Characterizing Large-Scale, Electric-Vehicle Lithium Ion Transportation Batteries for Secondary Uses in Grid Applications

Lithium ion battery modules have significant capacity left after their useful life in transportation applications. This empirical study successfully tested the used modules in secondary grid applications in laboratory conditions. The selection of the secondary application was based on the construction features of the modules and the growing need for storage in grid operations. Description of the laboratory setup is provided in the context of a critical practical constraint where the battery management system and the usage and health history are not available to the secondary battery integrator. Charge and discharge profiles were developed based upon applications for peak shaving and firming renewables. Techno-economic analysis was focused on peak shaving at the utility level, considering a growing need for an affordable and environmentally friendly replacement to the traditional solutions based on environmentally costly peaker plants. The analysis showed strong evidence that near-term and future storage markets will be characterized by a large mismatch between the demand and supply of reused batteries from automotive primary applications for peak-shaving purposes in the generation side. The paper includes a discussion on successful adoption of cascaded use of batteries and their potential to reduce both economic and environmental cost of peak shaving.