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To cite this article: Yibing Zhu et al 2021 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 2095 012018 - Nonlinear flexure mechanics of beams:
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EAME 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2095 (2021) 012018 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2095/1/012018

Research on Optimization of Power System Regulation

Capacity Based on New Energy Installed Capacity

Yibing Zhu1,*, Jing Zhang2, Yuou Hu2, Fubo Cui2 and Wenjia Chu2
1
North China Electric Power University, Beijing, China
2
North China Branch of State Grid Corporation of China, Beijing, China

*Corresponding author email: [email protected]

Abstract. As the proportion of new energy continues to increase, the safty and stability of the
power system faces severe challenges. Many a flexible resource should be established to ensure
that the regulating ability of the power system is enough, so as to cope with the load fluctuations
caused by the gird-connected new energy. This article analyses the technical characteristics of
various flexible resources, and which aspect that each flexible resource can contribute to the
regulating ability of the power system. On this basis, this paper proposes a quantitative analysis
method of the improvement of power system regulating ability based on the consumption model
of new energy, using the addition of new energy grid-connected capacity as a quantitative
indicator to evaluate the improvement of system regulating ability contributed by each type of
flexible resource. Combined with calculation examples, a quantitative analysis of usual
flexibility resources is carried out.

1. Introduction
On September 22, 2020, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced at the General Debate of the Seventy-
fifth United Nations General Assembly that China will increase its nationally determined contributions
and adopt more powerful policies and measures to achieve the CO2 emission capacity by 2030. Peak,
strive to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. The common characteristics of the power system in most
areas of china are that they are mainly consisted of thermal power and lack hydropower which has good
regulation performance. In the context of large-scale connection and increasing proportion of new
energy, flexible resources are becoming increasingly scarce because of the fluctuation of load and the
ever-increasing peak-to-valley gap. Without enough flexibility resources and planning, the
contradictions during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period will be difficult to reconcile. Therefore, to find
out the contribution of various flexible resources on the improvement of regulating ability of power
system is not only an urgent need for the security and stability of power system, but also an important
precondition for the subsequent increasing of new energy sources and the transformation of the power
system.

1.1. Power System Regulating Ability

At present, there is no clear standard for the definition of power system regulating ability at home and
abroad. North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) defines the power system regulation
capability as the ability to use system resources to respond to load changes[1], The International Energy
Agency (IEA) believes that the regulation capability of the power system refers to the ability of the
system to react quickly when the load or power generation of the power system fluctuates under certain
operating conditions[2].
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution
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Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1
EAME 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2095 (2021) 012018 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2095/1/012018

2. Analysis of Technical Characteristics of Usual Flexible Resources

2.1. Power Generation Res Analysis of Technical Characteristics of Usual Flexible Resources Ource
Flexible resources on the power generation side refer to traditional power generation resources other
than intermittent renewable energy, mainly including thermal power and hydropower. Some of the
thermal power plants that can respond quickly can provide high-quality flexibility. At the same time,
the flexibility of thermal power units can be modified as their minimum output level can be adjusted
through technical solutions, which can also provide more flexibility. Some hydropower plants with good
regulating performance have all the functions including power generation, peak regulation, frequency
regulation, and backup [3]. They can quickly respond to load changes and are economical. However,
due to the impact of resource endowments, their construction locations are limited. As the rate of
intermittent renewable energy power generation continues to increase, it is necessary to set and
configure multiple types of flexible resources on the power generation side. After analysing their
technical, the development and utilization combination can be determined based on the actual situation
of the power grid. The technical catachrestic of usual thermal units are given in the following table.

2.2. Demand-side Resources

With the development of the power system, relying solely on the power supply side to meet the
increasing load and short-term peak power consumption will cause the cost of power generation and
supply continuing to rise, which is extremely unfavourable to the rational use of social resources [4].
There is a certain potential to develop demand-side resources by demand-side management. Demand
response (DR), due to the introduction of market regulation mechanisms, has a high degree of user
participation, rich forms of participation, and effective energy-saving effects. Broadly speaking,
demand-side response can be defined as the market participation behaviors of users in the electricity
market responding to price signals or incentive mechanisms to change the normal electricity
consumption pattern. In the future, with the advancement of power marketization, user-side flexibility
resources will be of greater significance to the improvement of system flexibility. In addition, with the
continuous popularization of electric vehicles and the development of V2G (Vehicle to grid), a large
number of researches on electric vehicles and their impact on the power system have been carried out.
Electric vehicles are also an important resource for providing flexible services on the demand side [5].

Table 1. Technical catachrestic of usual thermal units.

Working Technical catachrestic
Period Type Min Output Max output
Coal-fired unit 40% 100%
Heating season
Gas-fired unit 70% 90%
Non-heating Coal-fired unit 40% 100%
season Gas-fired unit 30% 100%
Ramping Up Ramping Down
Rating Rating
Capacity （MW/min） (MW/min)
1000MW 9.4 9.4
Whole year Coal-fired
600MW 12 12
500MW 7.5 7.5
350MW 7 7
200MW 4 4

2.3. Energy-storage Resources

Energy storage of power system refers to the facilities and mechanisms which can turn electrical energy
in the power system into other forms of energy through physical or chemical means. They are also able
to converted the physical or chemical energy into electrical energy to be input into the power system
when needed. Due to the fast response speed and comprehensive technical characteristics of energy

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EAME 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2095 (2021) 012018 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2095/1/012018

storage, it has been widely used in power systems, such as peak shaving, flexible ramping, energy supply,
frequency modulation, operating standby, and black start. By configuring a reasonable amount of energy
storage facilities, it is possible to improve the controllability of the output power even take the
intermittent renewable energy and suppress power fluctuations into account. From the perspective of
providing flexibility, energy storage enriches the regulating ability of power system operation by
shifting the time of power supply and demand.

Table 2. Technical catachrestic of energy storage.

Energy
Continu consumpti Energy Power
Efficient( Respon
ed Life on Density(W· Density(
%) se time
time Scatter h/l) W/l)
rate(%)
Sec-
Pumped 30-60
4-10h ≈0 0.2-2 0.1-0.2 70-85 Min
storage years
level
Sec-
Compressed 20-40
2-30h ≈0 2-6 0.2-0.6 40-75 Min
air storage years
level
2000
Sec- 0-
Flywheel 10-
Hour 1000 1.3-100 20-80 5000 70-95
storage 20ms
level 00
times
1000
Superconduct MS-min
00 10-15 6 1000-4000 80-95 <100ms
ing storage Level
times
2500-
Lithium 10-
1h-8h 4400 0.05-20 150-300 120-160 70-90
battery 20ms
times
Lead-acid 6-40
1min-8h 0.1-0.3 50-80 90-700 80-90 <s
batteries years
1200
0-
10-
Flow battery 2-10h 1400 0.2 20-70 0.5-2 60-85
20ms
0
times

2.4. Grid-side Resources

The electric power network is the key way to realize the flexibility of the power system.. Reasonable
power grid planning and construction can ensure the security of power supply, enhance the power
system's ability to integrate renewable energy generation, attract investment from various power market
participants, and ensure the good operation of the power market. Flexible AC Transmission System
(FACTS) is a new technology that has emerged in recent years. It applies the latest development
achievements of power electronics technology and modern control technology to achieve flexible and
rapid control of AC transmission system parameters and even network structure, in order to achieve
reasonable distribution of transmission power, reduce power loss and power generation costs, and
greatly improve system adjustability, Stability and reliability.

3
EAME 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2095 (2021) 012018 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2095/1/012018

3. Utility Analysis Method of Power System Regulation Capacity Improvement Based on New
Energy Limit Consumption Model

3.1. Calculation Process

As shown in Figure 1, the calculation of the addition of the new energy installed capacity can be divided
into three steps. The first step is to combine the actual endowment of flexible resources of the target
system and set an addition capacity step for the flexible resources that need to be analysed. The second
step is to set up the simulation scene. In the set benchmark scenario, increase the new energy installed
capacity in equal steps to form a simulation scenario. The third step is to simulate the set scene of the
power system. Gradually increase the grid-connected new energy installed capacity in 10MW steps until
the annual wind and solar abandonment rate of the system reaches 5%. And then stop iteration and
output the new total installed capacity of new energy as a measure of the improvement of the power
system regulating ability of the regulating resources. [6]

Figure 1. Program flow chart.

3.2. New Energy Limit Consumption Model

 Objective function
The simulation uses a unit combination model that does not contain network topology constraints and
is based on security constraints. The objective function is that the total power generation cost of the
system in the time period T (heating period and non-heating period) is minimized, including the
operating and power generation cost of thermal power units, Start-up costs and penalty costs for
abandoning new energy. When the penalty factor is large, abandoning wind and solar will be subject to
a large amount of fines. Since the goal is to have the lowest total operating cost of the system, the model
will also avoid abandoning wind as much as possible. So the simulation result will show the situation
that the new energy technology is well consummated.
T N T T
min F =  U i ,t ( ai Pi ,t  bi )  U i ,t 1 (1  U i ,t ) Si    1 Pc1,t +  2 Pc 2,t
t 1 i 1 t 1 t 1 (1)
Where: T is the number of periods; N is the number of thermal power units; U i ,t is the operating state
variable of the unit during the period, U i ,t  0 represents shutdown, U i ,t  1 represents operation; Pi,t is
the power variable of the thermal power unit during the period; ai is the marginal energy consumption
cost parameter of the unit; bi is the no-load of the unit Cost parameter; Si is the start-up cost of the unit;

4
EAME 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2095 (2021) 012018 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2095/1/012018

1 and  2 respectively represents the penalty coefficient for abandoning wind power and photovoltaic;
Pc1,t and Pc 2,t respectively is the amount of wind abandonment and solar abandonment of the system
during the time period.
 Thermal power units constraints
Constraints on the upper and lower limits of output:
U i ,t Pi ,min  Pi ,t  U i ,t Pi ,max
(2)
P P
Where: i ,min and i ,max are the minimum and maximum technical output of the unit respectively.
Minimum start and stop time constraints:

(U i ,t 1  U i ,t )(Ti ,t 1  Ti ,on )  0


(U i ,t  U i ,t 1 )(Ti ,t 1  Ti ,off )  0 (3)
Where: Ti ,on and Ti ,off are the minimum continuous operation and shutdown time of the unit respectively.
Ramping constraints:

 Pi ,t 1  Pi ,t  Pi ,down

 Pi ,t  Pi ,t 1  Pi ,up (4)
Where: Pi ,up and Pi , down are the upper and lower climbing limits of the unit respectively.
 Energy storage constraints
Constraints on the upper and lower limits of absorbing and generating power:

0  Ppi ,t  U pi ,t Ppi ,max


0  Pgi ,t  U gi ,t Pgi ,max

U pi ,tU gi ,t  0 (5)
Where: Ppi ,t and Pgi ,t are the pumping and generating power of the pumped-storage unit during the time
period respectively; U pi ,t and U gi ,t are the operating state variables of the pumped-storage unit during the
time period, U pi ,t  1 representing shutdown, U gi ,t  1 representing pumping, and representing power
generation.
Energy storage capacity constraints:
Ei ,min  Ei ,t  Ei ,max
(6)
Where: Ei ,t is the energy storage capacity of the pumped storage unit during the period of time, and Ei ,min
and Ei ,max is the minimum and maximum energy storage limit.
Intraday balance constraint:
24

 (P
t 1
pi ,t i Pgi,t )  0
(7)
Where:i is the pumping efficiency of the pumped storage unit.

5
EAME 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2095 (2021) 012018 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2095/1/012018

4. Calculation Results and Analysis

This paper takes the power system in a certain area in northern China as an example, and calculates the
influence of thermal power flexibility transformation units, pumped storage units, and 3-hour energy
storage included in the grid reform on the system's regulation capacity. The calculation results and
analysis are shown below.
 Flexible transformation of thermal power units
The calculation example is based on the data of a power grid in northern China. Based on the basic
scenario, the abandonment rate of wind energy is controlled under 5% when the thermal power unit's
flexible transformation capacity is added from 4500MW to 10500MW with 500MW as the step length.
The figure below is the calculation result:

Table 3. Additional capacity of new energy under different transformation capacities.

Flexible transformation of
thermal power units
Additional Additional capacity of new Abandonment
Step /MW
capacity /MW energy every 1000MW /MW rate /%
Basic scenario
4500 - - 4.92%
Simulation scene
5500 1000 3246 4.94%
6500 1000 3023 4.93%
7500 1000 3121 4.96%
8500 1000 2826 4.96%
9500 1000 2830 4.94%
10500 1000 3211 4.96%
Average 3042 4.95%
Additional capacity of new energy/MW

Average: 3000MW

Average wind curtailment rate: 4.95%

Maximum newly-added new energy installed capacity

Add flexibility to retrofit capacity/MW

Figure 2. Additional capacity of new energy under different transformation capacities.

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EAME 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2095 (2021) 012018 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2095/1/012018

It can be seen from the above chart that the increase in the flexible transformation capacity of thermal
power units will obviously promote the increase in the additional installed capacity of new energy, and
the two are in a linear relationship. Under the current boundary conditions, when the wind abandonment
rate is controlled at 4.9%-5%, the additional wind power installed capacity supported by the flexible
transformation capacity of 1,000 MW of thermal power will be about 3000 MW. In summary:
The ratio of the flexible transformation capacity of thermal power units to the additional capacity of new
energy is 1:3.
 3h electrochemical energy storage
Based on the basic scenario, the calculation example uses 300MW as the step length to calculate the
corresponding wind abandonment rate when the newly-built 3h electrochemical energy storage capacity
is from 300MW (a new set of electrochemical energy storage) to 1200MW (a new set of electrochemical
energy storage). The figure below is the calculation result:

Table 4. Additional capacity of new energy under different energy storage capacities.
3h electrochemical energy
storage
Additional Additional capacity of new Abandonment
Step /MW
capacity /MW energy every 300MW /MW Rate /%
Basic scenario
Flexible
transformation of
- - 4.92%
thermal power
4500MW
Simulation scene
300 300 425 4.95%
600 300 429 4.98%
900 300 303 4.98%
1200 300 218 4.95%
Average 343.75 4.965%
Additional capacity of new energy/MW

Average wind curtailment rate: 4.965%

Average: 343MW

Newly built electrochemical energy storage capacity/MW Additional capacity of new energy

Figure 3. Additional capacity of new energy under different energy storage capacities.

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EAME 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2095 (2021) 012018 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2095/1/012018

It can be seen from the above chart that the newly-built electrochemical energy storage can promote the
increase of new energy installed capacity to a certain extent. The newly built 300MW 3h energy storage
can add 425MW of wind power installed capacity; compared with the newly built 300MW energy
storage, the newly built 600MW 3h energy storage can add 429MW of wind power installed capacity;
compared to the newly built 600MW energy storage, the newly built 900MW 3h energy storage It can
add 303MW of wind power installed capacity; similarly, the newly built 1,200 MW 3h energy storage
can add 218MW of wind power installed capacity. In summary:
The ratio of additional capacity of 3h electrochemical energy storage to the additional capacity of new
energy is 1:2.2.
 Pumped storage units
Based on the basic scenario, the calculation example uses 300MW as the step length to calculate the
corresponding wind abandonment rate when the capacity of the newly-built pumped storage unit ranges
from 300MW (newly built a pumped storage unit) to 1200MW (newly built 4 pumped storage units);
Based on the 4 pumped storage units, the situation of a new pumped storage power station (1200MW)
was further estimated. The figure below is the final calculation result:

Table 5. Additional capacity of pumped units under different energy storage capacities.
Pumped storage units
Additional Additional capacity of new Abandonment
capacity /MW Step /MW energy every 300MW /MW Rate /%
Basic scenario
Flexible
transformation of
- - 4.92%
thermal power
4500MW
Simulation scene
300 300 485/300MW 4.93%
Add
600 300 621/300MW 4.93%
pumped
900 300 974/300MW 4.94%
units
1200 300 540/300MW 4.94%
Total 2400 - 2620/1200MW 4.935%
Add
pumped 2400 1200 2670/1200MW 4.96%
station
Average 661.25/300MW 4.94%

It can be seen from the above chart that the newly built pumped storage units and pumped storage power
stations can promote the increase of new energy installed capacity. Under the current boundary
conditions, when the wind curtailment rate is controlled at 4.9%-5%, the new wind power installed
capacity that can be absorbed by each new 300MW pumped storage unit is about 661.25MW; the newly
built 1200MW pumped storage power station can absorb The newly added wind power installed capacity
is about 2660MW; the two sets of data are consistent. In summary, in the basic scenario:
The ratio of additional capacity of pumped storage unit capacity to the additional capacity of new energy
is 1:2.20.

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EAME 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2095 (2021) 012018 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2095/1/012018
Additional capacity of new energy/MW

Average wind curtailment rate: 4.935%

Average: 665MW

Additional capacity of pumped capacity/MW Additional pumped storage

Figure 4. Additional capacity of pumped units under different energy storage capacities.

5. Conclusion
From the above analysis, it can be seen that when the flexibility of the power system is insufficient, it is
best to give priority to the flexible transformation of thermal power units. The ratio of the flexible
transformation capacity of thermal power units to the additional new energy capacity is 1:3. The newly-
built 3h energy storage and the newly-built pumped-storage power station have a similar improvement
effect, and the ratio of newly-built capacity to additional new energy capacity is 1:2.2. On the one hand,
considering the large difference in cost between new electrochemical energy storage and new pumped
storage units, it can be concluded that when the demand for flexibility is small, the construction of 3h
electrochemical energy storage should be considered first. When the demand for flexibility is large,
consideration should be given to building large-capacity pumped-storage power stations. On the other
hand, this result also shows that the demand for flexibility of the current power system is concentrated
on a smaller time scale (less than 3h). Although pumped storage can be used for 6 hours of continuous
pumping or power generation, which is much higher than the 3h of energy storage, flexibility is not fully
utilized.
In a word, for power systems that lack flexibility, the flexibility of thermal power generation units should
be modified first, and then a new electrochemical energy storage or pumped storage power station should
be decided based on the lack of flexibility.

References
[1] North American Electric Reliability Corporation, “Special report: potential reliability impacts of
emerging flexible resources,” North American Electric Reliability Corporation(NERC), America,
2010, pp 2-6
[2] International Energy Agency, “Empowering Variable Renewables: Options for Flexible
Electricity Systems”, International Energy Agency(IEA), Paris, 2009
[3] O.M.Babatunde, J.L.Munda, Y.Hamam, “Power system flexibility: A review,” The 6th
International Conference on Power and Energy Systems Engineering, Okinawa, Japan, September,
2019
[4] J. Zhang et al., "Technical and Economic Analysis of Power System Flexible Resources" 2020
International Conference on Electrical Engineering and Control Technologies (CEECT), 2020,
pp. 1-7, doi: 10.1109/CEECT50755.2020.9298616.

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EAME 2021 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2095 (2021) 012018 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2095/1/012018

[5] Lizi Zhang et al., "Bidding Strategy of Resource Integration for Aggregator in Ancillary Service
Market" Power System Technology, 2019, 43(8), pp. 2809-2814, doi: 10.13335/j.1000-
3673.pst.2019.0544
[6] Lizi Zhang et al., " Design of peak shaving transaction mechanism considering the participation
of renewable energy" Automation of Electric Power Systems, 2020, 42(20), pp. 45-51, doi:
10.7500/AEPS20171012014

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