How low can you go? The importance of quantifying minimum generation levels for renewable integration

Denholm, Paul; Brinkman, Greg; Mai, Trieu

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2018.01.023

Title: How low can you go? The importance of quantifying minimum generation levels for renewable integration

Abstract

One of the significant limitations of solar and wind deployment is declining value caused by the limited correlation of renewable energy supply and electricity demand as well as limited flexibility of the power system. Limited flexibility can result from thermal and hydro plants that cannot turn off or reduce output due to technical or economic limits. These limits include the operating range of conventional thermal power plants, the need for process heat from combined heat and power plants, and restrictions on hydro unit operation. To appropriately analyze regional and national energy policies related to renewable deployment, these limits must be accurately captured in grid planning models. In this work, we summarize data sources and methods for U.S. power plants that can be used to capture minimum generation levels in grid planning tools, such as production cost models. We also provide case studies for two locations in the U.S. (California and Texas) that demonstrate the sensitivity of variable generation (VG) curtailment to grid flexibility assumptions which shows the importance of analyzing (and documenting) minimum generation levels in studies of increased VG penetration.

Authors:

Denholm, Paul ^[1]; Brinkman, Greg ^[1]; Mai, Trieu ^[1]

National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Publication Date:: Sun Jan 28 00:00:00 EST 2018

Research Org.:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Wind and Water Technologies Office (EE-4W)

OSTI Identifier:: 1456870

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-6A20-68961
Journal ID: ISSN 0301-4215

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Energy Policy

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 115; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0301-4215

Publisher:: Elsevier

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 17 WIND ENERGY; 24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION; renewable integration; electricity planning; grid modeling; grid flexibility

Citation Formats


                    Denholm, Paul, Brinkman, Greg, and Mai, Trieu. How low can you go? The importance of quantifying minimum generation levels for renewable integration.  United States: N. p., 2018. 
Web.  doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2018.01.023.

Copy to clipboard


                    Denholm, Paul, Brinkman, Greg, & Mai, Trieu. How low can you go? The importance of quantifying minimum generation levels for renewable integration.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.01.023

Copy to clipboard


                    Denholm, Paul, Brinkman, Greg, and Mai, Trieu. Sun .  
"How low can you go? The importance of quantifying minimum generation levels for renewable integration".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.01.023.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1456870.

Copy to clipboard


                    
@article{osti_1456870,

  title        = {How low can you go? The importance of quantifying minimum generation levels for renewable integration},

  author       = {Denholm, Paul and Brinkman, Greg and Mai, Trieu},

  abstractNote = {One of the significant limitations of solar and wind deployment is declining value caused by the limited correlation of renewable energy supply and electricity demand as well as limited flexibility of the power system. Limited flexibility can result from thermal and hydro plants that cannot turn off or reduce output due to technical or economic limits. These limits include the operating range of conventional thermal power plants, the need for process heat from combined heat and power plants, and restrictions on hydro unit operation. To appropriately analyze regional and national energy policies related to renewable deployment, these limits must be accurately captured in grid planning models. In this work, we summarize data sources and methods for U.S. power plants that can be used to capture minimum generation levels in grid planning tools, such as production cost models. We also provide case studies for two locations in the U.S. (California and Texas) that demonstrate the sensitivity of variable generation (VG) curtailment to grid flexibility assumptions which shows the importance of analyzing (and documenting) minimum generation levels in studies of increased VG penetration.},

  doi          = {10.1016/j.enpol.2018.01.023},

  journal      = {Energy Policy},

  number       = C,

  volume       = 115,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Sun Jan 28 00:00:00 EST 2018},

  month        = {Sun Jan 28 00:00:00 EST 2018}

}

Copy to clipboard

Journal Article:

Free Publicly Available Full Text

Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Publisher's Version of Record

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.01.023

Other availability

Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 24 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Figures / Tables:

Figure 1: Minimum generation levels resulting in renewable curtailment (Lew et al. 2013)

All figures and tables (9 total)

Save / Share:

Export Metadata

Save to My Library

Works referenced in this record:

Climate change impacts and greenhouse gas mitigation effects on U.S. hydropower generation
journal, December 2016

Boehlert, Brent; Strzepek, Kenneth M.; Gebretsadik, Yohannes
Applied Energy, Vol. 183
DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.09.054

Grid flexibility and storage required to achieve very high penetration of variable renewable electricity
journal, March 2011

Denholm, Paul; Hand, Maureen
Energy Policy, Vol. 39, Issue 3
DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2011.01.019

Retrofitting Fossil Power Plants for Increased Flexibility
conference, July 2014

Kumar, Nikhil; Venkataraman, Sundar; Lew, Debra
Volume 1: Fuels and Combustion, Material Handling, Emissions; Steam Generators; Heat Exchangers and Cooling Systems; Turbines, Generators and Auxiliaries; Plant Operations and Maintenance; Reliability, Availability and Maintainability (RAM); Plant Systems, Structures, Components and Materials Issues
DOI: 10.1115/POWER2014-32024

2014 Hydropower Market Report
report, April 2015

Uria-Martinez, Rocio; O'Connor, Patrick W.; Johnson, Megan M.
DOI: 10.2172/1220552

Figures / Tables found in this record:

Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.

Similar Records in DOE PAGES and OSTI.GOV collections:

Greening the Grid: Pathways to Integrate 175 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy into India's Electric Grid, Vol. I -- National Study

Technical Report Palchak, David ; Cochran, Jaquelin ; Ehlen, Ali ; ...

The use of renewable energy (RE) sources, primarily wind and solar generation, is poised to grow significantly within the Indian power system. The Government of India has established a target of 175 gigawatts (GW) of installed RE capacity by 2022, including 60 GW of wind and 100 GW of solar, up from 29 GW wind and 9 GW solar at the beginning of 2017. Thanks to advanced weather and power system modeling made for this project, the study team is able to explore operational impacts of meeting India's RE targets and identify actions that may be favorable for integration. Ourmore »« less
https://doi.org/10.2172/1369138

Full Text Available
Greening the Grid: Pathways to Integrate 175 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy into India’s Electric Grid, Vol. 1. National Study

Technical Report Palchak, David ; Cochran, Jaquelin ; Deshmukh, Ranjit ; ...

The use of renewable energy (RE) sources, primarily wind and solar generation, is poised to grow significantly within the Indian power system. The Government of India has established a target of 175 gigawatts (GW) of installed RE capacity by 2022, including 60 GW of wind and 100 GW of solar, up from 29 GW wind and 9 GW solar at the beginning of 2017. Using advanced weather and power system modeling made for this project, the study team is able to explore operational impacts of meeting India’s RE targets and identify actions that may be favorable for integration. Our primarymore »« less
https://doi.org/10.2172/1393627

Full Text Available
Methods for Representing Flexible, Energy-Constrained Technologies in Utility Planning Tools

Technical Report Hale, Elaine ; Cowiestoll, Brady ; Jorgenson, Jennie ; ...

Capacity expansion models are widely used by power system researchers, planners, and policy analysts to evaluate alternative power system investment scenarios. With the increasing deployment of wind and solar in the US, there has been much focus on improving the representations of variable generation (VG) technologies within capacity expansion models. Models that capture the variable net-load profiles and larger reserve requirements associated with high penetration VG systems represent an improvement to classic capacity expansion models, but fall short of capturing the complexities associated with storage technologies, such as battery energy storage (BES) and concentrating solar power with thermal energy storagemore »« less
https://doi.org/10.2172/1777393

Full Text Available
Liquid Salt Combined-Cycle Pilot Plant Design

Technical Report Hume, Scott Alexander

The work described in this report is responsive to the Office of Fossil Energy program ‘Energy Storage for Fossil Power Generation.’ This Phase I report has been prepared by Pintail Power LLC, with support from Nexant ECA, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Southern Company Services as a deliverable for the U.S. Department of Energy for NETL Award DE-FE-00320016. The Liquid Salt Combined Cycle™ (LSCC™) technology provides large-scale energy storage integrated with Fossil Electric Generating Units (FEGUs) to meet critical needs in the energy transition by providing: • the lowest cost large-scale storage for time-shifting of renewable energy, • superior fuel efficiency to reduce GHGs from dispatchable resources, • flexible capacity and ramping to balance variability of wind and solar resources, • essential grid stability services to assure reliability of a low-carbon grid. The LSCC approach: • employs equipment that has already been proven in utility service, • uses safe, non-toxic, non-degrading, perpetual-life storage medium, • leverages and repurposes existing FEGU assets, • expands the value stack of energy storage to reduce market, financing, and commodity risks. Pintail Power has developed the LSCC technology to meet the need for reliable, efficient, and cost-effective integration of Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) into a low-carbon electric grid by coupling proven thermal energy storage with proven gas turbines, steam turbines, and heat transfer equipment. This novel approach is intended to address the key issues facing the grid and operators of renewable and fossil generating units including: • Overgeneration and curtailment of renewables, • Need for fast ramping dispatchable resources, • Improved efficiency and flexibility of fossil units, • Additional peaking capacity to support electrification of transportation and heating, • Provision of reliability services to support high penetration of VRE, especially synchronous inertia and fast frequency response. A Technology Readiness assessment by EPRI confirmed that LSCC technology consists of commercially proven hardware used in industrial and utility applications. Although the novel LSCC approach has not yet been demonstrated as a complete system, interfaces between major components have been conservatively specified. A Phase III pilot is planned to demonstrate equipment integration and operation. The patented innovation is removal of the evaporator section from the exhaust heat recovery system, with the evaporation performed by stored energy in a separate steam generator. This arrangement couples renewable and fossil power generation via long-duration energy storage to deliver cost, performance, and operational synergies, including superior charging and discharging flexibility, reduced fuel consumption and lower CO₂ emissions compared to conventional Combined Cycle Power Plants, and low-cost, large-scale energy storage. The LSCC technology is composed of proven equipment integrated with gas turbine exhaust heat in a novel system. During charging, electric heaters raise the salt temperature as it flows from the Cold Salt Tank to the Hot Salt Tank. During discharging, hot salt produces steam from feedwater that is heated with gas turbine exhaust, which also superheats steam to drive a steam turbine. LSCC technology can be added to any combustion-turbine to integrate renewable energy, provide needed grid services, and increase the value of fossil electric generating units based on the technology’s following attributes: • Long-duration storage enables time-shifting of VRE to avoid curtailment and impairment of renewable assets. • Long storage duration combined with fast-charging capability increases arbitrage opportunities by storing more energy when the price is low and discharging more hours when the price is high. • Long storage duration allows resource adequacy to be supplied across multiple days to increase reliability and reduce risk. • The stored energy reduces fuel heat rate and GHG emissions, and increases merit, so the LSCC dispatches earlier and longer to increase the plant’s capacity factor and asset value. • The stored energy enables pre-heating and startup of the steam cycle, without operating the gas turbine, to enable fast startup and ramping when dispatched for discharge. • The steam turbine can operate without the gas turbine so it can provide valuable synchronous inertia during charging without consuming fuel. • Fast frequency response and regulation services can be provided during charging using solid-state heater and pump controls to vary the charge power input in response to grid signals. • The LSCC system can be configured for resilience including black start, islanded/micro-grid operation, and even self-recharging of storage using either gas turbine power or gas turbine exhaust heat. The commercialization plan is to add LSCC technology to existing simple cycle gas turbine power plants with the 50MW GE LM6000 aero-derivative gas turbine as the reference design basis. A Techno-economic assessment of the reference design evaluated the benefits (Levelized Avoided Cost of Energy) and costs (Levelized Cost of Energy). The plant definition included all major systems and budgetary vendor quotes. Pintail Power and NexantECA developed the overall cost estimate for the LSCC plant up to the total plant cost level, following the DOE-NETL cost estimate guidelines at AACE Class 3 (-20%/+30%). This includes the equipment cost, bulk material, direct and indirect labor costs to arrive at the bare erected cost. Engineering costs are factored from the BEC and added to it to arrive at the EPC cost. Process and project contingencies were then factored from the EPC cost and rolled-up to yield the total plant cost ofmore »« less
https://doi.org/10.2172/1854364

Full Text Available
Quantifying the Value of Hydropower in the Electric Grid: Final Report

Technical Report Key, T. ; Rogers, L. ; Brooks, D. ; ...

The report summarizes research to Quantify the Value of Hydropower in the Electric Grid. This 3-year DOE study focused on defining value of hydropower assets in a changing electric grid. Methods are described for valuation and planning of pumped storage and conventional hydropower. The project team conducted plant case studies, electric system modeling, market analysis, cost data gathering, and evaluations of operating strategies and constraints. Five other reports detailing these research results are available a project website, www.epri.com/hydrogrid. With increasing deployment of wind and solar renewable generation, many owners, operators, and developers of hydropower have recognized the opportunity to providemore »« less
https://doi.org/10.2172/1057586

Full Text Available

Similar Records

Title: How low can you go? The importance of quantifying minimum generation levels for renewable integration

Abstract

Citation Formats

Figures / Tables:

Climate change impacts and greenhouse gas mitigation effects on U.S. hydropower generation journal, December 2016

Grid flexibility and storage required to achieve very high penetration of variable renewable electricity journal, March 2011

Retrofitting Fossil Power Plants for Increased Flexibility conference, July 2014

2014 Hydropower Market Report report, April 2015

Climate change impacts and greenhouse gas mitigation effects on U.S. hydropower generation
journal, December 2016

Grid flexibility and storage required to achieve very high penetration of variable renewable electricity
journal, March 2011

Retrofitting Fossil Power Plants for Increased Flexibility
conference, July 2014

2014 Hydropower Market Report
report, April 2015