Tailoring large-scale electricity production from variable renewable energy sources to accommodate baseload generation in europe

The future European power system is projected to rely heavily on variable renewable energy sources (VRES), primarily wind and solar generation. However, the difficulties inherent to storing the primary energy of these sources is expected to pose significant challenges in terms of their integration into the system. To account for the high variability of renewable energy sources VRES, a novel pan-European dispatch model with high spatio-temporal resolution including load shifting is introduced here, providing highly detailed information regarding renewable energy curtailments for all Europe, typically underestimated in studies of future systems. which also includes modeling of load shifting. The model consists of four separate levels with different approaches for modeling thermal generation flexibility, storage units and demand as well as with spatial resolutions and generation dispatch formulations. Applying the developed model for the future European power system follows the results of corresponding transmission expansion planning studies, which are translated into the desired high spatial resolution. The analysis of the “large scale-RES” scenario for 2050 shows considerable congestion between northern and central Europe, which constitutes the primary cause of VRES curtailments of renewables. In addition, load shifting is shown to mostly improve the integration of solar energy into the system and not wind, which constitutes the dominant energy source for this scenario. Finally, the analysis of the curtailments time series using ideal converters shows that the best locations for their exploitation can be found in western Ireland and western Denmark.

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OPTIMIZATION MODEL FOR VARIABLE RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES GENERATION: MACEDONIAN CASE STUDY

Contemporary Materials ◽

10.7251/comen1502207d ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Aleksandra Dedinec ◽

Igor Tomovski ◽

Ljupčo Kocarev

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Power Plants ◽

Meteorological Data ◽

Renewable Energy Sources ◽

Electricity Production ◽

Energy Sources ◽

Photovoltaic Power ◽

Hydropower Plants ◽

Variable Renewable Energy Sources ◽

Installed Capacity

This paper is motivated by a large tendency of shift towards low emission electricity production, which can be achieved by substituting the conventional energy sources by renewable energy sources. Therefore, a share of renewable energy sources is continually growing. However, large-scale integration of renewable energy sources into the power system is a challenging task, since it depends on a balance between demand and supply at any time and because of the nature of renewable energy sources. The production from some sources such as the photovoltaic and wind power plants fluctuates depending on meteorological conditions, so it cannot be regulated. However, large hydropower plants can be regulated, so they are suitable for electricity balancing. In this paper, an optimization model is set for a system with 100 % renewable energy sources, which includes models for correlation of meteorological data and the production of electricity from different variable renewable energy sources. The resulting model gives an optimal ratio of production of variable renewable energy sources, which depends on the share of these sources in the total electricity production. The objective function of this optimization problem is to minimize the excess and lack of electricity production. For this purpose, hourly data for electricity consumption and hourly meteorological data are included. The results show that if only wind and photovoltaic power plants are considered, for the case of Macedonia, this optimum is found at 72% wind and 28% photovoltaic power production. However, if the already installed capacity of the big hydropower plants and the maximal potential of the small hydropower plants which make together 30% of the total installed capacity is taken into account, the optimal ratio of production from the other sources is: 50% wind power generation and 20% photovoltaic power generation.

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Large Scale Grid Integration of Renewable Energy Sources

10.1049/pbpo098e ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Large Scale ◽

Renewable Energy Sources ◽

Energy Sources ◽

Grid Integration ◽

Large Scale Grid ◽

Scale Grid

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Towards 100% Renewables by 2030: Transition Alternatives for a Sustainable Electricity Sector in Isla de la Juventud, Cuba

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14102862 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (10) ◽

pp. 2862

Author(s):

Mika Korkeakoski

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Power System ◽

Electric Power ◽

Renewable Energy Sources ◽

Electric Power System ◽

Electricity Production ◽

Energy Sources ◽

Cuban Government ◽

Isla De La Juventud ◽

Near Future

Renewable Energy Sources (RES) have become increasingly desirable worldwide in the fight against global climate change. The sharp decrease in costs of especially wind and solar photovoltaics (PV) have created opportunities to move from dependency on conventional fossil fuel-based electricity production towards renewable energy sources. Renewables experience around 7% (in 2018) annual growth rate in the electricity production globally and the pace is expected to further increase in the near future. Cuba is no exception in this regard, the government has set an ambitious renewable energy target of 24% RES of electricity production by the year 2030. The article analyses renewable energy trajectories in Isla de la Juventud, Cuba, through different future energy scenarios utilizing EnergyPLAN tool. The goal is to identify the best fit and least cost options in transitioning towards 100% electric power systemin Isla de la Juventud, Cuba. The work is divided into analysis of (1) technical possibilities for five scenarios in the electricity production with a 40% increase of electricity consumption by 2030: Business As Usual (BAU 2030, with the current electric power system (EPS) setup), VISION 2030 (according to the Cuban government plan with 24% RES), Advanced Renewables (ARES, with 50% RES), High Renewables (HiRES, with 70% RES), and Fully Renewables (FullRES, with 100% RES based electricity system) scenarios and (2) defining least cost options for the five scenarios in Isla de la Juventud, Cuba. The results show that high penetration of renewables is technically possible even up to 100% RES although the best technological fit versus least cost options may not favor the 100% RES based systems with the current electric power system (EPS) setup. This is due to realities in access to resources, especially importation of state of the art technological equipment and biofuels, financial and investment resources, as well as the high costs of storage systems. The analysis shows the Cuban government vision of reaching 24% of RES in the electricity production by 2030 can be exceeded even up to 70% RES based systems with similar or even lower costs in the near future in Isla de la Juventud. However, overcoming critical challenges in the economic, political, and legal conditions are crucially important; how will the implementation of huge national capital investments and significant involvement of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) actualize to support achievement of the Cuban government’s 2030 vision?

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