Search Menu
DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
Search Scholarly Publications

Title: Wind resource quality affected by high levels of renewables

Abstract

For solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind resources, the capacity factor is an important parameter describing the quality of the resource. As the share of variable renewable resources (such as PV and wind) on the electric system is increasing, so does curtailment (and the fraction of time when it cannot be avoided). At high levels of renewable generation, curtailments effectively change the practical measure of resource quality from capacity factor to the incremental capacity factor. The latter accounts only for generation during hours of no curtailment and is directly connected with the marginal capital cost of renewable generators for a given level of renewable generation during the year. The Western U.S. wind generation is analyzed hourly for a system with 75% of annual generation from wind, and it is found that the value for the system of resources with equal capacity factors can vary by a factor of 2, which highlights the importance of using the incremental capacity factor instead. Finally, the effect is expected to be more pronounced in smaller geographic areas (or when transmission limitations imposed) and less pronounced at lower levels of renewable energy in the system with less curtailment.

Authors:
 [1]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1220676
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-6A20-63649
Journal ID: ISSN 2079-9276
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Resources
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 4; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 2079-9276
Publisher:
MDPI
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY; renewable energy; curtailment; capacity factor

Citation Formats

Diakov, Victor. Wind resource quality affected by high levels of renewables. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.3390/resources4020378.
Copy to clipboard
Diakov, Victor. Wind resource quality affected by high levels of renewables. United States. https://doi.org/10.3390/resources4020378
Copy to clipboard
Diakov, Victor. Wed . "Wind resource quality affected by high levels of renewables". United States. https://doi.org/10.3390/resources4020378. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1220676.
Copy to clipboard
@article{osti_1220676,
title = {Wind resource quality affected by high levels of renewables},
author = {Diakov, Victor},
abstractNote = {For solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind resources, the capacity factor is an important parameter describing the quality of the resource. As the share of variable renewable resources (such as PV and wind) on the electric system is increasing, so does curtailment (and the fraction of time when it cannot be avoided). At high levels of renewable generation, curtailments effectively change the practical measure of resource quality from capacity factor to the incremental capacity factor. The latter accounts only for generation during hours of no curtailment and is directly connected with the marginal capital cost of renewable generators for a given level of renewable generation during the year. The Western U.S. wind generation is analyzed hourly for a system with 75% of annual generation from wind, and it is found that the value for the system of resources with equal capacity factors can vary by a factor of 2, which highlights the importance of using the incremental capacity factor instead. Finally, the effect is expected to be more pronounced in smaller geographic areas (or when transmission limitations imposed) and less pronounced at lower levels of renewable energy in the system with less curtailment.},
doi = {10.3390/resources4020378},
journal = {Resources},
number = 2,
volume = 4,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jun 17 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Wed Jun 17 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}
Copy to clipboard
Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.3390/resources4020378
Copyright Statement
Other availability
Search WorldCat Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Save / Share:
Export Metadata
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.

Works referenced in this record:

Creating the Dataset for the Western Wind and Solar Integration Study (U.S.A.)
journal, June 2008

Nationwide Assessment of Potential Output from Wind-Powered Generators
journal, July 1976

Linear programming techniques for developing an optimal electrical system including high-voltage direct-current transmission and storage
journal, June 2015

  • Clack, C. T. M.; Xie, Y.; MacDonald, A. E.
  • International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems, Vol. 68
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.ijepes.2014.12.049
    Sort by:
    [ × clear filter / sort ]

    Works referencing / citing this record:

    Curtailment in a Highly Renewable Power System and Its Effect on Capacity Factors
    journal, June 2016

    • Kies, Alexander; Schyska, Bruno; von Bremen, Lueder
    • Energies, Vol. 9, Issue 7
    • DOI: 10.3390/en9070510
      Sort by:
      [ × clear filter / sort ]

      Similar Records in DOE PAGES and OSTI.GOV collections: