Using Electrical Energy Storage to Mitigate Natural Gas-Supply Shortages

The recent leak of the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility calls for coordinated planning of natural gas and electric power systems with specific consideration of electrical energy storage. This paper proposes a coordinated planning model that fills this need. The model is formulated as a two-stage stochastic optimization problem, in which electricity- and natural gas-demand growth and natural gas-supply uncertainties are represented. We analyze the tradeoff between building electrical, natural gas, and electrical energy storage infrastructure. The sensitivity of electrical energy storage investment to the modeling of the operating conditions is also studied. The model is tested using a California-based case study.