Cycling of conventional power plants: Technical limits and actual costs

Abstract

Cycling of conventional generation units is an important source of operational flexibility in the electricity generation system. Cycling is changing the power output of conventional units by means of ramping and switching (starting up and shutting down). In the literature, a wide range of technical and cost-related cycling parameters can be found. Different studies allocate different cycling parameters to similar generation units. This paper assesses the impact of different cycling parameters allocated to a conventional generation portfolio. Both the technical limitations of power plants and all costs related to cycling are considered. The results presented in this paper follow from a unit commitment model, used for a case study based on the German 2013 system. The conventional generation portfolio has to deliver different residual load time series, corresponding to different levels of renewables penetration. The study shows, under the assumptions made, that although the dynamic limits of some units are reached, the limits of the conventional generation portfolio as a whole are not reached, even if stringent dynamic parameters are assigned to the generation portfolio and a highly variable residual load is imposed to the system. The study shows also the importance of including full cycling costs in the unit commitment scheduling. The cycling cost can be reduced by up to 40% when fully taken into account.