Negative prices
Low or negative prices are not only a market anomaly. They are a structural signal that flexibility has economic value — and that storage can capture it.
Battery Energy Storage Economics Value stacking, financial modelling and bankability in renewable power markets
A forthcoming reference by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Serhan Bastürk for students, researchers, developers, investors, and energy professionals evaluating battery storage in rapidly changing electricity markets.
Why BESS economics matters
Renewable energy growth creates new economic challenges: negative prices, curtailment, duck curve effects, balancing needs and grid constraints. Battery storage can solve parts of this problem — but only when technical design, market participation and financial modelling are aligned.
Revenue stacking
BESS value rarely comes from one revenue stream. Arbitrage, ancillary services, imbalance, capacity and grid services must be evaluated together, not in isolation.
Investment risk
Degradation, CAPEX shifts, regulation changes, market saturation and grid delays can turn an attractive project into an unbankable one. Economics must guide engineering.
Research
Current work investigates how battery storage projects are evaluated for investment — and where standard approaches fall short.
Static vs. dynamic feasibility
Most BESS feasibility studies are one-off documents. Yet markets, regulation, degradation and competition evolve continuously. Research explores how feasibility assessment can become a lifecycle-oriented, updateable discipline rather than a static snapshot.
Bankability beyond profitability
Simplified models can materially overestimate returns by neglecting degradation, service compatibility and financing constraints. Work focuses on integrating 15-minute technical simulation, multi-market revenue stacking and project-finance metrics into a unified framework.
Cross-market transferability
BESS value differs strongly across European markets due to varying price structures, balancing products and regulatory design. Research examines how feasibility logic transfers between countries — and when it does not.
Forthcoming book
A reference work in development on the economics of battery energy storage systems, connecting technical fundamentals, electricity markets, financial modelling, bankability and AI-supported feasibility.
BESS Economics
Battery Energy Storage Systems: Value Stacking, Financial Modelling and Bankability in Renewable Power Markets
The book explains how BESS projects create, capture and lose economic value — from MW/MWh sizing, degradation and round-trip efficiency to arbitrage, ancillary services, DSCR, NPV, IRR and investment committee decisions. It is written as an academic-practitioner reference: rigorous enough for universities, practical enough for investment committees, developers and banks.
Planned structure
- Why BESS economics matters
- Technical foundations
- Revenue streams and value stacking
- Financial modelling and bankability
- Market design and regulation
- AI-supported feasibility
About the author
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Serhan Bastürk
Professor of sustainable production at THM Mittelhessen University of Applied Sciences, Germany. His academic work connects sustainable production, renewable energy systems, and the techno-economic evaluation of battery energy storage.
Before academia, he built extensive industrial experience in sustainable production — including renewable energies and battery storage — across multiple continents and production sites. This practitioner background shapes the book's approach: bridging engineering reality with financial rigour, written for people who actually build and finance projects.
Contact
For academic collaboration, teaching inquiries, speaking requests or discussions around BESS economics and bankability.
serhan.bastuerk@w.thm.de
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Serhan Bastürk
THM Mittelhessen University of Applied Sciences
Wiesenstraße 14, D-35390 Gießen
Tel +49 641 309-2767
THM Mittelhessen University of Applied Sciences
Wiesenstraße 14, D-35390 Gießen
Tel +49 641 309-2767