B144 1253044 878032 Hand-In P-2-Final

Exam administrators
Front page Tine Lindegaard Hansen

tlha@staff.aau.dk
Exam information +4599409753
EEA220003P - EGI-2, P2 ordinær projekteksamen, AAL -
S22 Assessors
Pavani Ponnaganti
Handed in by Examiner
Jonas Amager Janek pap@energy.aau.dk
jjanek21@student.aau.dk +4599408689
Nicolai Steensgaard Christensen John Bech

nicoch21@student.aau.dk Co-examiner
John@jbee.dk
Anders Katborg Dolmer 004544164022
akdo21@student.aau.dk
Richard Berg Pedersen

ricped21@student.aau.dk
Sebastian William Vejlgaard Nielsen

swvn21@student.aau.dk
Magnus Degn Jensen

majenk21@student.aau.dk
Hand-in information
T i t l e : Battery energy storage systems for wind turbines

T i t l e , e n g l i s h : Battery energy storage systems for wind turbines
G r o u p n a m e : B144
Does the hand-in contain confidential material: No
Battery energy storage systems for
wind turbines
P2-project
Group B144
Energy
Aalborg University
25th of may 2022
First year of study at/ Engineering and
Tech
Energy
Strandvejen 12-14
9000 Aalborg
http://www.tnb.aau.dk
Title: Synopsis:
Battery energy storage systems for wind

This project is part of a larger cross-
turbines
disciplinary project, a LeadENG project.
This particular project focuses on the
Project:
modeling and analysis of a lithium-ion
P2-project battery which is one of the parts within
the frame of the physical LeadENG prod-
Project period:
uct. The analysis has been made with a fo-
February-May 2022 cus on the further possibilities of the bat-
tery as a way of energy storage. In the
Project group:
analysis, subjects such as battery health
B144 and charging have been in focus. In con-
junction with the analysis and model of
Participants:
the battery, a discussion of the pros and
Anders Katborg Dolmer cons has been made in regard to the scale
Jonas Amager Janek of the battery, from something capable of
Magnus Degn Jensen supplying power to a private consumer, to
Nicolai Steensgaard Christensen batteries able to power smaller cities. Fur-
Richard Berg Pedersen thermore, a comparison to other energy
Sebastian William Vejlgaard Nielsen storage technologies, along with a review
of the project on a whole, has been made.
Supervisor:
Pavani Ponnaganti
Number of pages: 62
Finished 25-05-2022
The content of the report is freely available, but publication (with source reference) may only take place in
agreement with the authors.
Preface
This project has been prepared by group B144 in the 2nd semester of the Energy Education
at Aalborg University. The overall theme of the project is Energy technologies.
From the project catalog, the project Floating vertical axis windmill has been selected,
which has been further specified to deal with the storage of the produced energy. The
project is part of a LeadENG project. This means that the group, in collaboration with
other groups from other educations, continuously works on assembling and building a
finished product, which consists of a wind turbine and storage system. This group is
responsible for the storage system.
The prerequisites for reading the report are a basic knowledge of common concepts in
physics and electronics.
A great thanks to supervisor Pavani Ponnaganti for inspiring guidance and constructive
criticism.
The following software is used for the project:
• Mathworks Matlab
• Mathworks Simulink
• Maplesoft Maple
• Microsoft Excel
• Overleaf LaTeX
• Plexim PLECS
Sebastian W. V. Nielsen Jonas A. Janek Nicolai S. Christensen
Magnus D. Jensen Anders K. Dolmer Richard B. Pedersen
v
Nomenclature
Symbol list
The basic SI units are used.
Symbol Definition Unit

A Area m2
c Capacitance F
C Capacity Ah
I Current A
E Energy J
L Inductance H
m Mass kg
P Power W
R Resistance Ω
t Time s
T Temperature °C & K
m
v Wind speed s
V Voltage V
Greek symbols Definition Unit
∆ Difference
η Efficiency %
kg
ρ Density m3
τ Time period s
Subscripts
Subscript Meaning
vii
Group B144
Abbreviations
Abbreviation Meaning
AC Alternating current
ADC Analog-to-digital converter
BMS Battery management system
BTM Behind the meter
BESS Battery energy storage system
CAES Compressed-air energy storage
CC Constant current
CV Constant voltage
DC Direct current
DOD Depth of discharge
ESS Energy storage system
FV Final voltage
HAWT Horizontal axis wind turbine
O&M Operating and maintaining
RES Renewable energy sources
P2X Power to X
PSH Pumped storage hydropower
ROC Rate of charge
ROD Rate of discharge
RPM Rotations per minute
SOA Safe operating area
SOC State of charge
SOH State of health
UPS Uninterruptible power supply
VAWT Vertical axis wind turbine
viii
Contents
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Denmark’s transition to renewable energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Grid-sized batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Problem of the report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2 Problem analysis 5
2.1 Energy storage systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1.1 Battery energy storage systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1.2 Thermal storage systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.1.3 Pumped storage hydropower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1.4 Power to X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.2 Chosen energy storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2.1 Technical specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3 Formulation of the problem 11
4 Theory 13
4.1 Industrial energy storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.1.1 Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.2 Three phase supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.3 Converter types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.3.1 Rectifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.3.2 Inverter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.3.3 DC to DC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.4 Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.4.1 Charge rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.4.2 Discharge rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.4.3 Life characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.4.4 Self discharge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.4.5 Operating temperature range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.5 Battery management system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.5.1 Voltage and current monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.5.2 Temperature monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.5.3 State of charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.5.4 State of health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.5.5 BMS Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
ix
Group B144 Contents
5 Case descriptions 31
5.1 Optimal setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.1.1 Converter, inverter and rectifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.1.2 Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.1.3 BMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.2 LeadENG setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.3 Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.3.1 Simplified model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.3.2 Power variable model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6 Analysis 39
6.1 Analysis of experiments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.1.1 DC generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.1.2 Battery charging with power supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
6.1.3 DC generator with battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
6.1.4 Wind data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
6.2 Results from model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
6.2.1 One year model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
6.2.2 Constant wind speed simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
6.3 Model validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
6.4 Small scale batteries and grid sized BESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
7 Discussion 53
7.1 Model improvements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
7.2 Optimal- vs LeadENG case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
7.3 Application in large-scale situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
7.3.1 Industrial scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
7.3.2 National scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
7.3.3 Profitability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
7.4 Alternative solutions to BESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
8 Conclusion 59
9 Experiences and challenges 61

9.1 Experiences and challenges from physical project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Bibliography 63
A Experiments 67
A.1 DC generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
A.2 The regression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
x
Introduction
1
This report takes part in a LeadENG project which is a cooperation and collaboration of
several groups from different fields of studies with the purpose of assembling a vertical axis
wind turbine (VAWT). Each group has its own objective to investigate and manufacture a
specific module of the wind turbine. This report is about the battery and the managing of
the electricity produced by the generator. Furthermore, the possibilities of implementing
large scale battery systems in Denmark, will be discussed and described. Next chapter
describes two different battery systems, one of which will be the system built in the
LeadENG project for the wind turbine. The other setup will be an optimised version used
for modeling and only discussed theoretically. The difference between the setups has to
do with the materials available, and the level of education.
Today, most people are aware of the negative impact greenhouse gases has on Earth.
This compels a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. In Denmark, the
primary source of renewable energy is wind power. But since wind energy is inconsistent,
it would make sense to have some way of storing the surplus energy, for later use. Storing
the energy generated from a wind turbine or directly from the grid can be done in several
ways. This is the focus of the problem analysis.
1.1 Denmark’s transition to renewable energy

Denmark has already begun the journey to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted
into the atmosphere and several plans has been made to become independent from fossil
fuels. Denmark has planed to build two energy islands, which will serve as stations to
transform and manage the offshore wind energy. One energy island will be located in
the North sea and the other one near Bornholm in the Baltic sea. These energy islands
are estimated to be able to supply at least 5 million houses with energy. They will have
the ability to produce and manage around 5 GW of energy but with the potential to be
expanded to 12 GW [1].
All this energy needs to be produced at times when it is needed, otherwise the energy
needs to be stored. Put simply: storing energy from wind turbines makes us able to
deliver energy when needed without relying on fossil fuels.
These energy islands will primarily consist of off shore wind turbines but with potential
1
Group B144 1. Introduction
to add other energy sources such as solar energy. Off shore wind turbines in the industry
are typically horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT) because they have greater efficiencies
compared to a VAWT. Even though the HAWT is more efficient than the VAWT, the
former still needs to be adjusted to the wind direction which causes a consumption of
energy when turning. This complicates the mechanics of the wind turbine. This is
one of the advantages of the VAWT as it does not need to be adjusted to the wind
direction. Therefore, it is suitable to be placed where the wind shifts direction frequently.
As mentioned, this project will make a VAWT with different designs in order to find
the most efficient design. The different kinds of VAWTs are the Savonius, Darrieus, H-
Darrieus and Helix, where the Savonius and Darrieus are the most common. The biggest
difference between the HAWT and VAWT is the direction of the axis. Because the HAWT
has a horizontal axis the gearing and generator is placed at the top of the wind turbine,
opposed to the VAWT, where they are located at the bottom of the wind turbine. This
makes the center of mass location higher on a HAWT compared to a VAWT [2].
1.2 Grid-sized batteries

In Denmark, the wind turbines produce enough electricity on windy days. But on days
without wind, Denmark has to buy electricity from other countries. This makes Denmark
dependent on other countries. To become an energy-independent country, there is a need
to store excess electricity from the wind turbines so it can be used when the wind farms
do not produce enough electricity. In Section 2.1, different ways of storing excess energy is
described with pros and cons. The storage type this report will look into is battery storage.
More precisely the connection between small-scale battery systems and grid-sized battery
systems.
These grid-sized battery energy storage systems (BESSs) are systems that help the grid
supply electricity to the consumers when the production is not great enough. BESSs are
already in use in different parts of the world with several companies designing models that
fit into special cases.
1.3 Problem of the report

With the transition to renewable energy sources, this LeadENG-project’s topic becomes
significant and leads to the overall problem.
The formulation of the problem is: “How can batteries contribute to the transition to a
renewable and fluctuating energy supply in Denmark?”
Some more specific questions and objectives have been made to contribute to outline the
content of this report. The first question is about managing the energy from a small-scale
VAWT. With the solution of this question, this report can contribute to the LeadENG-
project and the formulation of the problem. Afterwards, the solution will be addressed
2
1.3. Problem of the report Aalborg University
and discussed to be integrated on a larger scale such as in the industry and the grid. This
question is chosen to be able to put the solution in a larger perspective and thereby answer
the report’s formulation of the problem. Parallel to these two questions will be a list of
objectives that are to be done throughout this report. These objectives will also help to
answer the questions asked.
Firstly, a mathematical model of a battery charging from the power of a VAWT will
be constructed. Subsequently, the theoretical and practical data will be compared and
evaluated. The evaluation is to be done to find out if the data deviates from each other
or are the same. Lastly, the results are to be used in a discussion about the application
of batteries in a larger scale and in the industry.
3
Problem analysis
2
2.1 Energy storage systems
The ability to store energy ensures balance between the supply and demand. Since many
renewable energy sources (RES) are fluctuating, storing energy will be an important part of
the transition to RES. The production from RES can be stored in different forms depending
on various factors including power loss, produced energy form and cost of operation. This
all leads to the following initiating problem: When switching to renewable energy sources,
how do we manage the fluctuating renewable energy production?
In the following sections, different types of energy storage are described shortly and the
pros and cons for each energy storage will be discussed as well.
2.1.1 Battery energy storage systems
The battery has revolutionised the society that we live in today and with its wide uses it
affects us in our everyday life. The battery has its application in many consumer goods
including mobile phones, cars, computers etc. The type of battery best known and most
used is the lithium-ion battery. It is used because of its light weight compared to many
other battery types. Since the battery is used in so many different areas in the world,
research has been taking place on optimising the battery. This optimisation is especially
in the term of energy per mass, also known as energy density, and it comes from the high
demand of lightweight batteries for electric cars.
Batteries in general are categorised into 2 different main groups, primary and secondary,
where the main difference being the ability to recharge. The batteries in the primary group
are neither rechargeable nor reusable but in the secondary group they are rechargeable.
Batteries in the household for small objects like remote controllers and flashlights are
mostly primary batteries and often made in certain sizes that can be bought everywhere.
Secondary batteries are used where it is required to recharge and is the type of battery
which is in phones, computers, cars and in the large-scale BESSs.
The difference between primary and secondary batteries is the ability to recharge which is
caused by the chemicals inside the batteries. In primary batteries, the electrochemical
reactions cannot be reversed. That means the batteries’ electricity comes from a
consumption of chemicals. In secondary batteries, the chemicals can be recharged by
5
Group B144 2. Problem analysis
a current going through the battery. How many times it can be recharged depends on the
battery type [3].
One of the main advantages that batteries have by storing electric energy is the low energy
loss. Batteries and especially lithium-ion batteries have a very high efficiency compared
to other battery types. Batteries can also be manufactured in a lot of different shapes and
sizes which makes the battery very useful in the everyday life and in the industry, where
different demands need custom solutions.
The battery, as it is today, has a disadvantage when it comes to storing energy to the power
grid which is the sheer size and cost of the battery needed. If batteries are chosen as a way
to store excess energy, those batteries would be very big compared to the batteries used
today and so will the price be of the resources needed for the batteries compared to other
ways of energy storage. Another disadvantage of the battery is when it recharges 500-1000
times, its maximum capacity will decrease. The rate of which this happens depends on
the battery type [4].
2.1.2 Thermal storage systems
Storage of thermal energy can be done in a multitude of ways. Among these there can
be made a distinction between three main technologies: sensible heat storage, latent heat
storage and thermo-chemical storage [5].
Sensible
The most common and cheapest option is sensible heat storage using water, although it
can be done with various different mediums; liquids as well as solids. For temperatures
less than 100 °C both solids and liquids are common, especially water. Above 100 °C,
increased pressure is necessary if water is to be used, and is therefore usually swapped
with oils, molten salt or liquid metal [5].
Latent
Latent heat storage harnesses the power of phase change in the used medium. Typically the
change from solid to liquid is used due to the smaller difference in volume between states,
rather than liquid to gas. One of the primary benefits compared to sensible heat storage
is the comparatively small difference in temperature when using latent heat storage. Since
the majority of the energy is stored in the phase change, the temperature does not need
to be raised considerably higher than the saturation point [5].
Thermo-chemical
Lastly, thermo-chemical heat storage makes use of the energy used and released during
certain chemical reactions. The processes used are reversible, so the energy can be
deposited and retrieved multiple times. The reactions used are typically ones where the
6
2.1. Energy storage systems Aalborg University
endothermic step of the reaction occurs at several hundred degrees, which corresponds to
the exothermic way, releasing an equally large amount of energy [5].
A thermal storage system therefore does not fit the case of this project as the produced
form of energy is electric and not heat.
2.1.3 Pumped storage hydropower
Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) is a subtype of hydropower that exploits the potential
energy difference between two water reservoirs. When excess energy is produced by
a fluctuating energy source such as wind turbines, it is used to power a pump at the
hydropower plant. The pump is pumping the water from the lower- to the higher-level
reservoir to increase the potential energy of the water. When the electricity demand is
higher than the grid production capacity, the water is sent back down to the lower-level
reservoir, converting its potential energy into kinetic energy. Here, it is used to drive the
same pump which now acts as a generator to convert the kinetic energy into rotational
energy. The rotational energy is used to drive a generator that converts the rotational
energy into electrical energy [6].
This energy storage is an advantage when the electrical energy production does not match
up with the electrical energy demand. In other words, it is used as a buffer for electrical
energy production.
Some of the advantages of PSH are its efficiency and price per power output. The price of
$ $
installing a new PSH plant varies from around 1700 MW to 5100 MW while the efficiency
for the whole process is usually around 70-85% [6].
One of the most important disadvantages is that it requires a very specific natural
environment. Both a geographical height difference and water availability is needed to
construct a PSH plant [7]. The construction usually takes around 3-5 years [6]. This ESS
therefore does not fit the case of this project as the project is a small-scale setup. In
addition, Denmark does not have the geographical height difference required.
2.1.4 Power to X
Another way of storing energy is in form of gases. Here, the future solution will be Power-
to-X (P2X). P2X uses electricity from renewable energy like wind turbines to split water
molecules by electrolysis. Electrolysis of water is done by placing a cathode and an anode
in water. The electricity flowing through the water will split the water molecules where
the hydrogen, H2 is closest to the cathode and the oxygen, O2 is closest to the anode [8].
By doing so it is possible to make fuel without emitting CO2 when using it. However green
carbon is often added to hydrogen to make liquid fuel and plastic. The green carbon is
mostly acquired through burning biomass but it can also be acquired through harvesting
the carbon in the air and produce oxygen as a byproduct. It is also possible to combine
7
nitrogen with hydrogen and make ammonia. These fuels are named electrofuels where
examples can be ammonia and methane. Electrofuels are thought to be a part of the
solution in the transport section when replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy. Some
parts of the transport section, like passenger cars, can be electrified. Other parts require
more power than a suitable battery can supply which is why electrofuels are a possible
solution because of the higher energy density [9]. The technology has been known for
decades but only in small scale systems. In the future this will be scaled up to an efficient
industrial level for mass production. However, this is a challenge which requires years of
research to design an efficient system [10]. For the case of this project, this technology is
one of the better fitting ones as the form of energy required is electric.
Danish energy islands

Power-to-X has a great potential of reducing the emission of greenhouse gasses. This is
one among other reasons that Danish Energy has assembled 21 essential companies to a
collaboration with the common goal to push the development in Denmark and become
one of the leading countries worldwide in the development of and transition to Power-to-
X infrastructure [11]. The government of Denmark plans to build two artificial islands
to produce power for the danish citizens. The islands will be powered by offshore wind
turbines where the first step of a two-step-plan is to generate 5 GW of electricity and later
expand to 12 GW. The government’s plan is to oversize the plant and use the surplus to
produce hydrogen and electrofuels of which a part will be exported to other countries.
The purpose of exporting is to help other countries with the transition to green energy
but also to make new export opportunities [9].
Figure 2.1. Illustration of the smart energy system [9].
2.2 Chosen energy storage

For this project, the electric battery is chosen as the focus of energy storage. This is mainly
because of its ability to store energy in an electrical system in a simple way. Additionally,
the other types of energy storage presented are better suited for larger scale projects such
as providing energy for larger cites or potentially supplying part of a country. Whereas
8
2.2. Chosen energy storage Aalborg University
batteries, classically have been used in a household scale or smaller cites. Although the
batteries mainly are used in small scale setups, implementing batteries on a larger, or even
grid scale, will be discussed with the focus of its possibilities to help with the transition
to green energy.
2.2.1 Technical specifications
Since the group is part of a LeadENG project, the report will mainly focus on the specific
solution in the LeadENG project. Subsequently, it will address and discuss the solution
in a wider and national context.
In the LeadENG project the group is responsible for managing the energy produced by a
wind turbine, which other groups are designing and building different parts of. Therefore,
this group must adapt to the specifications decided in agreement of all groups. At first
the group was required to follow and accommodate the following specifications:
• The generator must be supplied with power from the battery.

• The power supplied to the generator must be 3 phase AC power.
• The power delivered by the generator is 3 phase AC power.
• The power must be converted into DC to charge the battery.
• The battery must have circuit protection.
• The battery must be able to handle the currents delivered by the generator.
The setup for the specifications is seen in Figure 2.2
Figure 2.2. General system setup.
Throughout the process the system has changed. For the LeadENG project, the generator
is no longer an AC induction motor but rather a DC motor with brushes. This has
9
affected a change of converter but also made it a much simpler system. The new generator
requirements are:
• The voltage delivered by the generator is between 0 to 16 V DC and the current

between 0 and 10 A.
• The power must be controlled and regulated to a constant voltage and a variable
current.
And the new system and setup is seen in Figure 2.3
Figure 2.3. The LeadENG setup.
The significant changes have led to a demand of new knowledge in a different area than
first anticipated. In an effort not to reset the project, this report includes both theory
and a model of the old system and experiments from the constructed system.
10
Formulation of the
problem
3
Based on the initiating problem: When switching to renewable energy sources, how do we
manage the fluctuating renewable energy production? The following formulation of the
problem has been made:
How can batteries contribute to the transition to a renewable and fluctuating energy
supply in Denmark?
• How is the energy from a small-scale VAWT managed to be stored in a battery?

• How can the solution be integrated in a larger scale?
Objectives:
• Set up a mathematical model of a battery charging from the power of a VAWT.

• Compare the data from the model with data collected from experiments and evaluate
the results.
• Use the results from the model and the experiments to discuss the application of
batteries in a larger scale and in the industry.
11
Theory
4
This chapter describes all the theory required to analyse the systems of this project.
Section 4.1 is about industrial energy storage and is used to analyse BESS in larger scale.
Sections 4.2 and 4.3 are about the different supplies and converting methods in the two
different setups described in Section 2.2.1. Sections 4.4 and 4.5 are about batteries and
battery management systems (BMS).
4.1 Industrial energy storage

When proceeding into the world’s greenhouse gas reduction and the conversion to green
energy, the need for electricity is predicted to increase. This, as well as the fluctuation of
green energy production, shows that there is an even higher demand for energy storage
when the production is low. Therefore, the need for grid-sized BESS is a reality. Before
a battery can be called a grid-sized battery it must have a power capacity of at least 1
MW. USA has already started to implement BESS into their grid. Texas is planning to
build a BESS with a power capacity of 100 MW which, if built, will be the largest in the
USA [12].
In the USA, there are different applications of BESS towards supporting the power grid.
The different applications are on transmission level, distribution level and behind the
meter (BTM). Transmission level is where the voltage is high, around 115-765 kV, and is
the farthest away the BESS can be from the customers, This is because it includes things
like transmission lines and transmission substations. Distribution level is, as the name
suggests, where the BESS is located in the distribution network which delivers power to
the customers. The last one is BTM, where the BESS is installed at the customer’s side
of the utility meter. This is often used when the customer has a power source other than
the grid, e.g. solar panels or small wind turbines [13].
Some of the characteristics of a BESS are:
• The rated power capacity is the power that the BESS can discharge instantaneously.
• The energy capacity is an expression of the maximum amount of energy stored in
the BESS.
• The storage duration is the time it takes for the BESS to discharge at its full power
13
Group B144 4. Theory
capacity.
• The lifetime is the number of cycles a BESS can manage before it is replaced.
• The state of charge (SOC) is a number in percent which represents how much
capacity is available in the BESS at the given time [13].
The BESS is a relatively new asset to the energy sector. With the different areas, where
it can be implemented, there are many systems that need to be tested. BTM is the area
where BESS is used the most because of the need for the customers to acquire a method
to reduce their energy need and thereby a bill reduction. The customers also want a BTM
BESS because it can run as a backup power system if a power outage would occur. It
is already known that the lithium-ion batteries are expensive but the price has declined
ever since the technology was introduced. Therefore, the BESS still has a good chance of
declining in price since many of these BESS use lithium-ion batteries. This broaden the
opportunities for its future [14].
The scale of BESS varies with the needs in the area in which it is implemented. One of the
most common sizes is a standard container size where the battery and some other functions
of the BESS are placed inside the container. In addition, there is also an instrument to
extinguish fire, to cool and heat the batteries and the systems which control and manage
the BESS. Such a BESS is shown in Figure 4.1.
Figure 4.1. A BESS container from Honeywell [15].
14
4.2. Three phase supply Aalborg University
4.1.1 Economy
Batteries are relatively new when it comes to grid-sized BESS. So far the most popular
technology has been PSH for quite some time. In the USA, it makes up 95% of large scale
ESS [16].
BESSs however, have increased in popularity. primarily due to advances in the technology.
The main technology, which has prevailed, is lithium-ion batteries. Recent estimates put
the cost of a large scale BESS at a range of $356/kWh to $399/kWh depending on the
exact type of battery. Compared to PSH, which has an estimated cost of $262/kWh, it
is apparent that a BESS would be far more costly. This is however for current prices.
Projections for BESS prices by 2030 range from $216/kWh to $222/kWh and as low as
$200/kWh if a few liberties are taken regarding the calculation of the price [17].
The previously listed prices are all for a “final” installed product, i.e. the price of a
completed project from proposed system to its completion. This includes all practical work
such as integration into the grid, planning and developing the system and constructing
it. It does not however take into account the ongoing costs of operating and maintaining
(O&M) the system. The annual O&M costs per power capacity are estimated to be $7-
14/kW for a lithium-ion system, and lead-acid at around $8/kW [17]. All of these prices
are however for building a new energy storage system (ESS) from beginning to finished
product. This means that the decommissioning prices are not taken into account, nor the
lifespan of the different systems.
The life cycle of a lithium-ion battery ranges anywhere from 5-20 years, depending on the
use. This depends on how the battery is treated but with an absolute minimum of 5 years.
No matter how badly the battery is treated, within reason, that estimate is according to
multiple sources reasonable. [17].
Compared to a different ESS such as PSH, which has an expected lifetime of 40 years for
the electromechanical part [18] and more than 80 years for the reservoir, it is clear to see
that BESSs have to be improved. They do, however, have the advantage of not needing
nearly as much space, the ability to be implemented more or less anywhere and delivering
power instantaneously.
4.2 Three phase supply

If the generator in the VAWT is a 3 phase machine, the 360 electrical degrees consist of
3 sinusoidal waves instead of 1. There are 3 sinusoidal waves that can be converted into
DC. This makes the curve of the DC output almost constant because the waves overlap
each other. They overlap because the phases are displaced by 120°while half a phase is
180°. This is shown in Figure 4.2. The advantage of using a 3 phase AC supply is that
it can be used to deliver a fixed voltage output to a DC system because there is a fixed
15
voltage and frequency in a supply with 3 phases. This means that a 3 phase supply is
actually similar to the combination of 3 single phases and can be converted from AC to
DC in the same way as explained in Section 4.3 [19].
Figure 4.2. Three phase AC waves and the conversion to DC [19].
4.3 Converter types
4.3.1 Rectifier
If the power output of the generator is AC, it needs to be converted to DC to be stored in

the battery system. Here a rectifier can be used. A rectifier is an electronics circuit that
converts AC to DC, which flows only in one direction. A simple model is the half wave
rectifier which converts the AC to DC by removing the negative half of the sinusoidal
wave. As a consequence of being simple, it is a very inefficient model because only half of
the current is the output. The more efficient and complex model is the full wave rectifier
which converts both halves of the sinusoidal wave to DC. The difference between the half
wave and full wave rectifiers is shown in Figure 4.3.
16
4.3. Converter types Aalborg University
Figure 4.3. Illustration of the conversion of a sinusoidal wave through a half wave and full wave
rectifier, made in PLECS.
Figure 4.4 is an example of a full wave rectifier where the input on the left hand side of
the rectifier is AC. There are four diodes which indicate a full wave bridge rectifier instead
of a half bridge with only two. During the positive half cycle, the current flows through
the diode in the upper left corner. Following this, through the inductor and the load after
which it will return through the lower right diode. During the negative half cycle, the
current flows through the upper right diode. Subsequently, it makes the same right lap
as the positive current but will return through the lower left diode. The inductor and the
capacitor is used to even the voltage output which is illustrated by the fourth graph in
Figure 4.5.
Figure 4.4. Illustration of a full bridge rectifier made in PLECS.
Figure 4.5 shows the measured current and voltage in the rectifier illustrated in Figure
4.4. The first graph is a measure of the AC input voltage over time. A sinusoidal wave is
illustrated peaking at +120 V and -120 V. The second graph illustrates the rectified input
voltage over time with peak in +120 V. The third graph measures the input current and
17
the fourth measures the output voltage of the rectifier when it has been evened by the
inductor and capacitor.
AC Input Voltage
v_N:Measured voltage
100
50
Voltage (V)
-50
-100
Rectified Input Voltage

120 v_R:Measured voltage
100
80
Voltage (V)
60
40
20
0
Input Current
40
i_N:Measured current
20
Current (A)
-20
-40
DC Output Voltage
80
vm_d:Measured voltage
60
Voltage (V)
40
20
0
0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.20
Time (s)
Figure 4.5. Illustration of the conversion of a sinusoidal wave through a full bridge rectifier.
18
4.3.2 Inverter
With an induction generator, the battery is also required to deliver power to the generator
when it needs to be started. Thus the power output of the battery which is DC has to be
converted into AC with an inverter. It also needs to be converted into 3 phases instead
of one phase, hence there has to be 2 different kinds of conversion. The generator chosen
for the optimal setup is a 3 phase induction motor. Therefore, the motor needs power to
start but also while generating power.
A simple inverter directs the power in pulses with an on/off switch. Between each
switching, it changes the direction of the power. In Denmark, this is done 50 times a
second because the frequency is 50 Hz. This type of inverter will make a square wave
which is shown in Figure 4.6. Here it is possible to see that the current flowing is either
positive or negative where the switching between them is instant.
The second type of inverter is called a modified sine wave inverter which is often used
to power electronics that can deal with a heat loss because it delivers more power to a
system. This type of inverter has a function output similar to the sinusoidal wave but
made out of small squares which is shown in Figure 4.6.
The third type of inverter can be used to power all kinds of AC electronics and is called a
pure sine wave inverter. All AC electronics are made to use a sine wave inverter. However,
some electronics may only work with a pure sine wave inverter, others can also use one of
the more rough sine waves. This type of inverter is also expensive because it uses more
advanced electronics to produce a wave that is very similar to a sine wave. This type has
its application in computers, TVs and many more because it has the most efficient power
output. The curve can be seen in Figure 4.6 [20].
19
Figure 4.6. The different types of waves inverters produce [21].
The requirement of the optimal setup is the pure sine wave inverter. The reason for this
is explained in Section 5 about the case.
4.3.3 DC to DC
If a DC generator is used instead, as the wind speed is fluctuating, the output voltage and
current will also be fluctuating. Therefore, a component that can regulate the voltage to
a specific chosen output is needed to safely recharge the battery. The easiest way to do
this is with a DC to DC converter. This component takes the voltage and regulates it
to the specific input the battery needs. This, however, changes the current to be able to
deliver the specific voltage. Thus the charge rate will be varying. If the voltage delivered
to the DC to DC converter is lower than the input needed for the battery, the charge rate
will be lower than usual because the current will be changed to a lower value.
Since the function of a DC to DC converter is to reduce or increase the voltage by means

of correspondingly changing the current, the power stays constant. This works by the
formula of power given in 4.1:
P =V ·I (4.1)
An example might be
400 V · 2 A = 800 W →
− 50 V · 16 A = 800 W
The way this task is accomplished varies greatly depending on use. Different types of
DC to DC converters exist accordingly. Two of the simplest are the buck and the boost
20
converters, which can be modified and combined to achieve different results. The buck
converter regulates to a lower voltage at a higher current. The boost converter, as the
name implies, increases the voltage while lowering current. The buck converter at its
simplest is made up of 4 components; a switching element, a rectifying diode, a capacitor,
and an inductor in a circuit as shown:
Figure 4.7. Simple buck converter.
As can be seen in Figure 4.7, there is a switching element denoted S, an inductor denoted
L, a diode denoted D, and a capacitor denoted C. Additionally, there is a source and a
load present. Through different setups and combinations of these four base components,
a wide variety of conversions can be made.
21
4.4 Battery
Once the power is converted into DC at the correct voltage it can be used to charge the
battery. The battery consists of a number of smaller batteries called cells. Each cell
has the same capacity and nominal voltage. The number of cells in serial connection
determines the total voltage of the battery system. The total voltage is equal to the sum
of the voltage of each cell in the serial connection. The number of cells (or serial connected
cells) in parallel connection determines the total capacity of the battery system. The total
capacity is equal to the sum of the capacity of each cell in parallel connection.
The battery chosen for this project is a HybridPower 12V/24Ah Lithium-ion battery. This
unit has a nominal voltage of 12.8 V and a capacity of 24 Ah. This setup has a power
capacity of 300 Wh [22]. This fits the case well as it is not expected to surpass 300 W
from the generator.
4.4.1 Charge rates
To charge the battery system it must be connected in the DC loop. Ideally, the battery
should be charged in 2 modes. First a Constant Current (CC) mode followed by a Constant
Voltage (CV) mode. The CC mode charges the battery until the maximum voltage of the
battery is reached. From here, the current must decrease until the battery is fully charged.
This ensures that the battery never exceeds the maximum voltage [23].
For the applications of this project, the currents and voltages are depending on the
rotational speed of the generator. This is handled by converting the power into a constant
voltage while letting the current being variable. The recommended charge rates for this
battery is shown below:
The recommended charging current for this battery is up to 20 A. This corresponds to

a C-rate of 0.83 C. The C-rate corresponds to the rate that describes charging current
compared to the capacity in Ah. A C-rate of 1 C, would in this case mean that the battery
should charge at 24 A because of the capacity being 24 Ah. The maximum charge current
at SOC 20-80% is 30 A. This corresponds to a C-rate of 1.25 C [22].
4.4.2 Discharge rates
When the battery is discharged, it follows the characteristics shown in Figure 4.8. This
graph indicates the time it takes to discharge the battery to a final voltage (FV) of 10 V
at different C-rates. All values of the table are based on constant currents.
22
4.4. Battery Aalborg University
Figure 4.8. A graph illustrating charge time at different discharge rates at 25 °C [22].
Higher C-rates result in shorter discharge times.
4.4.3 Life characteristics
As the battery goes through a number of cycles its maximum capacity will decrease. The
rate at which this happens depends on the depth of discharge (DOD) per cycle. The
maximum capacity decreases the fastest when the battery is fully discharged every cycle.
The life characteristics of the battery chosen for this project is shown in Figure 4.9. This
indicates the number of cycles before the battery reaches 80% SOH. It ranges from 2000
cycles at 100% DOD per cycle to 9000 cycles at 30% DOD per cycle [22].
23
Figure 4.9. The number of cycles it takes to decrease the capacity of the battery to 80 % [22].
4.4.4 Self discharge
As the battery stores energy it discharges itself over time. This happens without the
battery being connected to a load. The rate at which this happens depends on its
temperature. Where higher temperatures tend to result in greater self discharge rates
[24]. The self discharge rates at different temperatures for the chosen battery are seen in
Figure 4.10.
24
4.4. Battery Aalborg University
Figure 4.10. Self discharge rates at different temperatures for the chosen battery [22].
4.4.5 Operating temperature range
When charging and discharging the battery, each cell must be inside of the operating
temperature range. If one or more cells reach over-temperature there is a risk of a
thermal runaway. This means, that at this point the temperature will keep increasing
until meltdown. Overcharge is one of the things that can cause over-temperature.
At the other end of the range is the under-temperature. If this temperature is reached,
the cells are no longer able to charge or discharge. This is because the ions are no longer
able to move between the anode and the cathode.
The optimal operating temperature range of the chosen battery ranges between 5 °C to
30 °C and maximum 0 °C to 45 °C [22]. To avoid reaching over- or under-temperature,
a BMS can be used to monitor the temperature of each cell, to switch of charging or
discharging if necessary.
25
4.5 Battery management system

As mentioned, a lithium-ion battery pack is not safe to use without control and
management of the individual cells and groups. The reason is the small, but noticeable,
differences in the structure in each of the cells. Therefore, in combination with the battery
pack, it is important to make use of a BMS. The BMS is a system of logic and circuits
which has the purpose of monitoring different behaviors of the battery pack. This provides
the proper information to manage and control the battery pack. Thereby, it ensures that
the pack stays inside the Safe Operating Area (SOA). If, for example, one were to use
a battery without a BMS controlling it, and the battery began heating up as a result of
either misuse or usage outside of SOA, the battery would eventually catch fire or explode.
Another important role of the BMS is communication. For most batteries it is important
to know information about the battery and its status at all times. For example, it is
crucial for an electric vehicle to know how much charge is left in the battery, and even
the time at which the battery runs out of charge, at a given discharge rate. Therefore,
not only does the BMS has to monitor and manage the battery, but it also has to provide
relevant information about the battery to the user. Before going into further details about
how communication by the BMS works, the following sections will specify the descriptions
of some of the different features an uses of the BMS [25].
4.5.1 Voltage and current monitoring
By monitoring the voltage and current of the cells in the battery, the BMS can stabilize
the cells’ voltage and current. It can also calculate the state of charge (SOC) and state of
health (SOH) which will be explained in a later section.
When measuring the voltage of individual cells in series the reference point is at a fixed
place and cannot be altered. An example of this can be seen in the illustration below
where the four cells are measured to each have a voltage difference of 4 V.
26
4.5. Battery management system Aalborg University
Figure 4.11. A diagram of sensing four cells’ voltage [26].
Because of the fixed ground, the voltage measured of the three last cells also include the
voltage level of the previous cells. Therefore, it makes it more complicated for the BMS
to operate voltage balancing on the cells.
A method to avoid this difficulty and make it easier, is to introduce Op-Amps to the
circuit because it can amplify the difference in voltage between each cell. This is also
illustrated by the figure below.
Figure 4.12. A diagram of sensing four cells’ voltage with integrated Op-Amps [26].
27
To measure the voltage, an Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) is necessary because the

voltage is an analog signal. It is easier for the BMS to process the information as a digital
than an analog signal. Therefore, a transducer will be used to convert the signal from
analog to digital. When processed, the information will be communicated to the user
interface.
ADC is used to convert an analog signal input to a digital signal output. Even though the
analog signals are the most common in nature, such as pressure, sound and temperature,
but the disadvantage is that it is difficult to process the information in an analog signal.
So the digital signal is preferred. The quality of the ADC is evaluated by its resolution.
A higher value of the resolution gives a smoother signal. The analog signal can have any
value between the minimum and maximum range. Therefore, it has an infinite resolution.
The digital signal however, can have different resolutions. An example of this is shown in
Figure 4.13, where it can be seen that the digital resolution is 5 because it has 5 levels.
If the analog input has a varying range from 0V to 3V, the digital output will break it
down to 5 levels. If it needs to have a higher resolution, the digital output would have
more levels and therefore, a smoother output.
Figure 4.13. A graph of analog input and digital output with time on the x-axis and voltage on
the y-axis [27].
4.5.2 Temperature monitoring
Temperature sensing and monitoring is one of the most important features of a BMS. As
mentioned earlier, operating temperature of the battery pack is important for making
precise estimates of SOC and SOH, as well as playing a crucial role in the rate of
degradation. Not only does the temperature of the battery impact the health of the
battery, it can also cause the battery to malfunction, if used outside the recommended
temperature range.
28
4.5. Battery management system Aalborg University
Misuse related to temperature range, can result in endangering both the battery, the user,
and the surroundings of the battery. Therefore, the battery must be controlled by a BMS.
For the BMS to monitor the temperatures of the battery, the BMS is required to measure
and calculate the potentially different temperatures of the battery. The most common
way of determining the temperatures, is with the use of thermistors in some strategically
placed areas in the battery pack. Then using these measured temperatures to estimate
the temperature in the rest of the battery. Minimizing the usage of thermistors, and
maximizing usage of calculated estimates reduces the overall material cost of the battery
pack. Now that the BMS is able to keep track of the temperatures in the pack, the BMS
will be able to minimize or mitigate the risks of damaging the battery. And be able to
control charging and discharging in an optimal way to minimize the rate of degrading.
Thereby, prolonging the life expectancy, by limiting operation under optimal conditions
[28].
4.5.3 State of charge
It is important to know about the amount of energy left in a battery and the amount of
power the battery can provide at any given time. It is not possible to measure or calculate
these values directly, however these values can be calculated based on the battery’s State of
Charge (SOC). The SOC of a battery relates to the voltage difference between the positive
and negative poles. As a charged battery powers an application, the battery voltage drops
as the battery is being discharged. This process can be described as a function, which is
used in calculations later in this report, the formula is given in 4.2. All formulas from this
section are from [29].
Creleasable
SOC = · 100% (4.2)
Crated
The rate of change in the voltage is different for different kinds of batteries and depends
on the structure and materials used in making the battery. The battery voltage compared
to DOD for different batteries is seen in Figure 5.2. The most common way of estimating
the SOC of a lithium battery is with a method called Coulomb Counting. The method
involves integrating the current during usage of the battery, and thereby calculating the
change in the DOD to then estimate the remaining energy in the battery based off the
battery’s physical limitations. With a constant charge- or discharge current Ib for a given
period of time τ , the change of DOD can be estimated by the given formula 4.3
Z t0 +τ
1
∆DOD = − · Ib (t)dt · 100% (4.3)
Crated t0
Note that Ib is positive when charging and negative when discharging.
29
The SOC calculation is given by the formula 4.4
SOC = SOC start − ∆DOD (4.4)
4.5.4 State of health
As described in Section 4.4.3, the battery degrades for every cycle it undergoes, with
different amounts based on DOD. A BMS that has the right software, will be able to
estimate the maximum capacity at any given time in percentages, called the state of
health (SOH). The BMS can be set to charge and discharge only between two given
limits of SOC. This results in a longer life-time, and still gives a reasonable amount of
exploitation of the battery capacity. The SOH calculation is given by formula 4.5.
Cmax
SOH = · 100% (4.5)
Crated
The life characteristics of the battery used in this project is described in Section 4.4.3.
4.5.5 BMS Control
The BMS has to communicate with the sensors and controllers within it, in order to
manage the battery. Among the ways the BMS controls the battery, multiple different
levels of controls exist depending on what the user wishes to manage. As D. Andrea has
written in [30], the degree to which BMS acts upon the battery can be categorized in a few
different segments. But without a lot of standardisation so the names used here may go
by other terms depending on the author. The simplest one is the regulator. A regulator
regulates the charging of the cells. It is a shunt which bypasses the charging current once
the cells is sufficiently charged, and is placed on the individual cell [30]. The regulator
lacks the ability to manage discharging. However, the battery pack will only be protected
from overcharging. Furthermore the regulator itself also cannot handle excessive currents.
If the charger delivers a greater current than what the regulator is designed for either the
regulator or the cell will be damaged [30]. With the ability to measure multiple parameters
such as cell voltage, temperature and cell current, as well as some form of intelligence,
the BMS can estimate cell and pack health. This is what would be considered a meter.
Adding the ability to manage the battery pack, based on the measurements received, and
it is categorised as a “Monitor” [30].
30
Case descriptions
5
In this chapter, Sections 5.1 and 5.2 describes the optimal setup and LeadENG setup
while Section 5.3 is discusses about the modeling.
The purpose of this LeadENG project is building a vertical wind turbine and place it in
the middle of a small lake. The disadvantage of this decision is the limited wind speeds
at this place, thus the wind turbine will not be able to produce electricity in the majority
of the time.
Because of the location, the components chosen for this project must be efficient at low
speeds in the majority of time, but also be able to handle the peak in wind speed when
there is a storm. This also requires that the battery will not discharge all the power if the
wind turbine is not generating electricity for a while.
5.1 Optimal setup

The optimal setup includes an AC induction motor as described in Section 2.2.1. This
AC induction motor must also get power from the converter and not only deliver power
to the converter.
5.1.1 Converter, inverter and rectifier
The required inverter for the optimal setup is a pure sine wave inverter and is as described
in Section 4.3. This is because of the requirement of power being delivered to the generator
as well. The other types of inverters deliver more power because the area under their
output curve is larger than the sine waves. Since the power delivered by the generator is
expected to be low relative to the capacity of the battery, the battery will take a while
to fully charge. Therefore, the inverter required must not deliver too much power, which
causes a lot of heat loss. For a motor to deliver maximum output, it needs a pure sine
wave inverter. Thus, it is required that the conversion process is as effective as possible
which leads to the pure sine wave inverter being the best option for this case.
The AC power generated by the generator has to be rectified to DC form that can be
stored in the battery. This is described in Section 4.3.1. The rectifier required for this
31
Group B144 5. Case descriptions
project must be able to manage an input of 3 phases and be adjusted to deliver a specific
output voltage corresponding to the battery voltage, single phase DC.
For the most efficient battery system, the components will have to be equal in scale. If the
components are not equal, it will not be possible to exploit the individual component’s
potential. This will have economical consequences and must therefore be avoided.
5.1.2 Battery
Since there is a range of battery types on the market, it is important to choose the one
best fitting for the application. Some of the most popular ones are alkaline, zink, lead-acid
and lithium-ion.
Generally, the lithium-ion batteries are preferred over the other types because they have a
range of advantages over the other types. Some of them are: higher energy density, almost
constant voltage during discharge, no leakage tendency and longer life characteristics.
The energy densities for different battery types are seen in Figure 5.1.
Figure 5.1. Energy density of different battery types [31].
As seen, the lithium-ion battery has the both highest specific- and volumetric energy
density.
The voltage across the battery during discharge is compared between lithium-ion and
lead-acid batteries in Figure 5.2.
32
5.1. Optimal setup Aalborg University
Figure 5.2. Battery voltage as a function of DOD(%) for lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries [32].
As seen, the lithium-ion battery has an almost constant voltage during discharge. The
voltage only significantly changes at the two ends of the DOD-scale. This makes the
lithium-ion battery more consistent at different DOD stages compared to the lead-acid
battery. Therefore, the lithium-ion battery is a better choice in applications where
constant voltage is required [32].
One of the disadvantages is their need for circuit protection. The circuit protection is
necessary to avoid overcharge and thermal runaway as described in Section 4.5.
$
The price of lithium-ion batteries are 132 kWh in 2021 [33]. Statistically, this price has
$
decreased almost each year since it was first introduced. In 2013 the price was 684 kWh
[33]. This indicates a possible decrease in the future price of the lithium-ion batteries.
Because of all the above factors, the lithium-ion battery is the most popular one for many
commercial purposes. It is the optimal choice for this case as well.
5.1.3 BMS
Because of the choice of a lithium-ion battery pack, it will be required to have a BMS. This
is one of the few disadvantages of a lithium-ion battery pack, but is greatly outweighed
by the numerous advantages mentioned above.
The BMS needed for the case will be best optimised by having the following features:
• Measuring and monitoring of both the voltage & current

• Temperature monitoring
• SOC & SOH estimation
• Rate of degradation estimation
• Overcharge and -discharge protection
33
• Overload protection
• Short circuit protection
• Battery regulation
Although most of the features listed need some sort of preset values, it is merely a question
of having the circuitry necessary to do mathematical calculations. Voltage & current
measurements are made as explained in Section 4.5.1 and requires wiring to all of the
battery cells in the pack. The same is needed for temperature monitoring, just not as
extensive, as temperature sensors in every cell is not strictly necessary. When the physical
wiring in the pack to the BMS is in place, it is essential to either be able to program the
BMS or simply have the right circuit board printed to carry out the demanded service. In
this case, the model will not include a BMS but only simplified models, with calculations
included along, to compare and analyse different circumstances.
The overcharge and discharge protection, overload and short circuit protection, all these
come under the “safety” category and will only be evaluated and analysed theoretically.
5.2 LeadENG setup

For the physical setup of the wind turbine it has been chosen to simplify the system and
make it as easy as possible to deliver a functional wind turbine. This is because some of
the components that were chosen at first posed several challenges for the physical product
of the LeadENG project. As a result of these challenges the generator has been re-chosen.
The new generator is a DC generator also known as a dynamo.
The following physical setup as shown in Figure 5.3 has been considered in this project.
For the physical setup the following components have been chosen.
• Battery - Lithium-ion battery - 12 V and 24 Ah from Viva Energy [34].

• Converter - DC to DC boost converter - Input 6-35 V and 10 A. Output 6-55 V and
7 A from Arduino Tech [35].
34
5.3. Model Aalborg University
Figure 5.3. The LeadENG setup illustrated.
This setup is equal to the one used in the battery charging model. The reason for using
this setup in the model is that the focus is about energy, SOC and power rather than
AC/DC converting.
5.3 Model
To estimate the SOC of the battery in any of the two setups, a set of models have been
developed. In this section, the models are described and used to show different qualified
estimates of the SOC. The models also show the value of the voltage across the battery to
be compared to the SOC. This is used to verify the upper- and lower limits of the SOC for
the battery to operate safely. The characteristics of the battery in the models are based
on Matlab Simulink’s build-in lithium-ion battery model.
5.3.1 Simplified model
The first model shows and explains the fundamental characteristics of the SOC when
the battery is exposed to a constant current from a current source. The voltage is then
adapted to fit the characteristics of the battery. The model is seen in Figure 5.4.
35
Figure 5.4. Simplified model of a battery being charged with a constant current.
In this model the signals of SOC, current, and voltage across the battery are sent into a
scope to be seen as a function of time. The specifications of the setup are set to be as
equivalent to the LeadENG project as possible:
Battery nominal voltage Battery capacity Charge current

12.8 V 24 Ah 5A
The calculation of SOC is based on the coulomb counting method as described in Section
4.5.3 while the voltage calculation across the battery depends on the battery type. The
results from running the model with a lithium-ion battery is seen in Figure 5.5.
Figure 5.5. Graphs illustrating the SOC and voltage with respect to time.
This period of time is equivalent to the SOC going from 0% to 100%. With this model it
is seen that the SOC in a lithium-ion battery should stay between 20% and 85% to avoid
the voltage spikes in both ends of the graph.
36
5.3. Model Aalborg University
5.3.2 Power variable model
To obtain a realistic estimate of the SOC in the specific application, a modified model is
needed. This model is able to take a variable power input from the generator and control
the amplitude of the voltage and current. The voltage at a given SOC is known by using
the battery characteristics. This is used to set the voltage during charge and to know the
current at a given amplitude of power. This is based on the formula of power:
P =V ·I (5.1)
In this model, it is an option to set the minimum and maximum value of SOC to avoid
the voltage spikes at the outer edges. This means that this model only operates at SOC
> 10% and SOC < 90%. This is done by setting the initial SOC to 10% and by using a
switch to stop charging when the SOC reaches 90%. Figure 5.6 shows an overview of this
version of the model.
Figure 5.6. A model with the ability to handle variable power inputs and to control the correct
voltage and current.
To use this model, a method to know the generator power output at a given rotational
speed of the wind turbine is needed. This is one of the focus points of the next chapter.
37
Analysis
6
This chapter includes the various analyses made for this project such as experiments, a
model and battery. The objective is to derive the expected power output of the generator
during the year. This is used in the model.
6.1 Analysis of experiments
6.1.1 DC generator
For the LeadENG project, a DC generator has been chosen to test what output is delivered
at certain speeds. The setup is made with a motor capable of delivering a specific rotational
speed in rotations per minute (RPM) so it can be compared with specific wind speeds at
the wind turbine location. A sketch of the setup can be seen in Figure 6.1.
The motor, which symbolizes the rotor, is connected to the generator such that it is
possible to measure the output at specific RPMs. At the setup is also a multi-meter to
measure voltage and current in the system and some resistors to symbolize the battery.
Figure 6.1. The experiment illustrated. A motor is driven to power a generator.
39
Group B144 6. Analysis
The data from the experiment is seen in Appendix A.1. When analysing the data from
the experiment it is important to know the cut in and cut out speed of the wind turbine.
In the LeadENG project, the cut in speed is 5 ms and the cut out speed is 9 ms . Figure 6.2
shows the generated wind power as a function of wind speed.
Figure 6.2. Data from the experiment with DC generator.
The graph has been limited to only show the data in a range of 5 ms to 9 ms to obtain the
best function of the cut in and cut out wind speed. The data points in this range show
a linear relationship between the power output and the wind speed as can be seen in the
graph. If all data from the lower wind speed were used as well, the obtained regression
would not have been linear. Thus the data would not be able to represent the wind speed
conditions the wind turbine produces electricity under.
From the graph, Equation 6.1 is made by a regression, explained in Appendix A.2, which
shows the power P as a function of the wind speed v.
P = 27.3v − 89 (6.1)
This equation is used to calculate the power output of the wind turbine from the wind
speed at a given point in time.
If the wind speed is 7.2 ms the power output of the generator is calculated to be 107.56 W
using the Equation 6.1. This power output is what can be expected from the wind turbine
but with a slight deviation due to the resistances in the moving parts of the wind turbine.
Therefore, a smaller power output of the wind turbine is expected compared to what can
be calculated from this equation.
40
6.1. Analysis of experiments Aalborg University
6.1.2 Battery charging with power supply
The battery needs to be fully charged for the BMS to be properly calibrated. Thus the
battery is charged with a power supply to ensure that the BMS works as intended in this
validation test.
The setup can be seen in Figure 6.3, where the power supply is connected to the battery
with charging values of 14.4 V and under 5 A. The battery can manage a charging current
of 20 A but since this is the first time the battery is charged, the fabricator recommends
not to exceed 5 A at first. Afterwards, the current is adjusted to under 10 A, which is the
limit of the power supply, so the battery charges faster.
Figure 6.3. The setup of the battery charging with a power supply.
After the validation test, the battery is prepared to further experiments by discharging
the battery.
6.1.3 DC generator with battery
In this experiment, the battery is charged with the DC generator to see how and if the
battery can be charged by the DC generator. Also to see if it is possible to charge the
battery with the wind speeds that have been measured at the place the VAWT will be
placed.
The setup is seen in Figure 6.4, where the battery is connected to the DC to DC converter
which is connected to the DC generator. The rest of the setup with the DC generator
and the motor is alike the setup in Section 6.1.1. The battery will be charged at different
RPMs to illustrate different wind speeds. Afterwards, the change in SOC will be measured
41
every minute over a time span of 15 minutes.
Figure 6.4. The setup of the experiment where the battery is charged by a generator.
When the experiment was conducted the battery would not charge as expected with the
setup described above. This is because the converter did not behave as expected. It
would draw power instead of delivering power to the battery. This was solved using a
rectifier, which consists of diodes, thus the power can only go to the battery and not let
the generator be used as a motor. After this modification was made the experiment could
be conducted properly.
The experiment was conducted with wind speeds of 5 ms and 7 ms and the data from the
experiments is shown in Figure 6.5 and 6.6. These wind speeds converts into a specific
rotational speed at the generator. This rotational speed delivers a specific amount of
power as shown in Figure 6.1. The amount of power in the 2 experiments was calculated
to be 47.5 W and 102.1 W for the two different wind speeds. But when measuring the
actual power output of the generator in this specific setup, the actual power was lower
than expected. The measured power output was approximately 28 W and 34 W. The
power values are given in Table 6.1. Here it is possible to see that the wind speed of 9 ms
was not a part of the test. This is because the voltage output of the converter would
be higher than the maximum charging voltage of the battery. This would have a risk of
causing damage to the battery, hence it was chosen not to be done.
42
Wind speed Rotational speed Power (calculated) Power (measured)

5 ms 1546 RPM 47.5 W 28 W
7 ms 2273 RPM 102.1 W 34 W
Table 6.1. The calculated and measured power at given wind- and rotational speeds.
This is a significant drop compared to what was to be expected based on the calculations
in Section 6.1.1. This is discussed in Section 6.3.
Figure 6.5. Experimental change in SOC estimated at wind speed 5 ms in a time frame of 15 min.
43
Figure 6.6. Experimental change in SOC estimated at wind speed 7 ms in a time frame of 15 min.
The change in SOC of both the experiments can be seen in Figure 6.5 and Figure 6.6.
They show a linear regression of time. It is clear that the SOC of both experiments after 15
min has changed positively. The experiment with the wind speed of 7 ms changes the SOC
from 37.2 % to 39.7 % and the wind speed of 5 ms changes the SOC from 37.2 % to 39.3 %.
This indicates that the change in SOC is bigger at higher wind speeds. Therefore, the
battery will charge faster, as expected, with the highest possible wind speed the battery
can handle.
There is a loss of power in the system from the amount of energy delivered, to what the
battery actually receives. The loss is given in Table 6.2 with an efficiency of 89.72 % at the
cut in wind speed and an efficiency of 90.42 % at the wind speed 7 ms . These efficiencies
are so close to each other, that the difference is neglected. The difference between the
results is most likely an error from the measurements. Therefore, it can be said that the
battery has a charge efficiency of about 90 %.
Wind speed Charging loss Losses per mWh charged Efficiency

5 ms 657 mWh 0.103 mWh 89.72 %
7 ms 747.57 mWh 0.096 mWh 90.42 %
Table 6.2. The calculated power loss at given wind speed.
Underneath is Formula 6.2 used to calculate the efficiency.

Eutilized
η= ≈ 90% (6.2)
Eused
44
6.1.4 Wind data
Equation 6.1 must be used in a combination with wind data to estimate the power output
of the generator over longer periods of time. Therefore, a set of wind data, collected at
the correct location, can be used in the model. In the model of this project, wind data
from eastern Aalborg is used. The wind data used is seen in Figure 6.7. When using
this data in combination with Equation 6.1 the cut in and cut out wind speeds must be
implemented accordingly. This means that at any wind speed below 5 ms the power is 0 W
and at any wind speed higher than 9 ms the power is the same as at 9 ms . This is because
a mechanical brake regulates the rotational speed of the rotor.
Figure 6.7. The measured wind speeds at the location over a year.
In Figure 6.8, the wind data has been combined with Equation 6.1 as well as the values
of cut in and cut out wind speeds. This results in a graph of power as a function of time.
Again over a whole year.
45
Figure 6.8. The calculated power extracted from the wind turbine at the location over a year.
Note that the maximum level of power generated by the wind turbine is always just below
160 W. This is because of the cut out wind speed of 9 ms . Also the cut in wind speed of
5 ms results in several periods where the generated power is 0 W. This power data is used
as the input of the model and is analysed in Section 6.2. This power is only an estimate
done by calculations and not based on measurements.
6.2 Results from model
6.2.1 One year model
The first simulation of the model is run with the power data from Figure 6.8 which plots
the power during a year. This simulation is run with a battery capable of storing all of
the energy generated during a year. For this simulation a 4500 Ah lithium-ion battery is
chosen which is not a realistic battery capacity for the LeadENG project but it displays an
overview of the battery charge characteristics for reference. The plots are seen in Figure
6.9. The figure is a scope from running the model with a 4500 Ah lithium-ion battery with
a nominal voltage of 12.8 V. The simulation is run between 0 & 100 % SOC. Seen from
above, the scope includes: Power output of generator, SOC, battery voltage and charge
current. The data of power is derived from wind data over a year as described in Section
6.1.4 and Figure 6.8.
46
6.2. Results from model Aalborg University
Figure 6.9. Simulation results from the 4500 Ah battery during one year.
For the LeadENG project a 24 Ah battery is used instead. Also, the battery is only run
between SOC 10 - 90%. This results in a lower utilization of the battery capacity and
more cycles during a year.
To model the number of cycles during a year a load must be included in the setup. This
load is supposed to discharge the battery when the SOC hits 90%. Or optimally when the
wind speed is 0 ms to exploit the energy in the wind the most. This is not included in the
model but the number of cycles is calculated with the following assumptions:
• No energy is lost from the generator to the battery during charging.

• No energy is lost due to self-discharge
• Every battery cycle consists of charging between 10-90% SOC followed by instant
discharge.
• Battery aging and damage is not considered.
47
The total amount of energy delivered by the generator over a year is found by integrating
the power with respect to time. This is given by Formula 6.3.
Z
E= P dt (6.3)
But the amount of energy received by the battery is expected to be less than this due
to energy losses. Based on the model simulations it is expected that the battery receives
57.8 kWh during a year, corresponding to the 4500 Ah at 12.8 V.
Based on the battery used in the LeadENG project, the number of cycles is calculated
given by the Formula 6.4.
Creceived
ncycles = (6.4)
Cbattery
But only 80% of the capacity of the battery is utilized. The utilized capacity is given by
the calculation 6.5.
Cbattery.utilized = 24 Ah · 0.80 = 19.2 Ah (6.5)
And the total number of cycles over a year is given by the calculation 6.6.
4500 Ah
ncycles = = 234 (6.6)
19.2 Ah
This is only true under the circumstance of the various assumptions. Therefore, the actual
number of cycles during a year is expected to be significantly lower.
6.2.2 Constant wind speed simulation
This simulation is done by charging a 24 Ah battery at constant wind speeds. This is

done to be able to validate the model by comparing data to the corresponding experiment
in Section 6.1.3. For this simulation, constant wind speed is assumed to equal constant
power.
As discussed in Section 6.1.3, the power calculated at a given rotational speed is much
higher than what is actually measured in the specific setup. This simulation shows
the change in SOC based on the measured power from Table 6.1 to obtain the most
realistic results. Also, by using the measured power the simulation can be compared to
the experimental data from Section 6.1.3.
48
6.3. Model validation Aalborg University
Figure 6.10 shows the result from making the simulation as described at a wind speed of
5 ms . The simulation is supposed to be as similar to the experiment in Section 6.1.3 as
possible. Therefore, the initial SOC is at 37.2% which is the same as the initial SOC in
the experiment.
Figure 6.10. Simulation of charging the battery at 5 ms .
The linear regression is to be compared with the results from Section 6.1.3. To be able to
compare this with the data, the x-axis must be converted from seconds to minutes. This
gives the new Equation 6.7 of the regression:
SOC = 0.141 t + 37.2 (6.7)
6.3 Model validation

As discussed in Section 6.1.3, the power output of the generator at a given rotational speed
is much lower than calculated. Therefore, the results from the one year model shows an
unrealistic result. Not necessarily unrealistic in the way the battery acts as a result of the
power delivered to it. But unrealistic in the way the expected power is calculated at a
given wind speed. By the experiments conducted, the calculated power is between 2 and
3 times greater than the actual measured power. If the average ratio is set to 2.5 then the
number of cycles over a year from Equation 6.8 must be recalculated.
234
ncycles = = 93.6 (6.8)
2.5
If the actual energy extracted by the wind is approximated to be 2.5 times lower than
calculated then the number of cycles decreases to 93.6 cycles per year. This means that the
49
Formula 6.1 used to calculate the power with respect to the wind speed has a significant
error of up to 67%. This does not invalidate the model itself but rather the data used as
input for the model. A part of this error is due to heat losses in the components between
the generator and the battery. But this does not explain all 67%. The rest of the error
might have origins in the calculations that converts the wind speed to rotational speed
and then to a power output from the generator.
The calculated Equation 6.1, which outputs the magnitude of the power as a function of
the wind speed, is a linear function of the wind speed. This is different from Equation
6.9 that shows how much power is theoretically able to be extracted from the wind. This
has the wind speed to the power of three which means that the wind speed has a great
impact on the power output.
1
P = · ρ · A · v3 (6.9)
2
This error might be due to the small sample size of the experimental data and because of
the cut in and cut out wind speeds.
To validate the model itself, the data from the model in Section 6.2.2 is compared to
the experimental data from Section 6.1.3. In this comparison, the data from the battery
charging at 5 ms is used.
From the experiment in Section 6.1.3 Equation 6.10 is derived.
SOCexperiment = 0.139 t + 37.2 (6.10)
And from the equal model simulation in Section 6.2.2 Equation 6.11 is derived.
SOCsimulation = 0.141 t + 37.2 (6.11)
This corresponds to the following changes in SOC given by calculations 6.12 and 6.13.
d
SOCexperiment (t) = 0.139 (6.12)
dt
d
SOCsimulation (t) = 0.141 (6.13)
dt
Where t is the time measured in minutes.
The comparison between the two results is given in Table 6.3.
50
6.4. Small scale batteries and grid sized BESS Aalborg University
d d d
dt SOCexperiment (t) dt SOCsimulation (t) ∆ dt SOC (t) Error (%)
0.139 0.141 0.002 1.4 %
Table 6.3. Comparison of values from experiment and simulation.
This shows that the change in SOC as a function of time is 1.4% better in the simulation
compared to the experiment. This difference is explained by energy losses due to heat in
the experiment.
The conclusion of the model validation is that the experiments performed validates the
model itself with an error of only 1.4% between the two. This is explained by heat losses
at the battery. The input used for the model has a significant error of up to 67%. This
results in an unrealistic output from the model, and thus a wrong estimate of cycles during
a year. This has been re-estimated by the calculation of Equation 6.8 to correct the error.
6.4 Small scale batteries and grid sized BESS

The main challenge to overcome, when comparing small scale batteries to grid sized BESS,
is the timescale for which the BESS can store an amount of charge. Self discharge is the
main issue regarding this. Modern lithium-ion batteries have a self discharge rate of up to
2% per month when disconnected from the load and properly stored [36]. For the average
consumer, this is not a problem as the battery is most often in use, thus the self discharge
rate is not relevant. This however, changes when the scale is changed both in time frame
as well as the amount of power. Compared to an ESS such as PSH, where the power loss
over time is minimal, the BESS suffers from not being able to keep the energy for a long
duration such as from summer to winter without losing any energy.
Thus the small scale batteries are great for storing power because they are used regularly.
But a larger BESS will discharge over time as it is not used as often. Therefore, BESSs
will have the biggest impact in areas where they are used frequently and where the power
needs to be delivered instantly.
51
Discussion
7
The following sections will discuss several parts and data gained throughout the project.
Section 7.1 will discuss the model and look at the possible improvements for it. Afterwards
in Section 7.2, The optimal setup is compared to the LeadENG case to evaluate the
expected differences and losses. Lastly, in Section 7.3 the application of BESS in different
large-scale situations is discussed comprising of national- and industrial scale and the
profitability hereof. This is done to show how batteries can contribute to transition to
RES.
7.1 Model improvements

As discussed in Section 6.3, the errors of the model can be split into two categories.
Firstly, the wind speed is converted into a power magnitude based on experimental data.
This conversion has an error of up to 67% when compared to the actual measured data.
Especially this part should be improved by additional experiments to achieve more realistic
results. Secondly, the power is converted into a rate of change in the SOC of the battery.
Here, the model only has an error of up to 1.4% when compared to the actual measured
values.
In this section, further improvements as well as additional influencing factors of the model
are discussed.
As described in Section 4.4 both temperature and time have impact on the self discharge
of the battery. Where temperatures impacts the self discharge rates and time impacts
the total self discharge. This is seen in Figure 4.10. Since the average temperature in
Denmark is around 10 °C the black line is fitting this case. Here it is seen that during a
year the battery can be expected to lose less than 5% of its capacity. This is relatively low
since the battery is a lithium-ion battery. For comparison a lead-acid battery typically
self discharges 4-6% per month [24]. Therefore, it is assessed that the overall impact from
self discharge is negligible for the model. This is another advantage of the lithium-ion
battery.
Furthermore, the number of cycles the battery experiences impacts the SOH of the battery.
This is seen in Figure 4.9. Since it is expected to have cycles consisting of 80% DOD the
53
Group B144 7. Discussion
blue line is the one fitting for this case. It shows that it takes 3000 cycles to reach 80%
SOH. For this reason it should take several years to reach this point and is therefore
acceptable to neglect in the model. Considering all of the above factors in the model, the
number of cycles during a year would be lower and the SOH would decrease slightly. This
is a result of the battery losing energy over time due to these factors.
7.2 Optimal- vs LeadENG case

The components chosen for the LeadENG setup are not optimal. The rectifier has a loss
of up to 20% while the converter has a loss of up to 2.4%. These components, especially
the rectifier, will not be efficient enough for a large scale system. This does not flag which
system is most optimal because a rectifier is used in both systems. With the generator
in perspective, a DC generator has a shorter life span. This is because of the brushes
inside of the generator which leads the electricity from the shaft of the generator where
a brush-less AC generator has no brushes. This leads to less wear because there are no
brushes grinding on the shaft of the generator. Therefore, large AC generators are far more
common than large DC generators but also because of AC generator’s higher efficiency.
With AC generators it is also possible to reach slower speeds. It is therefore possible

to capture energy at slower wind speeds. This is what is used in Siemens Gamesa wind
turbines to avoid gearboxes and instead have a direct drive which reduces maintenance
and production costs [37].
If the wind turbine would be scaled up to be a part of a wind turbine park. The energy
would not be stored in a battery because it is too expensive compared to other ESS or
delivering it directly into the grid. The setup when delivering directly into the grid would
be an AC generator that has the highest efficiency and a converter that adjusts voltage,
frequency and current to match the grid. Another thing which would make sense is
reducing the maintenance costs of the wind turbine by removing the gearbox like Siemens
Gamesa has done.
7.3 Application in large-scale situations

Batteries in the industry and on national scale have 2 different purposes. In the industry,
the BESS will be used to power different types of equipment and if necessary, work as a
backup instead of diesel generators. The BESS can deliver power instantaneous whereas
the generator needs to convert the fuel into electricity which means there will be a delay.
In some industries, it is important to always have electricity available where even a small
delay would be fatal.
On a national scale, the BESS will be used to deliver power when the grid is overloaded,
shorts out, or to support other functions in the grid. As mentioned in Section 4.1, there
54
7.3. Application in large-scale situations Aalborg University
are several applications of a BESS to support the grid by placing it at the transmission
level, distribution level and BTM.
7.3.1 Industrial scale
The power capacity of the BESS in the industrial scale depends on the application of the
BESS. BESSs are very important in the industry and can be used for several different
applications. They can be used in a backup power system at a data center where it is
also known as Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). The BESS is placed BTM and can
immediately deliver power when a power outage occurs. For the data center it is important
that the power will be delivered uninterruptedly because some of the components are
sensitive to power outages. The backup power system of a data center consists of both
a BESS and a generator because of the high power consumption of the servers. If
the generator was removed, the BESS would be expected to have a power capacity in
proportion to the power consumption of the data center. This would affect both the cost
and size of the BESS negatively. Therefore, a BESS in a backup power system with a
generator is a good solution also because the data center will not be affected by a power
outage [38].
Another application of the BESS in an industrial scale is in a hospital. In hospitals, they
have generators ready to deliver power, but in Denmark, it takes 15-18 seconds for the
generator to deliver electricity. In the transition to green energy, hospitals could replace
generators with something such as a BESS. If a BESS would be used then the delay of
15-18 seconds would disappear and thus the hospital should not experience a power loss
[39]. This is very important for hospitals because it can be dangerous to experience a
power outage. Although it would be a good green energy solution, it would again also be
very costly financially for the hospital. Therefore, a backup power system should consist
of a BESS and a generator which takes over the power supply after 15-18 seconds. As a
green fuel alternative for the generator, green ammonia could be a solution.
7.3.2 National scale
As mentioned in Section 4.1, the power capacity of a BESS has to be at least 1 MW when
in a grid-sized scale. Although, a battery solution in a national scale could also be BTM
at every household, and thereby supporting the electrical grid, out by the consumer. This
method would require production of a very large amount of “household” scale batteries
with a capacity that makes sense. We have already seen this method in use with the
so-called Tesla Power-wall, which is a 13.5 kWh battery placed at the consumer’s side of
the electricity meter to supply the resident’s power needs, either when the grid shorts out,
or potentially when the grid otherwise would be overloaded. E.g. in the middle of the
day when the grid usually is more congested, and fossil fuel based power plants will turn
on to support the grid. Instead, the batteries BTM could supply the necessary amount
of households to avoid the usage and dependence of fossil fuel based power plants. A
55
Group B144 7. Discussion
big dilemma would then be who should own and control these batteries, and who should
pay for it. The most controlled way of managing would probably be an algorithm which
controls when and how long the household should run on battery power, or grid power.
Otherwise, if it were the resident’s own responsibility, the majority would manage the
battery to draw and supply energy most cost efficiently, which wouldn’t necessarily be the
most optimal for the grid.
The overall purpose of a BESS is generally to charge and discharge, whenever the energy
production is higher and lower than the total consumption. Thereby it would not be
necessary for fossil fuel based power plants to supply the extra energy when needed,
instead the batteries will hold the charge until it once again is needed. As mentioned
earlier, this can be done in a few different ways, but overall does the same. The main
reason we have not seen much use of BESSs yet, is because of its low profitability and
high material cost in terms of battery production. Although, the new and better battery
technology is constantly being developed, it might be more realistic looking into other
alternatives to store excess energy.
7.3.3 Profitability
The factor that will ultimately decide what solution is chosen, whether on an industrial or
national scale is the economy of the solution. While batteries are by far the most popular
technology for storing energy for smaller appliances and even up to EV size, they become
less favorable when several thousands of MWh are needed. Because of this lack in usage of
large scale BESSs, data about them becomes difficult to obtain. Data for anything larger
than 1600 MWh is impossible to obtain as the largest BESS in the world has a capacity of
exactly that [40]. For ESSs beyond that scale Hydrogen, PHS and Compressed Air Energy
Storage (CAES) are the primary alternatives. As can be seen in Figure ES-2 in [17], those
three are the only ESSs which have been constructed at this scale, and at sufficiently large
scale they become cheaper than any kind of BESS.
7.4 Alternative solutions to BESS

The main alternatives as mentioned in Section 7.3.3 to battery based ESSs are hydrogen,
pumped hydro storage and compressed air energy storage. They are much cheaper than
a BESS at a larger scale, making them deployed more than BESS.
Siemens Gamesa is one of the biggest producers of wind turbines in the world, and they
plan to use electrolysis to produce hydrogen. In the future, Siemens Gamesa want to
have a station at every wind turbine that can produce hydrogen, because they believe
hydrogen will be used as fuel in trucks, ships etc. and generally in the transporting
industry [41]. Another advantage hydrogen have, is that it can be turned into ammonia
fairly easily. Ammonia is a mix of hydrogen and nitrogen and have a less complicated
way into the transport industry than hydrogen. It is because most combustion engines
56
7.4. Alternative solutions to BESS Aalborg University
can use ammonia as fuel without any major changes, and vehicles like a tractor can use
it without any changes at all.
Siemens Gamesa’s plan is to deliver electricity to the consumers at all time, and when
there is a surplus of electricity, the power from the wind turbines will be used to make
hydrogen instead. This hydrogen can be stored, and if there are times where the wind
turbines does not produce any electricity, the hydrogen can be used as fuel at power plants,
where the only waste product will be water. Which is the main reason why this idea, is
overall a great solution.
57
Conclusion
8
The energy management of a VAWT depends heavily on the used generator. The most
simple setup is when a DC generator is used, because the battery is charged with DC.
Therefore, only a step-up or step-down converter is needed when storing the energy output
of the DC generator into the battery. A much more complicated setup would be with an
AC generator. The output of the generator is AC, which needs to be converted into DC in
order to be stored in a battery. This can be done by a rectifier. Besides, if the generator is
an induction generator, then there is also a need to convert from DC to AC by an inverter
because the generator will need power to charge the magnetic field inside the generator.
This makes the setup much more complicated, because it needs a converter which works
as both an inverter and a rectifier. The DC generator would be best for this setup as
the durability is not considered. But when durability is taken into perspective, the AC
generator is preferred as it lasts longer and therefore does not need as much maintenance.
The lithium-ion battery is concluded to be the best and most efficient battery to use. The
most important reason for this is the higher energy density compared to other battery
types. This is especially an important factor in larger scale BESS. Other advantages are
low self discharge rates and close to constant voltage during charge and discharge. For
a lithium-ion battery a BMS is required in the management of the energy. The BMS is
capable of protecting the battery as it is more sensitive than other battery types. The
BMS protects against over- and under voltage in order to avoid over temperature, as this
can lead to thermal runaway or shutdown of the battery. Also, the BMS monitors the
balance between individual cells in the battery, and protects if an unbalance occurs.
An objective of this project is a battery model. This model is able to simulate how the
battery used in the physical project acts depending on different power inputs. With this
model, different simulations are run, to test the characteristics of the battery before the
physical tests. Both constant- and wind dependant powers are simulated. Based on this
model it is estimated, that the battery in the LeadENG setup can undergo 93 cycles in
a year. It is concluded that the battery model itself has a small error of 1.4%. The
expression of power as a function of wind speed however, has an error of up to 67%. This
has greatly impacted the number of cycles per year. The reason for this great error, is
that there are too many factors in play to achieve an exact estimate. However, this part
is not the main problem of this report. Only the battery is. Therefore, this error is not
59
Group B144 8. Conclusion
important for the goals of this report.
This report has also discussed how the BESS can be integrated in a larger scale including
both national and industrial scale. The work concludes that the BESS is optimised as the
best in the industrial scale, if it is part of a backup power system. Here, it will take care of
the most fragile systems, by being able to supply uninterruptible power if a power outage
occurs. Although, the BESS will supply power instantaneously, a generator, which is the
other part of the backup power system, will take over the power supply. When a power
outage occurs, the generator has to turn on and convert the fuel to power which causes a
delay if there is no power in the building. Therefore, a BESS implemented into the backup
power system would make it better. Besides from this, a green solution for the backup
power system would be a combination of a BESS and a generator which runs on green
fuel such as ammonia or hydrogen instead of fossil fuel. For national scale it is concluded
that other ESS than the BESS are more beneficial to implement. An example of this is
hydrogen storage. This requires production of hydrogen, but is otherwise less resource
demanding to build compared to batteries in a national scale. For the LeadENG project,
only a small scale setup is considered. For this situation, the battery is still the best fitting
ESS. This is because of how simple the BESS is to use when its first implemented.
BESS can contribute to the transition to renewable and fluctuating energy in Denmark,
by being a part of different smaller sized energy systems, which most likely will be in the
industry sector. This is to power different vehicles and tools or working as a backup power
supply for supporting in places where a power outage would be fatal for the systems.
60
Experiences and challenges
9
9.1 Experiences and challenges from physical project
Throughout the project, there have been multiple problems. At first, it was chosen that the
generator would be a 3 phase induction motor. This made the project severely difficult
because of the demand of supplying energy to the generator. It was not a problem to
convert the energy from AC to DC but rather DC to AC as this includes knowledge from
upcoming semesters. For simplicity, it was chosen to replace the AC generator with a DC
generator. This also could have been an AC generator with permanent magnets but as
there was a test bench with a decent sized DC generator this was chosen for simplicity
and economical reasons. The change in generator also resulted in a change of converter.
As the battery needs an input voltage of 14.2 to 14.6, the new system would need a
boost converter to stabilise the voltage. This converter is far more standardised than the
converter needed for the AC generator. While testing the setup it was discovered that the
battery would not charge while charged through the converter. Therefore, a rectifier was
connected to control the direction of the current.
Important decisions in the LeadENG project were taken without proper knowledge in the
start, which lead to difficulties throughout the project. The experience from this LeadENG
project is to do proper research before deciding what to do and be sure to choose the best
suited system in general and not only define it from a single point of perspective.
These decisions that made the project more difficult could have been avoided if the different
groups of the LeadENG project had communicated better. One of the reasons for the bad
communication, was because of the number of groups. There were a lot of groups which
had to work on the same part of the wind turbine, where instead of working together they
made their own solutions. A better solution could have been made if the communication
between groups had been better, or if the groups had worked together to find the best
solution for all parties.
Throughout the project, the battery has been the solution for the LeadENG VAWT. This
was decided because of its simplicity, accessibility and specifications for this semester.
This could just as well have been hydrogen. From the start it was clear that hydrogen and
e-fuels play a big role in the future but by including both storing systems it would not
be possible to finish before the project deadline. It was not a wrong decision to choose
61
Group B144 9. Experiences and challenges
batteries because this report concludes the possibilities and limitations of the batteries. On
the other hand it would also have been interesting to compare the batteries and hydrogen
more in-depth.
62
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66
Experiments
A
A.1 DC generator
Figure A.1. Data from the experiment with DC generator
A.2 The regression

The regression mentioned in Section 6.1.1, is a linear regression made from the data in
the same section. The regression has been made using a regression tool in Google Sheets,
where an interval of the data has been chosen as the cut in and cut out wind speeds. This
can be seen as a linear regression, but if all the data from the wind speed was evaluated,
the regression would not have been linear.
67

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Front page Tine Lindegaard Hansen

Nicolai Steensgaard Christensen John Bech

Richard Berg Pedersen

Sebastian William Vejlgaard Nielsen

Magnus Degn Jensen

T i t l e : Battery energy storage systems for wind turbines

Battery energy storage systems for wind

The following software is used for the project:

Sebastian W. V. Nielsen Jonas A. Janek Nicolai S. Christensen

Magnus D. Jensen Anders K. Dolmer Richard B. Pedersen

Symbol Definition Unit

3 Formulation of the problem 11

9 Experiences and challenges 61

1.1 Denmark’s transition to renewable energy

1.2 Grid-sized batteries

1.3 Problem of the report

2.1.1 Battery energy storage systems

2.1.2 Thermal storage systems

2.1.3 Pumped storage hydropower

Danish energy islands

Figure 2.1. Illustration of the smart energy system [9].

2.2 Chosen energy storage

2.2.1 Technical specifications

• The generator must be supplied with power from the battery.

The setup for the specifications is seen in Figure 2.2

Figure 2.2. General system setup.

• The voltage delivered by the generator is between 0 to 16 V DC and the current

And the new system and setup is seen in Figure 2.3

Figure 2.3. The LeadENG setup.

• How is the energy from a small-scale VAWT managed to be stored in a battery?

• Set up a mathematical model of a battery charging from the power of a VAWT.

4.1 Industrial energy storage

Some of the characteristics of a BESS are:

Figure 4.1. A BESS container from Honeywell [15].

4.2 Three phase supply

Figure 4.2. Three phase AC waves and the conversion to DC [19].

4.3 Converter types

If the power output of the generator is AC, it needs to be converted to DC to be stored in

Figure 4.4. Illustration of a full bridge rectifier made in PLECS.

Rectified Input Voltage

Figure 4.6. The different types of waves inverters produce [21].

Since the function of a DC to DC converter is to reduce or increase the voltage by means

Figure 4.7. Simple buck converter.

4.4.1 Charge rates

The recommended charging current for this battery is up to 20 A. This corresponds to

4.4.2 Discharge rates

Higher C-rates result in shorter discharge times.

4.4.3 Life characteristics

4.4.4 Self discharge

4.4.5 Operating temperature range

4.5 Battery management system

4.5.1 Voltage and current monitoring

Figure 4.11. A diagram of sensing four cells’ voltage [26].

To measure the voltage, an Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) is necessary because the

4.5.2 Temperature monitoring

4.5.3 State of charge