Unified System-Level Modeling of Intermittent Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Storage for Power System Operation

TLDR

System-level integration of intermittent renewables and small‑scale storage remains difficult because their non‑controllability and energy constraints are not yet accommodated by traditional market‑based operation concepts. The authors propose a unified modeling framework that abstracts from technology‑specific details to evaluate operation strategies for up to 100 % renewable penetration, assessing energy efficiency, reliability, environmental impact, and cost while incorporating storage capacities. A case study applying the framework illustrates its feasibility for power system operation.

Abstract

The system-level consideration of inter- mittent renewable energy sources and small-scale en- ergy storage in power systems remains a challenge as either type is incompatible with traditional operation concepts. Non-controllability and energy-constraints are still considered contingent cases in market-based operation. The design of operation strategies for up to 100 % renewable energy systems requires an explicit consideration of non-dispatchable generation and stor- age capacities, as well as the evaluation of operational performance in terms of energy eciency, reliability, environmental impact and cost. By abstracting from technology-dependent and physical unit properties, the modeling framework presented and extended in this pa- per allows the modeling of a technologically diverse unit portfolio with a unied approach, whilst establishing the feasibility of energy-storage consideration in power system operation. After introducing the modeling ap- proach, a case study is presented for illustration.