Are large-scale wind and PV power stations a viable solution to the energy crisis?

Large-scale construction of wind and PV power has become a key strategy for dealing with the energy crisis. However, the variability and uncertainty of large-scale renewable energy power stations pose a series of severe challenges to the power system, such as insufficient peak-shaving capacity and high curtailment rates.

Why is energy storage a viable solution to power curtailment?

Therefore, power station equipped with energy storage has become a feasible solution to address the issue of power curtailment and alleviate the tension in electricity supply and demand.

How do energy storage devices affect power balance and grid reliability?

It is crucial to integrate energy storage devices within wind power and photovoltaic (PV) stations to effectively manage the impact of large-scale renewable energy generation on power balance and grid reliability. However, existing studies have not modelled the complex coupling between different types of power sources within a station.

Does adding energy storage reduce system costs and environmental costs?

References [2, 3] evaluated the economic, energy efficiency, and environmental impacts of adding energy storage to existing distributed generation, and the study showed that system costs and environmental costs can be reduced by adding energy storage.

What are the variable O&M costs of a wind-PV-storage system?

The variable operation and maintenance (O&M) costs of the wind–PV-storage system primarily consist of the variable O&M costs of the energy storage and the life cycle degradation costs of the energy storage. The calculation formula is as follows:

What is the output of a wind-PV-storage system?

The overall output of the wind–PV-storage system is high during the day and low at night. The energy storage demonstrates its charge–discharge flexibility, charging during the night and at noon, and discharging at 8 am and 6 pm, achieving “low storage-high discharge” for arbitrage in the electricity market.