44 research outputs found
Revisiting the Merit-Order Effect of Renewable Energy Sources
An on-going debate in the energy economics and power market community has
raised the question if energy-only power markets are increasingly failing due
to growing feed-in shares from subsidized renewable energy sources (RES). The
short answer to this is: No, they are not failing. Energy-based power markets
are, however, facing several market distortions, namely from the gap between
the electricity volume traded at day-ahead markets versus the overall
electricity consumption as well as the (wrong) regulatory assumption that
variable RES generation, i.e., wind and photovoltaic (PV), truly have zero
marginal operation costs. In this paper we show that both effects over-amplify
the well-known merit-order effect of RES power feed-in beyond a level that is
explainable by underlying physical realities, i.e., thermal power plants being
willing to accept negative electricity prices to be able to stay online due to
considerations of wear & tear and start-stop constraints. We analyze the
impacts of wind and PV power feed-in on the day-ahead market for a region that
is already today experiencing significant feed-in tariff (FIT)-subsidized RES
power feed-in, the EPEX German-Austrian market zone (20% FIT share).
Our analysis shows that, if the necessary regulatory adaptations are taken,
i.e., increasing the day-ahead market's share of overall load demand and using
the true marginal costs of RES units in the merit-order, energy-based power
markets can remain functional despite high RES power feed-in.Comment: Working Paper (9 pages, 11 figures, 5 tables) - Some revisions since
last version (10 February 2014). (Under 2nd review for IEEE Transactions on
Power Systems
Impact of Low Rotational Inertia on Power System Stability and Operation
Large-scale deployment of RES has led to significant generation shares of
variable RES in power systems worldwide. RES units, notably inverter-connected
wind turbines and PV that as such do not provide rotational inertia, are
effectively displacing conventional generators and their rotating machinery.
The traditional assumption that grid inertia is sufficiently high with only
small variations over time is thus not valid for power systems with high RES
shares. This has implications for frequency dynamics and power system stability
and operation. Frequency dynamics are faster in power systems with low
rotational inertia, making frequency control and power system operation more
challenging. This paper investigates the impact of low rotational inertia on
power system stability and operation, contributes new analysis insights and
offers mitigation options for low inertia impacts.Comment: Presented at IFAC World Congress 2014, Capetown, South Africa (Flaws
in Table I corrected.
Unified System-Level Modeling of Intermittent Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Storage for Power System Operation
On Holistic Multi-Step Cyberattack Detection via a Graph-based Correlation Approach
While digitization of distribution grids through information and
communications technology brings numerous benefits, it also increases the
grid's vulnerability to serious cyber attacks. Unlike conventional systems,
attacks on many industrial control systems such as power grids often occur in
multiple stages, with the attacker taking several steps at once to achieve its
goal. Detection mechanisms with situational awareness are needed to detect
orchestrated attack steps as part of a coherent attack campaign. To provide a
foundation for detection and prevention of such attacks, this paper addresses
the detection of multi-stage cyber attacks with the aid of a graph-based cyber
intelligence database and alert correlation approach. Specifically, we propose
an approach to detect multi-stage attacks by leveraging heterogeneous data to
form a knowledge base and employ a model-based correlation approach on the
generated alerts to identify multi-stage cyber attack sequences taking place in
the network. We investigate the detection quality of the proposed approach by
using a case study of a multi-stage cyber attack campaign in a
future-orientated power grid pilot.Comment: IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and
Computing Technologies for Smart Grids (SmartGridComm) 202
Multi-stage optimisation towards transformation pathways for municipal energy systems
An essential facet of achieving climate neutrality by 2045 is the
decarbonization of municipal energy systems. To accomplish this, it is
necessary to establish implementation concepts that detail the timing,
location, and specific measures required to achieve decarbonization. This
restructuring process involves identifying the measures that offer the most
compelling techno-economic and ecological advantages. In particular, measures
that contribute to the interconnection of energy vectors and domains, e.g.
heating, cooling, and electricity supply, in the sense of decentralized
multi-energy systems are a promising future development option. Due to the high
complexity resulting from a multitude of decision options as well as a temporal
coupling across the transformation path, the use of optimization methods is
required, which enable a bottom-up identification of suitable transformation
solutions in a high spatial resolution. For the design of reasonable concepts,
we develop a multistage optimization problem for the derivation of
transformation pathways in the context of a multi-location structure,
expansion, and operation problem. The results show that the heat supply in the
future will mainly be provided by heat pumps with a share of 60%. It can also
be shown that an early dismantling of the gas network will lead to the need for
transitional technologies such as pellet heating. Overall, the conversion of
the municipal energy system can significantly reduce emissions (97%).Comment: 13 pages, 11 figure
Investigating the Cybersecurity of Smart Grids Based on Cyber-Physical Twin Approach
While the increasing penetration of information and communication technology
into distribution grid brings numerous benefits, it also opens up a new threat
landscape, particularly through cyberattacks. To provide a basis for
countermeasures against such threats, this paper addresses the investigation of
the impact and manifestations of cyberattacks on smart grids by replicating the
power grid in a secure, isolated, and controlled laboratory environment as a
cyber-physical twin. Currently, detecting intrusions by unauthorized third
parties into the central monitoring and control system of grid operators,
especially attacks within the grid perimeter, is a major challenge. The
development and validation of methods to detect and prevent coordinated and
timed attacks on electric power systems depends not only on the availability
and quality of data from such attack scenarios, but also on suitable realistic
investigation environments. However, to create a comprehensive investigation
environment, a realistic representation of the study object is required to
thoroughly investigate critical cyberattacks on grid operations and evaluate
their impact on the power grid using real data. In this paper, we demonstrate
our cyber-physical twin approach using a microgrid in the context of a
cyberattack case study.Comment: IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and
Computing Technologies for Smart Grids (SmartGridComm) 202