A New Artificial Intelligence-Based System for Optimal Electricity Arbitrage of a Second-Life Battery Station in Day-Ahead Markets

Electric vehicles (EVs) are widely regarded as a crucial tool for carbon reduction due to the gradual increase in their numbers. However, these vehicles are equipped with batteries that have a limited lifespan. It is commonly stated that when the battery capacity falls below 70%, it needs to be replaced, and these discarded batteries are typically sent for recycling. Nevertheless, there is an opportunity to repurpose these worn-out batteries for a second life in electric power systems. This study focuses on the arbitrage situation of a second-life battery (SLB) facility in day-ahead electricity markets. This approach not only contributes to balancing supply and demand in the electric power system but also allows the battery facility to achieve significant gains. We propose an artificial intelligence system that integrates optimized deep learning algorithms for market price predictions with a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model for market participation and arbitrage decisions. Our system predicts prices for the next 24 h using Neural Hierarchical Interpolation for Time Series (N-HiTS) and decides when to enter the market using the MILP model and incorporating the predicted data and the statuses of the batteries. We compare the accuracy of our trained deep learning model with other deep learning models such as recurrent neural networks (RNNs), Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), and Neural Basis Expansion Analysis for Interpretable Time-Series Forecasting (N-BEATS). We test the efficiency of the proposed system using real-world Turkish day-ahead market data. According to the results obtained, this study concludes that substantial gains can be achieved with the predicted prices and the optimal operating model. A facility with a total battery energy capacity of 5.133 MWh can generate a profit of USD 539 in one day, showcasing the potential of our study. Our new system’s approach provides proof of concept of new research opportunities for the participation of SLB facilities in day-ahead markets.