Integration and energy management of a hybrid Li-VRB battery for renewable applications.

• Aim: Improved reliability and performance of the HRES with Hybrid battery architecture - VRB flow battery and Li-ion battery. • A VRB battery for peak shaving and long time storage and a Li-ion battery to match transients and ramp rate limiting. • Sizing and performance results prove to be sufficient, consistent and better than earlier literature. • Optimal sizing and effective operation lead to justified and profitable investment costs for the hybrid storage. • Complete study with forecasting, scheduling, energy management and techno-economic analysis of HRES provided. Energy storage systems are becoming more and more important for integrating higher levels of varying and intermittent renewable power into the grid. As we have energy storages with different characteristics and applications, hybrid storage solutions combining various technologies to meet different applications are fast developing. In this paper, an efficient energy management strategy is proposed for a VRB and Li-ion hybrid battery system to be integrated with a grid-connected wind-PV Hybrid Renewable Energy System (HRES). The operation of the generating system and the storage batteries are evaluated using Matlab/Simulink and techno-economic analysis is carried out. The results demonstrated successful implementation of the hybrid system with improved deliver ability and storage lifetime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]