The increasing share of variable renewable energy (VRE) generation poses challenges to power systems. Possible challenges include adequacy of reserves, planning and operation of power systems, and interconnection expansion studies in future power systems with very different generation patterns compared to today. To meet these challenges, there is a need to develop models and tools to analyze the variability and uncertainty in VRE generation. To address the varied needs, the tools should be versatile and applicable to different geographical and temporal scales. Time series simulation tools can be used to model both today and future scenarios with varying VRE installations. Correlations in Renewable Energy Sources (CorRES) is a simulation tool developed at Technical University of Denmark, Department of Wind Energy capable of simulating both wind and solar generation. It uses a unique combination of meteorological time series and stochastic simulations to provide consistent VRE generation and forecast error time series with temporal resolution in the minute scale. Such simulated VRE time series can be used in addressing the challenges posed by the increasing share of VRE generation. These capabilities will be demonstrated through three case studies: one about the use of large-scale VRE generation simulations in energy system analysis, and two about the use of the simulations in power system operation, planning, and analysis.
The paper demonstrates the characteristics of wind power variability and net load variability in multiple power systems based on real data from multiple years. Demonstrated characteristics include probability distribution for different ramp durations, seasonal and diurnal variability and low net load events. The comparison shows regions with low variability (Sweden, Spain and Germany), medium variability (Portugal, Ireland, Finland and Denmark) and regions with higher variability (Quebec, Bonneville Power Administration and Electric Reliability Council of Texas in North America; Gansu, Jilin and Liaoning in China; and Norway and offshore wind power in Denmark). For regions with low variability, the maximum 1 h wind ramps are below 10% of nominal capacity, and for regions with high variability, they may be close to 30%. Wind power variability is mainly explained by the extent of geographical spread, but also higher capacity factor causes higher variability. It was also shown how wind power ramps are autocorrelated and dependent on the operating output level. When wind power was concentrated in smaller area, there were outliers with high changes in wind output, which were not present in large areas with well-dispersed wind power.
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