Renewable Electricity and the Grid

Trade liberalization, as promoted by the World Trade Organization (WTO) has become one of the dominant drivers and most controversial aspects of globalization. Trade sustainability impact assessments (SIAs) were introduced as a means of generating better understanding of the social and environmental impacts of trade liberalisation and of making those impacts more consistent with sustainable development.This book takes a hard look at the practice of Trade SIAs to date, and the extent to which they have achieved their objectives and improved the outcomes of trade negotiations. It proposes several ways in which Trade SIAs could be made more effective, and illustrates these in respect of controversial sectors in which trade liberalisation has been implemented or proposed, including textiles, services and investment. Finally the book makes proposals beyond SIA through which some of the conflicts between trade liberalization and sustainable development could be more effectively addressed.Written by top researchers and experts on trade SIAs, this book is vital for researchers, academics, post-graduate students and policy makers working on any aspect of impact assessment, international trade or globalisation more generally. In addition, the book will provide a particularly useful background for those considering how the environment and trade interrelate at regional level, with some particular insights on climate change and trade policies.

Godfrey Boyle is Director of the Energy and Environment Research Unit at the UK Open University, where has chaired several renewable and sustainable energy course teams. He has published widely on these subjects, including the textbooks Energy Systems and Sustainability (2003) and Renewable Energy: Power for a Sustainable Future (2004). He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (formerly the Institution of Electrical Engineers) and a Trustee of the National Energy Foundation.

List of Figures and Tables	p. ix
List of Contributors	p. xiv
Preface	p. xix
Acknowledgements	p. xxi
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations	p. xxii
Variable Renewables and the Grid: An Overview	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
Renewable energy source variability	p. 2
Grid operational requirements	p. 11
Base-load capacity displacement with increasing wind penetration	p. 14
Conclusions	p. 27
Wind Power on the Grid	p. 31
Introduction	p. 31
Electricity system operation	p. 31
Wind characteristics	p. 36
Managing a network with wind	p. 38
Capacity credits	p. 41
Total extra costs of wind energy	p. 45
Wind energy penetration levels above 20 per cent	p. 47
The influence of national and regional differences	p. 49
Conclusions	p. 51
Renewable Resource Characteristics and Network Integration	p. 55
Introduction	p. 55
Renewable electricity generation in the UK	p. 55
Characteristics	p. 58
Renewable electricity supply and demand patterns	p. 63
The role of wind power in providing capacity on electricity networks	p. 67
Conclusions	p. 71
The UK Energy Research Centre Review of the Costs and Impacts of Intermittency	p. 73
Introduction	p. 73
Power system reliability and operation	p. 74
Misconceptions and sources of controversy	p. 77
Quantitative findings on impacts and costs	p. 79
Summary of findings and conclusions	p. 86
Wind Power Forecasting	p. 95
Introduction	p. 95
Applications of wind power forecasting	p. 97
Steps in a forecasting system	p. 97
Numerical weather prediction	p. 98
Different approaches to the power output forecast	p. 99
Forecast horizon	p. 101
Regional upscaling	p. 103
Smoothing effect	p. 105
Forecast accuracy	p. 107
Example: The Wind Power Management System (WPMS)	p. 110
'Learning curve' of forecasting accuracy	p. 112
Examples of current research	p. 113
Future challenges	p. 117
Flexibility of Fossil Fuel plant in a Renewable Energy Scenario: Possible Implications for the UK	p. 121
Introduction	p. 121
The UK power plant system of today	p. 123
Advanced generating plants, energy savings and the issue of climate change	p. 124
Design and operation of coal- and natural gas-powered steam plants	p. 125
Pseudo-intermittency with today's plants	p. 130
Effects on plant components and reliability	p. 132
Intermittency and power plants of the future	p. 136
Conclusions	p. 140
The Potential Contribution of Emergency Diesel Standby Generators in Dealing with the Variability of Renewable Energy Sources	p. 143
Introduction: Wessex Water	p. 143
The National Grid Transco Frequency Service	p. 143
The National Grid Transco Reserve Service	p. 144
Reserve and standby generating capacity on the UK National Grid	p. 144
'Triads': A revenue-earning opportunity	p. 146
Other benefits: Testing diesels off load	p. 147
Demand Flexibility, Micro-Combined Heat and Power and the 'Informated' Grid	p. 151
Introduction	p. 151
What is needed	p. 152
What is on offer	p. 153
Metering and the future	p. 155
A Renewable Electricity System for the UK	p. 157
Introduction	p. 157
Scenario context	p. 159
A sustainable electricity system	p. 162
System integration and optimization	p. 167
Conclusions	p. 178
Reliable Power, Wind Variability and Offshore Grids in Europe	p. 181
Where are the wind resources?	p. 181
What happens when the wind does not blow?	p. 183
The reliability of dispersed offshore wind power	p. 187
Effect of wind farm power output forecasting	p. 190
Delivered cost estimates for new grid and wind farms	p. 190
Results for Europe	p. 193
A Project for Europe: European-wide Supergrid	p. 194
Conclusions	p. 198
Planning for Variability in the Longer Term: The Challenge of a Truly Sustainable Energy System	p. 201
Introduction	p. 201
Renewable source-dominated energy supply systems	p. 202
Energy storage and demand-side management	p. 204
Conclusions and further research	p. 209
Index	p. 211
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Renewable Electricity and the Grid

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