Modelling Interconnected Renewable Electricity Systems

Abstract

This paper addresses the long-term power planning in interconnected system with high renewable share. A case close to the Portuguese electricity system was modeled to assess the relevance of the interconnection with Spain in future scenarios. The results show that the increase on the renewable energy share will lead to a higher total cost of the system mainly due to investment costs. On the other hand, CO2 emissions will be significantly reduced for each scenario in question. Another significant result is that the increase on renewable power, will lead to an excess of electricity production mainly during winter. For a 100% renewable scenario, the importance of interconnection is demonstrated, in particular, for the summer months for which importation can compensate the reduction of wind and hydropower output.