Power-System Flexibility: A Necessary Complement to Variable Renewable Energy Optimal Capacity Configuration

Comprehending the spatiotemporal complementarity of variable renewable energy (VRE) sources and their supplemental ability to meet electricity demand is a promising move towards broadening their share in the power supply mix without sacrificing either supply security or overall cost efficiency of power system operation. Increasing VRE share into the energy mix has to be followed with measures to manage technical challenges associated with grid operations. Most sub-Saharan countries can be considered 'greenfield' due to their relatively low power generation baseline and are more likely to be advantaged in planning their future grids around the idea of integrating high VRE sources into the grid from the outset. An essential measure for achieving this objective entails exploring the possibility of integrating renewable hybrid power plants into the existing hydropower grid, leveraging on existing synergies and benefiting from the use of existing infrastructure and grid connection points. This study evaluates the potential for hybridizing existing hydropower-dominated networks to accommodate solar- and wind-energy sources. The existing synergy is quantified using correlation and energy indicators by evaluating complementarity at daily, monthly and annual intervals. The proposed metric serves as a tool to improve planning on increasing the VRE fraction into the existing systems with the aim to achieve optimal power mixes. In comparison to cases in which the same kind of resource is over-planted while expanding installed capacity, the results demonstrate that wind and solar resources hold a positive degree of complementarity, allowing a greater share of VRE sources into the grid. The study shows that Kenya bears favorable climatic conditions that allow hybrid power plant concepts to be widely explored and scaled up on a large and efficient scale. The results can be applicable in other regions and represent an important contribution to promoting the integration of VRE sources into sub-Saharan power grids.