<p>In recent
years, the accelerated deployment of renewable electricity generation resources,
especially wind and photovoltaic (PV) solar, has added challenges to the
operation and planning of the power grid.
One of the challenges is that the variability of solar and wind power
output may increase the variation of the load that must be followed by
dispatchable resources and increase the ramping capacity needs. Moreover, the
decision about the configuration of a PV solar generation systems has
operational and economic implications because peak solar energy production does
not always precisely occur when the wholesale electricity prices of the system
are highest. Therefore, as the renewable capacity levels grow, it becomes increasingly
important to examine the potential impacts on the system cost and portfolio of
conventional generating units to respond to the intermittent nature of some
renewable generation technologies. Three related analyses explored in this dissertation
address some of the challenges of integrating utility-scale PV solar and wind
projects into a power system using a case study for Indiana.</p>
<p>The first
analysis identifies the optimal azimuth and tilt angles of solar PV
installations that alternatively maximize the annual electricity generation or
the economic value of the resource. The economic implications of the
configuration of solar PV installations within Indiana are estimated based on wholesale
prices of electricity and simulated solar output for different combinations of
angles and types of array installations. The results show that solar projects
across the state would need to have azimuth angles within the 177 and 182
degrees range to obtain maximum annual energy and 180 to 190.5 degrees to maximize
annual value, independently of their array types. Furthermore, southern and
northwestern zones showed the highest impacts from using an optimal angle
configuration of the solar installations. Nevertheless, on average, the
benefits in annual electricity generated or economic value from their
reconfiguration across the state are minor, amounting to less than one percent.
</p>
<p>The second
analysis explores the effects of additional solar and wind power investments on
the 2035 requirements for baseload and peaking generation capacity, the amount
of energy supplied by various types of generation technologies and the costs of
Indiana’s electric supply system. From a capacity planning and unit
commitment/dispatch perspective, the results of this analysis indicated that
with a portfolio that includes more solar and/or wind power generation, there
would be need to add new peaking generation units. However, the total need for
additional peaking resources declines as more renewables are added to the
generation mix. Because Indiana still heavily relies on coal and other baseload
resources to generate electricity, no new baseload capacity is required in the
future. Generally, additions of PV solar and wind capacity amplify the
variation in load net of renewable generation and create greater needs for
ramping services from conventional units. However, results of the analysis show
that the existing portfolio of conventional generation resources in Indiana
would have sufficient operational flexibility to be able to accommodate ramping
requirements even with PV solar and wind capacity penetration levels as high as
30% of total electricity generation. However, at those levels of renewables
capacity there are a times during the year when the optimal operational
strategy is to curtail solar and wind generation. From a technical perspective,
the results indicated that larger thermal generating units are used more for
load following and turned on and off (cycled) more frequently with the
additional renewables than without them but mainly during days with low levels
of demand and high levels of generation from renewable technologies. From the
cost perspective, the results of the model support the idea that it would be
cheaper in the long-term to invest in a combination of solar and wind
generation resources than in solar generation resources alone. Moreover, the
reductions in variable costs, driven by the zero variable cost added to the
system by the additional solar and wind capacity, were not sufficient to
outweigh the increases in capital costs regardless of the levels of capacity
additions. </p>
<p>For the
third analysis, the proposed capacity expansion model was used to estimate the
value of capacity of PV solar and PV solar in combination with wind capacity in
terms of baseload/peaking resources from a deterministic system peak load
reliability perspective and for various penetration levels of these resources. The
capacity values of solar, which refer to the contribution of PV solar plants to
reliably meeting the system peak demand, for all the wind capacity levels
analyzed, fall as the amount of solar capacity increases. This is because as
solar generation increases and closely coincides with the occurrence of the
system peak load, there is a shift of the peak load net of renewable generation
time to later afternoon hours, when solar installations begin to reduce their
production, therefore decreasing their contribution to reliably meeting system
peak demand. The calculated solar capacity values are between 2.7% and 67.3% of
the corresponding solar nameplate capacity considering all zones and types of
PV solar arrays in Indiana, and vary with the level of solar penetration. The
range of values obtained are in line with the ones found in other studies using
stochastic reliability-based methods.</p>
<p>This dissertation contributes to
the literature on the interaction between PV solar with other generation
resources and to their economic, operational and policy implications.
Furthermore, it provides another decision-making tool from a planning perspective
for policymakers, utility companies and project developers.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/7436804 |
| Date | 16 January 2019 |
| Creators | Marco A. Velastegui Andrade (5930348) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/THE_INTEGRATION_OF_SOLAR_GENERATION_ON_A_POWER_SYSTEM_OPERATIONAL_AND_ECONOMIC_EVALUATION/7436804 |
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