Does renewable energy really decarbonise a power system? - An investigation

Abstract

Minimising emissions and operational costs are essential during energy production. To address this, a rational emission conversion factor-based optimal economic emission dispatch model is proposed to allocate generators in a dispatch fleet optimally. Additionally, the role of renewable energy (RE) generators in enhancing the decarbonised operation of power systems is investigated. A multi-objective function - consisting of fuel cost, RE forecasting deviation cost, and emission cost - is solved using the flower pollination algorithm, and the proposed scheme is successfully tested on the IEEE 30-bus and Indian utility 30-bus systems. The need for exact quantification of emissions and minimising the RE forecasting error, which offsets the benefits of RE, is demonstrated through various case studies.