Changing paradigm and strategy to reduce the effect of intermittent injection of power by renewable generators through controlled operation of base load generators - A procurer's perspective Dr. Saxena Raj Varman1, Dr. Khanooja G. S.1 1Madhya Pradesh Power Management Company Ltd. Online published on 16 May, 2023. Abstract Earlier, the generation in MP was dependent on large, centralized coal based thermal and hydro generators. With the advent of wind turbines and solar photovoltaics (PV), the generation is becoming increasingly dependent on small generators utilizing renewable sources. But these sources are considered to be intermittent power sources, meaning that their generation is not only variable, but also, to a certain extent, unpredictable. This variability and unpredictability needs to be covered by conventional electricity generation systems like thermal plants in order to provide uninterrupted supply to the consumers. This is met by keeping the conventional generators-on-bar and changing the generation output by ramping or by switching the conventional thermal plant on/off. Intermittent injection by renewable sources results in all baseload plants reducing their load factor. A sufficiently-low plant load factor prevents capital costs from being recouped, thus making the investment uneconomical. When a thermal generating unit varies its output, the components in the unit are subject to large temperature and pressure stresses. These stresses and strain lead to accelerated component failures and forced outages. One way to meet the consequences of more renewable generators is to build more flexible generation capacity. But this is not a feasible alternative as their usage will not be predictable or too low. Another method is to-consider the Marginal Cost of generating Unit of existing generators for efficient dispatch, i.e., cost of producing-an additional Unit of electricity. In order to get the Plant scheduled under Incremental Cost Dispatch, marginal cost should be low. If the generators indicate long-run marginal cost, which is higher, they would have lower chance of getting scheduled. Hence, providing short-run marginal cost, which is lower and generally used for intraday transactions, to the Procurer every day, is an option under present circumstances. Top Keywords Renewable, Thermal, Intermittent injection, Cycling, Price of power, Marginal cost, Optimal load-dispatch. Top |