Increased renewable energy penetration in national electrical grids constraints and solutions

Abstract

This manuscript presents the impact of high penetration of renewables into the energy mix of the national electrical grids, Jordan's as a case study. The generation-consumption balance is main interest of the network operator and hence, taken as key aspect of the study. The shortcomings of installing renewables include the intermittency and unpredictability. To improve the load sharing strategy between these renewable energy resources (RESs) and conventional energy generation plants, energy storage is suggested. Sizing and design of storage elements is considered. Different scenarios are realistically assumed to integrate energy storage into the network operation and economic aspects of the entire dispatch problem are analyzed. The analysis of and simulation of the unit commitment problem is formulated and carried out using PLEXOS software. Mixed integer programming technique is adapted to solve for the optimum solution of each scenario. Results show that high penetration of RESs into the national electrical grid would considerably change the optimum operation of the network and different dispatch scenarios are needed to cope with that. It will be shown too that energy storage is highly recommended for increased penetration levels to meet the load demand economically. Detailed problem statement and scenarios simulation is presented and validated.