The power system inertia is gradually decreasing with the growing share of variable renewable energy (VRE). This may jeopardize the frequency dynamics and challenges the secure operation of power systems. In this paper, the concept of frequency security margin is proposed to quantify the system frequency regulation ability under contingency. It is defined as the maximum power imbalance that the system can tolerate while keeping frequency within the tolerable frequency range. A frequency constrained unit commitment (FCUC) model considering frequency security margin is proposed. Firstly, the analytical formulation of system frequency nadir is derived while considering both the frequency regulation characteristics of the thermal generators and the frequency support from VRE plants. Then, the frequency security margin is analytically formulated and piecewise linearized. A novel FCUC model is proposed by incorporating linear frequency security constraints into the traditional unit commitment model. Case studies on a modified IEEE RTS-79 system and HRP-38 system are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed FCUC model. The impacts of VRE penetration on system frequency security are analyzed using frequency security margin.

Achieving high renewable energy penetrated power systems requires considerable operational flexibility to hedge the variability and uncertainty of variable renewable energy (VRE) generation. Compared with VRE sources, concentrating solar power (CSP) is an emerging controllable renewable generation technique that utilizes solar thermal power to generate electricity. The operational dispatchability of CSP would contribute to the power system transition toward high renewable penetration. In this paper, we explore how the generation portfolio will change toward high renewable energy penetrations, how much cost is involved, and what role CSP will play in realizing a high renewable energy penetrated power system. This study relies on a stochastic two-stage generation and transmission expansion planning model with CSP plants. The model captures the uncertainty and variability of renewable generation and the flexibility limits of thermal plants. With the target of achieving a renewable-dominated minimum-cost system with an expected renewable energy penetration level, the investments of both generation and transmission facilities are optimized. A case study on IEEE test systems with renewable technology cost data in 2050 is performed to analyze the value of CSP toward high renewable energy penetrated power systems.

The high penetration of renewable energy will substantially change the power system operation. Traditionally, the annual operation of a power system can be represented by some typical operation modes and acts as the basis for the power-system-related analysis. The introduction of highly penetrated renewable energy will make the power system operation mode highly diversified and variable. These modes may not follow the traditional empirical patterns. In this paper, we propose a data-driven method based on high-dimensional power system operation data (including power flow, unit generation, and load demand) to identify the pattern of the operation modes and analyze the impact of the high renewable penetration. Specifically, the proposed data-driven method is composed of simulation, preprocessing, clustering, dimension reduction, and visualization with the aim to provide an intuitive understanding of the operation mode variety under high renewable penetration. In addition, three indices are introduced to quantify the space dispersion and time variation of operation modes. A case study on actual Qinghai provincial power system in China validates the effectiveness of the proposed data-driven method and indicates that the dispersion and time variation of operation modes will significantly increase in the beginning and then saturate with the increase in renewable penetration level.

The integration of variable renewable energy (VRE) generation, i.e. wind power and solar photovoltaic, brings significant uncertainty for the power system operation. Different with VRE techniques, concentrating solar power (CSP) is an appealing renewable generation technology due to its dispatch-ability through the use of thermal energy storage (TES) and is thus expected to play a significant role in high renewable energy penetrated power systems. In this paper, we propose a look-ahead stochastic unit commitment model to operate power systems with CSP under high renewable energy penetration. It has a three-stage structure. The first stage optimizes the operational decisions in a day-ahead framework based on forecasts; the second stage minimizes the expected generation cost for possible realizations in the real-time; and the third stage accounts for look-ahead operation in future operating days. This paper has a dual purpose: 1) exploring how CSP plants operate in high renewable penetrated power systems and 2) analyzing the benefits of CSP in accommodating VRE generation. A case study on a modified IEEE RTS-79 system with actual solar and wind power data is provided to validate the proposed method.

The increasing complexity of power systems, in particular the high renewable energy penetration, rises the necessity of incorporating detailed power system operation models into long-term planning studies. The classic short-term operation model, i.e., network-constrained unit commitment (NCUC), involves many binary variables and introduces computational challenges when applied to long-term planning optimizations. A high-efficiency and simplified NCUC model is required to incorporate operational flexibility in power system planning studies. This paper proposes a linearized NCUC formulation that has a high calculation performance and minor approximation errors compared to the full NCUC model. The proposed model combines the dispatch-only (DO) operation model and clustered unit commitment (CUC) model by introducing linking constraints between them such that the overall model guarantees both the transmission security constraints which are formulated in the DO model and the start-up/shut-down constraints of generating units which are formulated in the CUC model. A case study of a modified IEEE RTS-79 system is provided to demonstrate the validation and efficiency of the proposed simplified NCUC model as well as its effectiveness for power system planning studies.