Studying Possibilities of Hydropower in Wind Integration.

Hydropower plants have ideal properties to provide production flexibility for the achievement of renewable targets for variable generation like wind and solar. However, given the typical constraints in the operation of hydro, it is often unclear how much flexibility is left in the dispatch of hydro to assist the system. This is especially true when assessing future system operation with increasing amounts of variable generation (VG). Numerous studies have simulated the operation of electric systems under different levels of VG penetration and found that the integration of renewables is facilitated with a fleet of flexible generators. Yet, due to the complex mix of nontechnical constraints, hydropower representation in these electric sector models is often simplified. This impact leads to underconstrained or over-constrained estimates of the flexibility available in reservoirs. In both cases, the results of the studies are influenced by these assumptions. Higher level of details regarding hydro dispatch constraints (detailed cascading hydro systems, detailed watercourses and inflow patterns) might have to be considered in future power system studies and for the calculation of water values. Including more details in a hydrothermal scheduling model leads to more realistic simulation results. However, a high model detail significantly affects computation time, which limits the model complexity in practice when studying larger regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]