Analysis of different flexible technologies in the Spain NECP for 2030

This paper proposes three dimensions relevant to the flexibility assessment: power gradient (i.e., ramps), power during critical hours, and energy available at different timescales. A two-phase procedure analyzes an electric system’s flexibility to cope with renewables’ integration. The first step determines the margin on the three flexibility metrics. The second one runs a cost-based operation model to determine how these dimensions are covered. The ramp margin computed shows that a critical net demand ramp happens when solar power reduces its generation, but the projected Spanish system in 2030 can still cope with this upward ramp. Different flexible technologies cover the weekly energy variation of the net demand (demand minus non-dispatchable generation). This shows the high contribution of storage hydro and open-loop pumped-hydro storage to this variation. Flexible technologies supply upward and downward ramps of the net demand. Batteries and new closed-loop pumped-hydro storage are the storage technologies that contribute the most to these net-demand ramps. We also show that existing and new closed-loop pump-hydro storage generate more in the critical net-demand hours, having a high capacity factor, almost double the batteries. Copyright © 2023 Ramos, Huclin and Chaves.This research has been carried out thanks to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness MINECO through BC3 María de Maeztu excellence accreditation MDM-2017-0714 Maria de Maeztu Grant. The research has also benefited from the funding of the RETOS COLABORACIÓN program of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Spanish State Research Agency (project “Platform of innovative models to accelerate the energy decarbonization of the economy (MODESC),” with reference number RTC2019- 007315-3). This research has been conducted thanks to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness MINECO through the BC3 María de Maeztu excellence accreditation MDM-2017-0714 Maria de Maeztu Grant

The Human Factor in Transmission Network Expansion Planning: The Grid That a Sustainable Energy System Needs

The decarbonization of the energy sector puts additional pressure on the transmission network. The main cause for this is that renewable sources are often more abundant in geographical areas far away from the main demand centers, so new transmission lines are required to connect the new renewable energy capacity. In addition, by connecting different geographical zones, the transmission network could smooth the intermittency and the variability of renewable energy production. Thus, the changing energy landscape leads to a need to reinforce the transmission network through the Network Transmission Expansion Planning. Ideally, all the idiosyncrasies of the electricity system are considered in the operation and expansion planning process. However, several critical dimensions of the planning process are routinely ignored since they may introduce parameters that are difficult to quantify and complexity that state-of-the-art planning methods cannot handle. This paper identifies the most relevant elements related to the human factor, which have been grouped around the main topics: the human behind the technical, the human at the institutional level, and the human at the individual level. This paper also provides an additional formulation that can be used to upgrade existing models to include the human element and discusses the implications of these upgrades. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Funding: This research has been carried out thanks to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness MINECO through BC3 María de Maeztu excellence accreditation MDM-2017-0714 Maria de Maeztu Grant, and through the funding of openENTRANCE project (Open ENergy TRansition ANalyses for a low-carbon Economy) that belongs to LC-SC3-CC-2-2018—Modelling in support to the transition to a Low-Carbon Energy System in Europe

On flexible hydropower and security of supply: Spain beyond 2020

Generation adequacy is a key ingredient to security of electricity supply (SoS). Some national plans envisage a future decrease in the number of coal-fired stations and an increase in renewable installed capacity. This forecast, along with the future reduction of nuclear capacity, will lead to a combination of less baseload plants and sizeable intermittent generation. Hence there is a risk that supply will be unable to meet demand and generation adequacy will suffer. We assess how the flexible management of hydro resources can alleviate this risk by adjusting power generation to peak demand. Indeed there is empirical evidence that they are positively correlated. We compute this correlation in the case of Spain (an electric island ). Besides, hydro plants operate in combination with other non-dispatchable technologies within the system. Therefore, we also take their hourly seasonality into account. Next we run a Monte Carlo simulation to derive the risk profile of several adequacy metrics in the coming decades. Our results show that flexible hydro generation certainly mitigates the risk but is insufficient to bring an adecuate level of SoS when the enhanced renewable capacity goes hand in hand with a decreased baseload capacity. The risk further decreases after accounting for seasonal non-dispatchable generation, yet it still looms large. These results can be important for policy makers, system operators, and power companies when analizing investments in renewable energy with a long lifespan. © 2020 Elsevier LtdThis research is supported by the Basque Government through the BERC 2018–2021 program and by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness MINECO through BC3 María de Maeztu excellence accreditation MDM-2017-0714. Additionally, Luis M a Abadie and José M. Chamorro are grateful for financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation ( ECO2015-68023 ) and the University of the Basque Country - UPV/EHU ( GUI18/136

A methodological approach for assessing flexibility and capacity value in renewable-dominated power systems: A Spanish case study in 2030

Maintaining the security of supply is one of the challenges that system operators face. Variability and uncertainty increase due to the penetration of variable renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, while flexible technologies such as traditional thermal units are phased out to reduce emissions. The current methods for assessing power system adequacy are based on historical operations and are generally intended to be applied to thermal-dominated electricity systems. Therefore, it is necessary to improve current adequacy assessment methods since they usually neglect the flexibility of power systems. This paper presents a methodological approach for jointly assessing the adequacy and flexibility of power systems. The methodology's usefulness is demonstrated through its application to the Spanish power system. For the case study, results show that new closed-looped pumped storage hydro technology provides 25% flexibility while contributing to adequacy due to higher installed capacity and round-trip efficiency. Due to shorter storage duration, batteries only contribute to flexibility, supplying 16% of the total operating reserves. Therefore, this study shows that metrics of flexibility and individual contribution to the power system adequacy complement each other and simultaneously enable the scarcities of power systems to be observed.This research has been carried out thanks to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness MINECO through BC3 María de Maeztu excellence accreditation MDM-2017-0714 Maria de Maeztu Grant

Exploring the roles of storage technologies in the Spanish electricity system with high share of renewable energy

At operational level, fossil fuel phase-out and high shares of non-dispatchable renewable energy resources (RES) will challenge the system operator's (SO) ability to balance generation, and the demand at any time. The variability of RES output ranges from one hour to a season, and critical events such as low supply and high demand might occur more frequently and for more extended periods. When evaluating the role of Energy Storage Systems (ESSs) in this context, the need for a long time scope to capture the different RES variabilities must be reconciled with the need for modeling the hourly chronology. This paper presents a medium-term operation planning model, addressing both the energy dispatch and the balancing services. This study shows that representing the combined chronological variability of demand and RES production is essential to properly assess the roles of different kinds of ESSs in the future 2030 electricity mix. Otherwise, it would not be possible to appropriately capture the frequency, depth, and length of events for which ESSs are activated. The analysis also highlights the importance of considering balancing services, given the significant contribution of batteries to the reserve market. Finally, the results show that batteries and Pumped Storage Hydro (PSH) have different roles in the Spanish electricity system with a high renewable penetration. While PSH is mainly used to provide energy during critical periods, batteries mostly provide balancing services. © 2022 The Author(s)This research has been carried out thanks to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness MINECO through BC3 Mar?a de Maeztu excellence accreditation MDM-2017-0714 Maria de Maeztu Grant. The research has also benefited from the funding of the RETOS COLABORACI?N program of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Spanish State Research Agency (project ?Platform of innovative models to accelerate the energy decarbonization of the economy (MODESC)?, with reference number RTC2019- 007315-3). The authors would also like to acknowledge the Iberdrola Chair of Energy and Innovation for their helpful comments

Storage and demand response contribution to firm capacity: Analysis of the Spanish electricity system

Provision of firm capacity will become a challenge in power systems dominated by renewable generation. This paper analyzes the competitiveness and role of battery storage, six types of pumped-hydro storage, open cycle gas turbine (OCGT), and demand response (DR) technologies in providing the firm capacity required to guarantee the security of supply in a real-size power system such as the Spanish one in horizon 2030. The paper contributes with detailed and realistic modeling of the DR capabilities. Demand is disaggregated by sector and activities and projected towards 2030, applying a growth rate by activity. The load flexibility constraints are considered to ensure the validity of the results. A generation operation planning and expansion model, SPLODER, is conveniently upgraded to properly represent the different storage alternatives addressed in the paper. The results highlight the importance of considering demand response for evaluating long-term firm capacity requirements, showing a non-negligible impact on the investment decisions on the amount of firm capacity required in the system and the optimal shares of wind and solar PV renewable generation. Results also show the dominance of cost-competitiveness of pumped hydro and OCGTs over batteries. Additionally, capacity payments are required to support firm capacity providers’ investments. © 2022This research has been carried out thanks to the Iberdrola Chair on Energy and Innovation and the funding of the RETOS COLABORACIÓN program of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Spanish State Research Agency (project “Platform of innovative models to accelerate the energy decarbonization of the economy (MODESC)”, with reference number RTC2019-007315-3 ). This research is also supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness MINECO through BC3 María de Maeztu excellence accreditation MDM-2017-0714