Simplifying capacity planning for electricity systems with hydroelectric and renewable generation

Abstract

This work investigates approaches to simplify capacity planning for electricity systems with hydroelectric and renewable generators with three specific foci. First, we examine approaches to represent the efficiency of hydroelectric units. Next, we explore the effects of water-travel times and the representation of run-of-river units within cascaded hydroelectric systems. Third, we analyze the use of representative operating periods to capture electricity-system operations. We conduct these analyses using an archetypal planning models that is applied to the Columbia River system in the northwestern United States of America. We demonstrate that planning models can be simplified significantly, which improves model tractability with little loss of fidelity.