Flexibility (Power System)

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Flexibility: Concept Definition

According to the International Energy Agency, the flexibility of a power system refers to "the extent to which a power system can modify electricity production or consumption in response to variability, expected or otherwise"[1]. Another source described it as "the modification of generation injection and/or consumption patterns in reaction to an external signal (price signal or activation) in order to provide a service within the energy system" [2].

Flexibility: Why It Matters

There are many services the operators of a power system must consider to make the grid stable. Renewable sources, together with some battery storage, can already perform some of these services better than a conventional power system[3]. For example, renewable sources can supply reactive power (and therefore voltage response) even when they are not giving real power, and batteries can perform frequency response better than conventional sources[4].

However, current capacity of dispatchable renewables or batteriers is not enough to cover variations of the residual load curve. So flexibility of a power system must still be performed mainly by conventional dispatchable sources, with the aid of some demand response.

Flexibility: Supply Side

Flexibility: Demand Side

Ways to Improve Flexibility

  1. International Energy Agency (IEA), Harnessing variable renewables., Tech. rep.;fckLR2011
  2. "Flexibility and Aggregation Requirements for their interaction in the market". Available at:fckLRhttp://www.eurelectric.org/media/115877/tf_bal-agr_report_final_je_as-2014-030-0026-01-e.pdf
  3. "Powering into the Future: Renewable Energy & Grid Reliability". Available at: http://www.mjbradley.com/sites/default/files/Powering_Into_the_Future.pdf
  4. http://reneweconomy.com.au/tesla-big-battery-moves-from-show-boating-to-money-making-93955/