Comparative Techno-Economic Analysis of Battery Technologies for Large-Scale Applications in KSA

Batteries are pivotal in advancing Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, underpinning the shift towards sustainable large-scale energy solutions, enhancing energy security, and supporting the integration of renewable energy sources (RESs) into the national grid. This study presents a comparative techno-economic analysis among diverse types of battery technologies for large-scale applications in Saudi Arabia. The batteries are selected based on a conducted investigation on the assemblage materials availability in the Kingdom which revealed that Saudi land has enough bromine, sodium, sulfur, and vanadium production, which are the main assembly ingredients for Sodium-Sulfur (NaS) batteries, Redox flow batteries (VRFB), and Zinc-Bromine (ZnBr), flow batteries for long-term energy storage solutions aligning with environmental conditions like high weather temperatures and industrial capabilities. The suggested battery technologies are compared with the Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) batteries which are widely used due to their reliability and efficiency. For the investigated case-study, the optimization results revealed the ZnBr as the most favorable in terms of costs and lifespan followed by the NaS. Despite the installation cost of the Li-Ion was the lowest among all batteries, they ranked third with the shortest lifespan among all types. Compared to the Li-Ion, using ZnBr could save about 11% of the project net present cost (NPC) and stay in service 2.5 times before replacement. The study is also enriched with a sensitivity analysis in terms of load growth and installation costs to support the long-term planning and investment decisions. The sensitivity analysis revealed that the ZnBr perform the best under uncertainties by providing the least NPC and stands with the longest lifespan.