Sunny with a Chance of Curtailment: Operating the US Grid with Very High Levels of Solar Photovoltaics.

Bethany Frew,Wesley Cole,A Will Frazier,Robert Margolis,Nina Vincent,Paul Denholm

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2019.10.017

Abstract

SummaryWith rapid declines in solar photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage costs, futures with PV penetrations approaching or exceeding 50% of total annual US generation are becoming conceivable. The operational merits of such a national-scale system have not been evaluated sufficiently. Here, we analyze in detail the operational impacts of a future US power system with very high annual levels of PV (>50%) with storage. We show that load and operating reserve requirements can be met for all hours while considering key generator operational constraints. Storage plays an active role in maintaining the balance of supply and demand during sunset hours. Under the highest PV penetration scenario, hours with >90% PV penetration are relatively common, which require rapid transitions between predominately conventional synchronous generation and mostly inverter-based generation. We observe hours with almost 400 GW (over 40%) of economic curtailment and frequent (up to 36%) hours with very low energy prices.

Highlights

A large and growing body of work has examined the impact of high levels of renewable energy deployment on electric grid planning and operation
Continued cost declines for solar photovoltaic (PV) plants and aggressively declining energy storage prices suggest that a future with very high penetration levels of PV and storage is plausible and motivate detailed examination of the operational feasibility of such a future (Creutzig et al, 2017; Haegel et al, 2017; Hirth, 2013; Jones-Albertus et al, 2018; Kurtz et al, 2017; Mills and Wiser, 2012; Sivaram and Kann, 2016)
In order to address this gap in the existing literature, we use best-in-class modeling tools with detailed operational treatment to examine a scenario of the full contiguous United States in which PV becomes a predominant source of energy—up to 55% on an annual basis—enabled by sizable deployment of energy storage

Summary

Introduction

A large and growing body of work has examined the impact of high levels of renewable energy deployment on electric grid planning and operation. Continued cost declines for solar photovoltaic (PV) plants and aggressively declining energy storage prices suggest that a future with very high penetration levels of PV and storage is plausible and motivate detailed examination of the operational feasibility of such a future (Creutzig et al, 2017; Haegel et al, 2017; Hirth, 2013; Jones-Albertus et al, 2018; Kurtz et al, 2017; Mills and Wiser, 2012; Sivaram and Kann, 2016).

Results

Discussion

Conclusion