Economic Assessment of Energy Storage in Systems With High Levels of Renewable Resources

TLDR

High renewable penetration increases uncertainty and variability, raising operating costs for conventional generators while energy storage can store and shift clean energy with fast ramping, potentially becoming more competitive. The study compares the short‑term profitability of conventional generators and bulk energy storage to assess how rising renewable penetration affects their relative attractiveness. A stochastic unit‑commitment model incorporating energy storage is used to evaluate the short‑term profitability of conventional generators and storage across varying renewable penetration levels.

Abstract

High penetration levels of renewable resources impose increasing uncertainty and variability on power system operations. Traditionally, power systems rely on conventional generators (CGs) to balance the uncertainty in renewable generation. However, as renewable penetration levels increase, CGs may suffer from higher operating costs while receiving lower profits. In contrast, since bulk energy storage can store and shift clean energy and have fast ramping capability, they may become more competitive under high renewable penetration levels. In this paper, a stochastic unit commitment model with energy storage will be presented to evaluate the short-term profitability of CGs and energy storage under different levels of renewable penetrations. The short-term profitability of CGs and energy storage units will be compared to identify the impact of increasing renewable penetration on the attractiveness of bulk energy storage in comparison to CGs.