Investment in electric energy storage under uncertainty: a real options approach

The transition from conventional power sources to renewable energy sources is taking place in a number of European countries. Electric energy storage has been proposed as an environmentally friendly solution to make this transition possible. This thesis analyzes the profitability of investing in a battery bank in Germany and the UK, using a real options model. The model determines the option value and the optimal investment time, under the conditions of uncertain revenues and investment cost. The results show that it is profitable to invest in both countries, given that the battery banks can participate in both the spot and balancing market. The valuation also gives insight into how the battery bank should be operated between the two markets to maximize its expected profits and discovers that the battery earns over 70 % of its profit from ancillary services. This finding underlines the importance for investors to not only consider revenues from the spot market. The thesis further analyzes how uncertainty affects investor behavior and explains why there is a reluctance to invest in storage technology under the current market conditions; the investor is favoring the option to wait for more information.