Capacity-building on integration costs of wind and solar power

• Renewable energy technologies offer the lowest cost of generation where wind and solar resources complement each other, but they are likely to result in grid stability issues due to their higher uncertainty and variability, which in turn require support from other technologies.
• The impacts of renewable energy on the grid affect generation, transmission, distribution, and grid operation and planning in varying ways thereby requiring a diversified suite of adapted solutions.

• The higher renewable energy generation regime necessitates thermal plants to be more flexible during base load and mid-merit operation. This results in increased start/stops operations, faster ramp up/down performance, and more frequent part-load operations.
• The underlying impacts are: (1) higher CAPEX for renewable energy capacity additions, (2) higher maintenance costs for thermal plants due to flexible operation, (3) higher cost of energy due to part-load operation, and (4) additional CAPEX for grid code compliance at the point of interconnection and for grid-friendly features of renewable energy technologies.

• The development of transmission networks must align with renewable energy installations to maximize the integration benefits since wind and solar resources smooth out with geographic diversity.
• In addition, large transmission interconnections linking multiple countries support higher renewable energy generation since this enables the trade (export and import) of renewable energy across borders thereby minimizing curtailment and lost production.
• To further enhance the integration of renewable energy on transmission networks, voltage and inertial support can be provided through synchronous condensers whereas batteries can defer transmission upgrades, relieve congestion, and offer critical ancillary services.

The participants were split into three working groups where they deliberated and presented about their experiences with national-level technical and financial challenges being faced due to higher integration rates of renewables.

The main challenges presented are load and weather forecasting, load behaviour, net metering, load factors, power quality, inertia, ramping, curtailment, start-stop operations, increased maintenance, higher fuel costs, frequency and voltage stability, and the impact of emissions on health.

• Distribution networks experience significant voltage variations due to distributed energy sources (DER) so SCADA systems need to be strengthened to increase the availability of renewable energy and speed up the restoration of the network.
• Other solutions are also recommended such as IOT applications, energy storage, advanced metering infrastructure, demand response programs, and electric vehicle charging programs as these would enable improved load and renewable energy forecasting and hence improved integration.

• The overall operational cost depends on the generation mix and the emissions reduction targets.
• High renewable energy shares in the generation mix will require increased flexibility from thermal power plants, more grid-friendly renewable energy power plants and controls, improved renewable energy generation and load forecasting, increased cooperation between balancing areas and interconnected grids, and new operational strategy encompassing higher reserve margins, energy storage, ancillary services, and distributed renewable energy.

The participants were split into three working groups where they deliberated and presented on potential solutions, based on what they learned throughout the workshop, to address national-level technical and financial challenges being faced due to higher integration rates of renewables.

The main solutions presented are battery Storage on distribution and transmission grids, interconnection with neighbouring grids, synchronous condensers, load prediction using Artificial Intelligence, vehicle to grid energy export during peak load times, using smart technologies like distribution phasor measurement units, developing smart grids, developing grid codes, continuous development of the regulatory frameworks to accommodate the technology and market needs, inertia estimation, the use of grid-forming inverters and synthetic inertia, the deployment of time-of-use tariffs.

The session enabled the participants to share other challenges and issues they are facing or predict to face in the future that are not related to the integration costs of wind and solar power.

The main points raised are:

• A framework regulating integration costs needs to be developed so that both the public and private sectors share these integration costs as compared to the business-as-usual scenario where the systems operators (public sector) are having to deal alone with all the integration difficulties and costs while the project developers (private sector) are not.
• Renewable energy regulations and grid codes need to be developed in the Arab region in a way where they can be compatible with each other, especially for neighboring countries.

Finally, the participants requested the following training topics for future workshops: (1) The use of renewable energy systems during the restart of grids following blackouts, (2) New grid technologies such as synchronous condensers, IoT devices, and grid-forming inverters, and (3) The use of simulation tools and artificial intelligence to improve load and renewable energy forecasting.