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One of the technologies that stand out as an alternative to provide additional flexibility to power systems with large penetration of variable renewable energy (VRE), especially for regions with high direct normal irradiation (DNI), is concentrated solar power (CSP) plants coupled to thermal energy storage (TES) and back-up (BUS) systems. Brazil can develop this technology domestically, especially in its Northeast region, where most of VRE capacity is being deployed and where lies most of the CSP potential of the country. This work applies the Capacity Expansion Model REMix-CEM, which allows considering dispatch constraints of thermal power plants in long-term capacity expansion optimization. REMix-CEM calculates the optimal CSP plant configuration and its dispatch strategy from a central planning perspective. Results showed that the hybridization of CSP plants with jurema-preta biomass (CSP-BIO) becomes a least-cost option for Brazil by 2040. CSP-BIO contributes to the Northeast power system by regularizing the energy imbalance that results from the large-scale VRE expansion along with conventional inflexible power plants. CSP-BIO plants are able to increase frequency response and operational reserve services and can provide the required additional flexibility that the Northeast power system of Brazil will require into the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the analysis made by an article recently published in this journal [1]. The purpose of this manuscript is to bring new contributions to this complex subject, namely the limits to the penetration of variable renewable energy (VRE) into national grids. A detailed and advanced model has been used in this work in order to add further contributions to De Jong et al. [1] findings. For example, by applying an optimization model, we were able to show that the high wind penetration (65%) almost without curtailment found by [1] might not happen, mainly due to inflexibility constraints in Brazilian power plants and also to transmission limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]