Bringing Variable Renewable Energy Up to Scale : Options for Grid Integration Using Natural Gas and Energy Storage

By the end of 2013, 144 countries both developed and developing had established plans for the expansion of power generation from renewable energy (REN 21). In setting these goals, countries are driven by a number of strategic considerations, includ...

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Main Authors: Martinez Romero, Silvia, Hughes, Wendy
Format: Economic & Sector Work
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank Group, Washington, DC 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/02/24141471/bringing-variable-renewable-energy-up-scale-options-grid-integration-using-natural-gas-energy-storage
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21629
id okr-10986-21629
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-216292021-04-23T14:04:03Z Bringing Variable Renewable Energy Up to Scale : Options for Grid Integration Using Natural Gas and Energy Storage Martinez Romero, Silvia Hughes, Wendy Renewable energy Natural gas Storage technology Gas-fired power plants By the end of 2013, 144 countries both developed and developing had established plans for the expansion of power generation from renewable energy (REN 21). In setting these goals, countries are driven by a number of strategic considerations, including energy security, reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, the need to expand and improve energy services for growing populations, and industrialization and job creation. Among renewable energy sources, solar and wind resources stand out as having high inherent resource variability and limited predictability. To achieve a reliable, stable power supply, power system operators must continuously balance supply and demand. Power systems are designed to handle a certain amount of variability and uncertainty to accommodate fluctuations in demand and unexpected equipment outages. This report looks at the nature of Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) and the resulting challenges associated with the integration of VRE technologies into a power system. It provides an overview of the measures available to limit and manage these challenges. This report highlights the importance of increased flexibility when integrating high levels of VRE, and focuses on two sets of options to provide such flexibility: natural gas-fired power generation technologies and energy storage. Finally, this report provides some insight into the implications of VRE expansion for planning and regulation, and finishes with some recommendations for planners and policy makers. Topics included in this report also include: natural gas as an option for supply flexibility, energy storage as an option for flexibility, and planning and policy considerations. Findings include the realization that to best manage the challenge of integrating higher levels of VRE into electricity grids, policy, planning and regulatory interventions should be designed to minimize overall system costs and that the value of flexibility in the system should be recognized through policy and regulation, and remuneration mechanisms for flexible capacity should be defined. 2015-03-24T16:07:03Z 2015-03-24T16:07:03Z 2015-02 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/02/24141471/bringing-variable-renewable-energy-up-scale-options-grid-integration-using-natural-gas-energy-storage http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21629 English en_US ESMAP Technical Report CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank Group, Washington, DC Economic & Sector Work Economic & Sector Work :: Energy Study
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
en_US
topic Renewable energy
Natural gas
Storage technology
Gas-fired power plants
spellingShingle Renewable energy
Natural gas
Storage technology
Gas-fired power plants
Martinez Romero, Silvia
Hughes, Wendy
Bringing Variable Renewable Energy Up to Scale : Options for Grid Integration Using Natural Gas and Energy Storage
relation ESMAP Technical Report
description By the end of 2013, 144 countries both developed and developing had established plans for the expansion of power generation from renewable energy (REN 21). In setting these goals, countries are driven by a number of strategic considerations, including energy security, reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, the need to expand and improve energy services for growing populations, and industrialization and job creation. Among renewable energy sources, solar and wind resources stand out as having high inherent resource variability and limited predictability. To achieve a reliable, stable power supply, power system operators must continuously balance supply and demand. Power systems are designed to handle a certain amount of variability and uncertainty to accommodate fluctuations in demand and unexpected equipment outages. This report looks at the nature of Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) and the resulting challenges associated with the integration of VRE technologies into a power system. It provides an overview of the measures available to limit and manage these challenges. This report highlights the importance of increased flexibility when integrating high levels of VRE, and focuses on two sets of options to provide such flexibility: natural gas-fired power generation technologies and energy storage. Finally, this report provides some insight into the implications of VRE expansion for planning and regulation, and finishes with some recommendations for planners and policy makers. Topics included in this report also include: natural gas as an option for supply flexibility, energy storage as an option for flexibility, and planning and policy considerations. Findings include the realization that to best manage the challenge of integrating higher levels of VRE into electricity grids, policy, planning and regulatory interventions should be designed to minimize overall system costs and that the value of flexibility in the system should be recognized through policy and regulation, and remuneration mechanisms for flexible capacity should be defined.
format Economic & Sector Work
author Martinez Romero, Silvia
Hughes, Wendy
author_facet Martinez Romero, Silvia
Hughes, Wendy
author_sort Martinez Romero, Silvia
title Bringing Variable Renewable Energy Up to Scale : Options for Grid Integration Using Natural Gas and Energy Storage
title_short Bringing Variable Renewable Energy Up to Scale : Options for Grid Integration Using Natural Gas and Energy Storage
title_full Bringing Variable Renewable Energy Up to Scale : Options for Grid Integration Using Natural Gas and Energy Storage
title_fullStr Bringing Variable Renewable Energy Up to Scale : Options for Grid Integration Using Natural Gas and Energy Storage
title_full_unstemmed Bringing Variable Renewable Energy Up to Scale : Options for Grid Integration Using Natural Gas and Energy Storage
title_sort bringing variable renewable energy up to scale : options for grid integration using natural gas and energy storage
publisher World Bank Group, Washington, DC
publishDate 2015
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/02/24141471/bringing-variable-renewable-energy-up-scale-options-grid-integration-using-natural-gas-energy-storage
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21629
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