Strong attention has been given to the costs and benefits of integrating battery energy storage systems (BESS) with intermittent renewable energy systems. What's neglected is the feasibility of integrating BESS into the existing fossil-dominated power generation system to achieve economic and environmental objectives. In response, a life cycle cost-benefit analysis method is introduced in this study taking into consideration three types of battery technologies. Strong attention has been given to the costs and benefits of integrating battery energy storage systems (BESS) with intermittent renewable energy systems. What's neglected is the feasibility of integrating BESS into the existing fossil-dominated power generation system to achieve economic and environmental objectives. In response, a life cycle cost-benefit analysis method is introduced in this study taking into consideration three types of battery technologies, namely, vanadium redox flow battery, zinc bromine flow battery, and lithium-iron-phosphate battery. The objective is to evaluate the life cycle carbon emissions and cost of electricity production by combined cycle power generation with grid-connected BESS. Findings from the Singapore case study suggest a potential 3–5% reduction in the life cycle carbon emission factors which could translate to a cumulative carbon emission reduction of 9–16 million tonnes from 2018 to 2030 from electricity generation. Grid-connected BESS could reduce the levelized cost of electricity by 4–7%. A synergistic planning of CCGT and BESS could theoretically reduce the system level power generation capacity by 26% albeit a potential increase in the overall capital cost at the current cost of batteries. The projected battery cost reduction is critical in improving the feasibility of large-scale deployment.••••Life cycle cost benefit analysis of combined cycle gas turbine with battery storage.••Stationary battery storage can decarbonize fossil fuelled power generation.••Battery storage can reduce the system-level cost of the electricity sector.Life cycle analysisCost benefit analysisEnergy storage systemVanadium redox flow batteryZinc bromine flow batteryLithium ion batteryAbbreviationsBESS Battery energy storage systemCCGT Combined cycle gas turbineIGCC Integrated gasification combined cycleIRENA International Renewable Energy AgencyLCA Life cycle analysisLCI Life cycle inventoryLFP Lithium iron phosphateNETL National Energy Technology LaboratoryNREL National Renewable Energy LaboratoryPCA Process chain analysisPV PhotovoltaicVRFB Vanadium redox flow batteryZBFB Zinc bromine flow batterySymbolsCn,E Carbon emissions due to energy inputCn,NE Carbon emissions due to non-energy inputCsys Life cycle carbon emissions of the systemcfuel Carbon content of fuelcn,e,i Carbon content of energy inputcn,ne,i Carbon content of non-energy inputDECOMt Decommissioning costEn Total energy input to the nth process of a systemEn,i Energy input by type to the nth process of a systemEsys System energy inputELC Lifetime electricity generation by the power plantELCDemand Half-hourly electricity demandei Energy input per unit of product producedFUELt Fuel costH Heating value of power plant fuelINVt Invest. The deployment of battery energy storage systems (BESS) is very often driven by the need to integrate BESS with intermittent renewable energy sources such as solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind systems, especially when these are installed at the utility scale. The presence of BESS in the large-scale renewable deployment scenario can help improve system reliability when dispatching electricity to the grid. In addition to facilitating the deployment of renewable energy technologies, BESS can help balance centralized and distributed electricity generation, supplement demand response and flexible generation, and complement grid development. Frequency regulation, among the various grid applications of BESS can help manage the fluctuations due to uncertainties in the instantaneous electricity demand, especially for the base-load power plants.Decarbonisation is one of the objectives of ESS integration in the power system. The question is whether or how the deployment of ESS can optimally reduce carbon emissions from the power systems and minimize the cost of decarbonisation at the same time. Carbon emissions are generally evaluated through the life cycle analysis (LCA) approach while the economics of decarbonisation can be evaluated by (marginal) abatement cost or through a cost comparison of different scenarios. With reference to a recent study, lif.
