Abstract
Significant changes in conventional generator operation and transmission system planning will be required to accommodate increasing solar photovoltaic (PV) penetration. There is a limit to the maximum amount of solar that can be connected in a service area without the need for significant upgrades to the existing generation and transmission infrastructure. This study proposes a framework for analyzing the impact of increasing solar penetration on generation and transmission networks while considering the responses of conventional generators to changes in solar PV output power. Contrary to traditional approaches in which it is assumed that generation can always match demand, this framework employs a detailed minute-to-minute (M-M) dispatch model capable of capturing the impact of renewable intermittency and estimating the over- and under-generation dispatch scenarios due to solar volatility and surplus generation. The impact of high solar PV penetration was evaluated on a modified benchmark model, which includes generators with defined characteristics including unit ramp rates, heat rates, operation cost curves, and minimum and maximum generation limits. The PV hosting capacity, defined as the maximum solar PV penetration the system can support without substantial generation imbalances, transmission bus voltage, or thermal violation was estimated for the example transmission circuit considered. The results of the study indicate that increasing solar penetration may lead to a substantial increase in generation imbalances and the maximum solar PV system that can be connected to a transmission circuit varies based on the point of interconnection, load, and the connected generator specifications and responses.
Highlights
Renewable energy resources are rapidly becoming an integral part of electricity generation portfolios around the world due to declining costs, government subsidies, and corporate sustainability goals
PV hosting capacity, defined as the maximum solar PV penetration the system can support without substantial generation imbalances, transmission bus voltage, or thermal violation was estimated for the example transmission circuit considered
The PV hosting capacity for a transmission network is defined as the maximum solar PV capacity that may be connected to the system without significant upgrades to its circuit to ensure steady operation
Summary
Renewable energy resources are rapidly becoming an integral part of electricity generation portfolios around the world due to declining costs, government subsidies, and corporate sustainability goals. Typical dispatch models in the literature assume generation can always match load or set optimization constraints that are only acceptable for hourly dispatch models with relatively low load variations [7,8,9] These hourly dispatch models may not be suitable for capturing the impact of PV systems for practical generation service areas, which record generation imbalance violations over duration as low as 15-min. Contrary to conventional approaches dispatching units with substantial intermittent renewable resources with hourly based dispatch models [7,16], this approach employs an M-M dispatch model capable of capturing the impact of large solar PV penetration and identifying minute-based periods of generation imbalance due to PV volatility and surplus power. The PV hosting capacity of the example generation and transmission network systems analyzed was estimated based on voltage, thermal, and generator dispatch violations
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