hour systems. It earned the most revenue per cycle of all one-hour systems.
One-hour batteries prioritized Dynamic Containment, while two-hour batteries mixed their strategies
Batteries' operational strategies can be visualized through their power allocations in different markets. Essentially, how much of their available power did they commit to different markets, on average.