Reducing human health impacts from power sector emissions with redispatch and energy storage

Abstract

Emissions from the power sector significantly contribute to ambient air pollution and its associated adverse human health impacts. In this study, we explore how to cost-effectively reduce health impacts due to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) attributable to power plant emissions by internalizing real-time health costs in plant dispatch decisions and re-optimizing the unit commitment and economic dispatch in light of these impacts. We show that internalizing the time- and location-varying health damage costs into power system operational decisions can reduce 61%-97% of adverse health impacts through decreases in coal generation and strategic shifts in the location and timing of pollutant releases. We also find that adding energy storage to the grid can mitigate health impacts by reducing wind power curtailment. Our findings demonstrate the need to consider temporal and spatial heterogeneity when determining the social cost of emissions.