Optimal operation of flexible heating systems for reducing wind power curtailment

Flexibility in a heating system refers to the ability of regulating its heat consumption/supply/storage from time to time, which indirectly affects the corresponding electricity production and consumption. Through an optimal use this kind of ability, integration challenges for wind power such as curtailment can be addressed. In the paper, a series of flexibility options in the heating system are modeled and investigated, including extraction combined heat and power plant, electric boiler, electric heat pump (HP), heat storage and demand response management of the heat load. Based on a mathematical model developed for achieving an optimal dispatch of the heating system, heating systems with various configurations of flexibility options can be investigated regarding their contribution to wind power curtailment. A practical case study is presented to validate the proposed solution, with eight configuration scenarios defined to represent the existing and other possible system setups. The results show that there is a huge potential of using the flexibility from the heat sector to support wind power integration, and the potential can be affected by the seasonal variations of energy demand, wind profile and technical parameters like efficiency of the HP. Further, contribution of different flexibility options to wind power integration is different in regards to the achieved operation-scale techno-economic performance.