Climate policy costs of spatially unbalanced growth in electricity demand: the case of datacentres. ESRI Working Paper No. 657 March 2020

We investigate the power system implications of the anticipated expansion in electricity demand by datacentres. We perform a joint optimisation of Generation and Transmission Expansion Planning considering uncertainty in future datacentre growth under various climate policies. Datacentre expansion imposes significant extra costs on the power system, even under the cheapest policy option. A renewable energy target is more costly than a technology-neutral carbon reduction policy, and the divergence in costs increases non-linearly in electricity demand. Moreover, a carbon reduction policy is more robust to uncertainties in projected demand than a renewable policy. High renewable targets crowd out other low-carbon options such as Carbon Capture and Sequestration. The results suggest that energy policy should be reviewed to focus on technology-neutral carbon reduction policies

Review of trends and targets of complex systems for power system optimization

Optimization systems (OSs) allow operators of electrical power systems (PS) to optimally operate PSs and to also create optimal PS development plans. The inclusion of OSs in the PS is a big trend nowadays, and the demand for PS optimization tools and PS-OSs experts is growing. The aim of this review is to define the current dynamics and trends in PS optimization research and to present several papers that clearly and comprehensively describe PS OSs with characteristics corresponding to the identified current main trends in this research area. The current dynamics and trends of the research area were defined on the basis of the results of an analysis of the database of 255 PS-OS-presenting papers published from December 2015 to July 2019. Eleven main characteristics of the current PS OSs were identified. The results of the statistical analyses give four characteristics of PS OSs which are currently the most frequently presented in research papers: OSs for minimizing the price of electricity/OSs reducing PS operation costs, OSs for optimizing the operation of renewable energy sources, OSs for regulating the power consumption during the optimization process, and OSs for regulating the energy storage systems operation during the optimization process. Finally, individual identified characteristics of the current PS OSs are briefly described. In the analysis, all PS OSs presented in the observed time period were analyzed regardless of the part of the PS for which the operation was optimized by the PS OS, the voltage level of the optimized PS part, or the optimization goal of the PS OS.Web of Science135art. no. 107

Smart grid architecture for rural distribution networks: application to a Spanish pilot network

This paper presents a novel architecture for rural distribution grids. This architecture is designed to modernize traditional rural networks into new Smart Grid ones. The architecture tackles innovation actions on both the power plane and the management plane of the system. In the power plane, the architecture focuses on exploiting the synergies between telecommunications and innovative technologies based on power electronics managing low scale electrical storage. In the management plane, a decentralized management system is proposed based on the addition of two new agents assisting the typical Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) system of distribution system operators. Altogether, the proposed architecture enables operators to use more effectively—in an automated and decentralized way—weak rural distribution systems, increasing the capability to integrate new distributed energy resources. This architecture is being implemented in a real Pilot Network located in Spain, in the frame of the European Smart Rural Grid project. The paper also includes a study case showing one of the potentialities of one of the principal technologies developed in the project and underpinning the realization of the new architecture: the so-called Intelligent Distribution Power Router.Postprint (published version

Reducing Voltage Volatility with Step Voltage Regulators: A Life-Cycle Cost Analysis of Korean Solar Photovoltaic Distributed Generation

To meet the United Nation’s sustainable development energy goal, the Korean Ministry of Commerce announced they would increase renewable energy generation to 5.3% by 2029. These energy sources are often produced in small-scale power plants located close to the end users, known as distributed generation (DG). The use of DG is an excellent way to reduce greenhouse gases but has also been found to reduce power quality and safety reliability through an increase in voltage volatility. This paper performs a life-cycle cost analysis on the use of step voltage regulators (SVR) to reduce said volatility, simulating the impact they have on existing Korean solar photovoltaic (PV) DG. From the data collected on a Korean Electrical Power Corporation 30 km/8.2 megawatts (MW) feeder system, SVRs were found to increase earnings by one million USD. SVR volatile voltage mitigation increased expected earnings by increasing the estimated allowable PV power generation by 2.7 MW. While this study is based on Korean PV power generation, its findings are applicable to any DG sources worldwide.11Nsciescopu

The emergence of markets in the natural gas industry

As countries have deregulated prices and lowered entry barriers in the natural gas industry, many new participants have emerged, promoting competition in the newly created markets. The increased competition has benefited everyone through more efficient pricing and greater choice among natural gas contracts. Four distinctstructural models have emerged in the industry's restructuring. The traditional model (a vertically integrated industry) has been increasingly replaced by models that decentralize the industry along horizontal and vertical lines. With increasing decentralization, regulation of the industry focuses on the pipeline transportation and distribution, the industry segments with natural monopoly characteristics. Regulation aims to protect both end users and participants in the deregulated segments from the market power of companies operating in the monopolistic segments. As a result of deregulation, two major markets emerge: the natural gas market (which facilitates the trading of natural gas as a commodity) and the transportation market (which enables market participants to trade the services needed to ship natural gas through pipelines). Competition and open entry are crucial for these two markets to function efficiently. The transportation market is affected by the market power of pipeline companies, but resale of transportation contracts brings competition to this market and facilitates the efficient allocation of contracts. Intermediaries and spot markets promote efficient pricing and minimize transaction costs. Markets have become more complex with deregulation, and trading mechanisms are needed to ensure the simultaneous clearing of natural gas and transportation markets at minimum cost to the industry. Two main trading models guide transactions: the bilateral trading model (which relies on decentralized bilateral negotiated between market participants) and the poolco model (which relies on a centralized entity to coordinate transactions). Properly applied, both models lead to the same outcome. The bilateral trading model has dominated because of its simplicity of implementation, but the poolco model has great potential once problems of sharing and processing information are addressed.Environmental Economics&Policies,Water and Industry,Economic Theory&Research,Markets and Market Access,Oil&Gas,Water and Industry,Oil Refining&Gas Industry,Markets and Market Access,Access to Markets,Oil&Gas

Analysing long-term interactions between demand response and different electricity markets using a stochastic market equilibrium model. ESRI WP585, February 2018

Power systems based on renewable energy sources (RES) are characterised by increasingly distributed, volatile and uncertain supply leading to growing requirements for flexibility. In this paper, we explore the role of demand response (DR) as a source of flexibility that is considered to become increasingly important in future. The majority of research in this context has focussed on the operation of power systems in energy only markets, mostly using deterministic optimisation models. In contrast, we explore the impact of DR on generator investments and profits from different markets, on costs for different consumers from different markets, and on CO2 emissions under consideration of the uncertainties associated with the RES generation. We also analyse the effect of the presence of a feed-in premium (FIP) for RES generation on these impacts. We therefore develop a novel stochastic mixed complementarity model in this paper that considers both operational and investment decisions, that considers interactions between an energy market, a capacity market and a feed-in premium and that takes into account the stochasticity of electricity generation by RES. We use a Benders decomposition algorithm to reduce the computational expenses of the model and apply the model to a case study based on the future Irish power system. We find that DR particularly increases renewable generator profits. While DR may reduce consumer costs from the energy market, these savings may be (over)compensated by increasing costs from the capacity market and the feed-in premium. This result highlights the importance of considering such interactions between different markets