The windpark of Siemens turbines is in Galicia, Spain.
This article comes from Energy Exemplar in the U.K.
Two employees of Plexos Support Consultant for Energy Exemplar Ltd will present the paper ‘Analysing the effects of future generation and grid investments on the Spanish power market, with large scale wind integration, using PLEXOS for Power Systems’ at the 11th Wind Integration Workshop in Lisbon, Portugal, November 13 to 15, 2012. Mr Christos Papadopoulos, Regional Manager of Europe, and Ms Peny Panagiotakopoulou will demo features and applications of PLEXOS large scale, wind-integration model. A summary of their paper is this:
The growth in wind energy capacity in the EU has averaged 15.6% since 1995, reaching 94 GW in 2011 and is estimated to reach 213 GW by 2020 based on National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAP). This consistent growth demonstrates the move by European countries towards a higher proportion of wind power in their energy mix. Spain had a leading role in 2011 supplying almost the 16% of the country’s electrical demand from wind. According to EU directives and the NREAP, Spain’s goal by 2020 is to supply 41% of electricity consumption from RES, 21% of which it should derive from wind energy.
Under the current uncertainty of the incentive system and the changing government policies, and due to Spain having limited interconnections to neighbors (It’s often described as an “electricity island”) the 2020 target for Spain seems challenging with respect to the economic incentives and operational mechanisms necessary to enable required level of investments in RES generation and grid capacity, and smart-grid technologies and ancillary services capabilities.
The scope of the paper is to present the results of a wind integration case study that analyses and compares the effects of the above investments and their operations on power market prices, grid congestion, ancillary-service requirements, and generation mix using a power market simulation and analysis software, called Plexos for Power Systems.
The case study has five models. The first is a base model of the existing Iberian power market, including current power plants, transmission grid, and interconnection links. The subsequent four models look ahead to 2020, representing possible system developments such as planned versus required generation and transmission capacity, interconnection to France, and demand side response methods.
The second model includes planned investment of new capacity planned for 2020, including conventional power plants, renewable projects and grid improvements.
The third model develops the optimal required set of investments in generation, grid, and storage to best integrate renewables into the power system and meet the 2020 target.
The fourth model is driven by the present weak cross-border interconnection between Spain and France, and investigates the effect of the planned expansion of 2 GW on power flow and market operation in the events of wind fluctuations.
The final model analyses the potential effects of prospective demand-response technologies, such as that of large commercial customers.
Overall, the Spanish power market has demonstrated adequate flexibility dealing with high levels of wind penetration to present. Nevertheless, the ambitious renewable target that Spain has set to 2020 requires a well-planned mix of flexible generation plants, demand side response initiatives, and grid investments.
Energy Exemplar
www.energyexemplar.com
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