Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Publication
    Application of wind generation capacity credits in the Great Britain and Irish systems
    The concept of capacity credit is widely used to quantify the contribution of renewable technologies to securing demand. This may be quantified in a number of ways; this paper recommends the use of Effective Load Carrying Capability (ELCC, the additional demand which the new generation can support without increasing system risk), with system risk being measured using Loss of Load Expectation (LOLE, this is calculated through direct use of historic time series for demand and wind load factor). The key benefit of this approach is that it automatically incorporates the available statistical information on the relationship between wind availability and demand during the hours of very high demand which are most relevant in assessing system adequacy risk. The underlying assumptions are discussed in detail, and a comparison is made with alternative calculation approaches; a theme running through the paper is the need to consider the assumptions carefully when presenting or interpreting risk assessment results. A range of applications of capacity credits from Great Britain and Ireland are presented; this includes presentation of effective plant margin, ensuring that the optimal plant mix secures peak demand in economic projection models, and the Irish capacity payments system. Finally, new results comparing capacity credit results from the Great Britain and Irish systems using the same wind data are presented. This allows the various factors which influence capacity credit results to be identified clearly. It is well known that increasing the wind load factor or demand level typically increases the calculated capacity credit, while increasing the installed wind capacity typically decreases its capacity credit (as a percentage of rated capacity). The new results also show that the width of the probability distribution for available conventional generating capacity, relative to the peak demand level, also has a strong influence on the results. This emphasises further that detailed understanding of risk model structures is vitally important in practical application.
      881
  • Publication
    Minimum cost curtailment for distributed generation voltage management
    The penetration of DG is increasing on distribution networks across the world. As a result, networks are being pushed closer to their operating limits. In particular, voltage rise has been identified as a key barrier to further DG capacity. Active management of the voltage constraint may be possible, leading to a form of constraint management at distribution level for the first time. Here a novel method is proposed, which minimises the cost of curtailment. It takes advantage of the dispatchable capability of certain forms of DG, such as biomass, hydro or landfill gas. There are a number of well established methods for congestion management on the transmission network. A number of these are applied to voltage management on the distribution network and used for comparison with the new minimum cost method. The variability of voltage sensitivities andmarket prices is also investigated, with their impact on the cost of curtailment quantified.
      587
  • Publication
    Simplified methods for renewable generation capacity credit calculation: A critical review
    Capacity credits are widely used to quantify the ability of different generating technologies to support demand. Most practical capacity credit calculations are based on detailed risk modelling, however a wide range of simplified approaches are also in use. This paper presents a critical review of these simplified approaches, ranging from annual peak calculations and probabilistic representations of wind, to closed-form expressions derived for small installed wind capacities. The principal themes are that simplified methods must retain the key features of the problem at hand, and that to be of interest simplified methods must either bring substantial computational advantages, or provide additional insight beyond that from a more detailed risk calculation.
    Scopus© Citations 34  2288
  • Publication
    Planning and operating non-firm distributed generation
    (Institution of Engineering and Technology, 2009-12) ; ; ;
    The penetration of Distributed Generation (DG) is increasing on distribution networks across the world. Non-firm access to the network is now being proposed as a cost effective way to facilitate DG. However, concerns remain about the operational details of non-firm access and also with regard to the financing of DG projects, which, by their nature, are not guaranteed permission to export power at all times. Here, the pertinent operational issues that arise with non-firm access are analysed. The index of coincidence is used to assess the probability of constraint breaches, through analysis of historical generation and load profiles. Further to this, a novel method is proposed, which minimises the cost to the generators of non-firm access through coordinated operation.
      1186Scopus© Citations 33