Integrating energy storage as a non-wires alternative for distribution capacity

There is a growing interest to consider energy storage (ES) and other non-wires alternatives (NWAs) to conventional distribution system solutions in applications such as distribution capacity, feeder reliability and integration of distributed energy resources. However, as ES is not a very common grid asset, yet, distribution system operators do not have well-established practices to evaluate ES as NWA. In particular, it is not clear how ES will influence the various aspects of the general distribution planning process and what new assessments distribution planners may need to perform. This study discusses the additional considerations and analytics that distribution planners need to perform at various stages of the general distribution planning process when considering ES as an NWA for distribution capacity. These discussions are related to defining the planning criteria and inputs, assessing the distribution system capacity needs, designing the ES NWA solution, stacked services, and economic comparison of ES NWA designs and conventional distribution capacity solutions. Streamlining the use of planning resources with the aid of screening criteria and methods is also discussed.