Publication: Integrating Variable Renewable Energy into Power System Operations
Loading...
Files in English
3,106 downloads
Date
2015-01
ISSN
Published
2015-01
Author(s)
Chatopadhyay, Debabrata
Editor(s)
Abstract
Wind and solar energy is a fast-growing share of the global energy mix. But integrating them into power-system operations requires significant adaptations to compensate for their variability. Solutions include increasing the amount of flexible generation within the system, combining, and dispersing variable resources to smooth aggregate output, expanding the transmission network, using smart technology to control supply and demand, and storing electricity.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Chatopadhyay, Debabrata; Nikolakakis, Thomas. 2015. Integrating Variable Renewable Energy into Power System Operations. Live Wire, 2015/38. © http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21359 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Publication Decarbonizing Ammonia and Nitrogen Fertilizers with Clean Hydrogen(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-03-12)Synthetic fertilizers are essential to sustaining the world’s population, but their production is responsible for 1.8–2.4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Clean hydrogen holds growing potential (amid falling costs) to decarbonize fertilizer production. Hydrogen produces synthetic ammonia, a building block of most fertilizers. With the fertilizer market as a reliable off-taker, this shift could support the overall expansion of clean hydrogen, even as it boosts global food security. However, this transition may require adjustments, including changes in fertilizer types and modifications to existing subsidy schemes.Publication Mini Grids for Underserved Main Grid Customers(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-21)Can mini grids help to solve the problem of poorly served main grid connected communities A mini grid is an electricity generation and distribution network that supplies electricity to a localized group of customers. Mini grids can be isolated from or connected to the main grid. To date, most mini grids in Sub-Saharan Africa have been built in electrically isolated rural villages not connected to the main grid. Based on broad experience working with mini grid programs in more than 20 low- and middle-income countries and five detailed case studies, the authors offer observations and recommendations about mini grids in general and a new type known as “undergrid mini grids” being used in Nigeria and India to serve poorly served communities.Publication Mobilizing Commercial Financing to Scale Up Energy Efficiency in the Public Sector(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-22)Scaling up energy efficiency is critical to the energy transition—and the public sector is a good place to start. Programs in public buildings, in particular, can introduce new models and thus help shape markets. Given the limits of public financing against huge investment needs, countries must unlock commercial financing. The first steps are to adopt international best practices and select financing mechanisms suited to local policy and regulatory frameworks, public agency characteristics, implementation barriers, and the maturity of financial markets.Publication Using Biomass or Green Ammonia to Replace Coal in Existing Thermal Power Plants(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-06)Finding fuel sources to replace coal in power plants is crucial in the march toward decarbonization. Biomass and ammonia are two options offering significant potential. Both can be used with coal or alone in newly constructed facilities or in modified power plants. Relatively new power plants are good candidates for modification. While work is underway demonstrating the feasibility of each material, there are logistical challenges to address, particularly in the case of ammonia.Publication Net Zero Energy by 2060(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-06-07)In the long term, both energy security and decarbonization in the region will depend on substantial increases in national climate ambitions. Achieving those increases will depend, in turn, on equally substantial increases in investment in low-carbon technologies, accompanied by timely policies and regulatory measures. The World Bank has developed a whole-energy-system model, data driven, technology rich, and bottom-up, to project optimal least-cost pathways for Europe and Central Asia to achieve a net zero energy target by 2060. This Live Wire is based on a report published in March 2024 (World Bank and ESMAP 2024).
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Greening the Wind : Environmental and Social Considerations for Wind Power Development(World Bank, 2011-12-01)This report identifies good practices for managing the key environmental and social issues associated with wind power development and provides advice on how best to address these issues in project planning, construction, and operation and maintenance. It provides detailed background information on wind power, with special focus on two emerging themes of growing scientific and public interest: namely the biodiversity-related impacts and the broader socioeconomic and cultural dimensions of wind power development. Like wind power itself, the scope of this report is worldwide although special attention is paid to the issues characteristic of the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. While the principal focus is on land-based wind power, it also briefly addresses the environmental and social impacts related to off shore wind development. Wind power today is widely regarded as a key component of an environmentally sustainable, low-carbon energy future because it is renewable, requires almost no water, and generates near-zero emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. In many parts of the world, wind power has the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from electric power generation, thereby helping to limit the severe environmental and social consequences of human-induced climate change. The growth of wind power has also occurred due to its other positive attributes, including growing economic competitiveness. The adverse biodiversity-related impacts of wind power facilities mainly involve birds, bats, and natural habitats.Publication Africa Energy Poverty : G8 Energy Ministers Meeting 2009(Washington, DC, 2009-05-24)Worldwide, about 1.6 billion people lack access to electricity services. There are also large populations without access in the poorer countries of Asia and Latin America, as well as in the rural and peri-urban areas of middle income countries. However large-scale electrification programs that is currently underway in middle income countries and the poor countries of Asia will increase household electricity access more rapidly than in sub-Saharan Africa. Africa has the lowest electrification rate of all the regions at 26 percent of households, meaning that as many as 547 million people are without access to electricity. On current trends less than half of African countries will reach universal access to electricity even by 2050. Without access to electricity services, the poor are deprived of opportunities to improve their living standards and the delivery of health and education services is compromised when electricity is not available in clinics, in schools and in the households of students and teachers. The total financing needs for Africa to resolve the power supply crisis are of the order of approximately US$40 billion per annum or 6.4 percent of region's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In response to the power crisis, donors have increased their support to the power sector, though more is needed. From the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s, donor assistance for the African power sector averaged no more than US$500 million per year. The private sector will be key to energy access expansion. For example, private sector expertise will be needed to develop the large complex generation and transmission projects (especially cross-border projects) that are necessary and for which a project finance approach will be often the most appropriate. The current global credit crisis poses additional challenges to mobilizing financing for energy infrastructure and especially for projects with perceived higher risk or higher costs. Nevertheless, governments can still access finance in the private markets for sound investments.Publication Hydroelectric Power(Washington, DC, 2015)Worldwide, hydropower is a crucial power supply option for several reasons. First, it is a renewable energy resource that can contribute to sustainable development by generating local, typically inexpensive power. Second, hydropower reduces reliance on imported fuels that carry the risks of price volatility, supply uncertainty and foreign currency requirements. Third, hydro systems can offer multiple co-benefits including water storage for drinking and irrigation, drought-preparedness, flood control protection, aquaculture and recreational opportunities, among others. Finally, hydro can allow more renewables, especially wind and solar, to be added to the system by providing rapid-response power when intermittent sources are off-line, and pumped energy storage when such sources are generating excess power. For more publications on IFC Sustainability please visit www.ifc.org/sustainabilitypublications.Publication Technical and Economic Assessment of Off-grid, Mini-grid and Grid Electrification Technologies(Washington, DC, 2007-12)This report is part of the Energy and Water Department's commitment to providing new techniques and knowledge which complement the direct investment and other assistance to electrification as provided by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). The purpose of this report is to convey the results of an assessment of the current and future economic readiness of electric power generation alternatives for developing countries. The objective of the technical and economic assessment was to systematically characterize the commercial and economic prospects of renewable and fossil fuel-fired electricity generation technologies now, and in the near future. The study was designed to cover the widest possible range of electrification applications faced by energy services delivery and power system planners, whether supply is provided through grid networks or stand-alone or mini-grid configurations. The assessment was conducted using a standard approach and is presented in a consistent fashion for each power generation technology configuration. The assessment time frame includes current status and forecast development trends over the period 2005-15, while the economic assessment considers a range of typical operating conditions (peak, off-peak) and grid configurations (off-grid, mini-grid, interconnected grid) for various scales of demand. The technology characterization reflects the current stage of commercialization, including indicative cost reduction trends over 10 years. This study is limited in several ways. First, it is time-bound. It does not reflect new technology developments or new secular trends that have emerged since the terms of reference were formalized. Secondly, it is bound by the available literature. Thirdly, the results are generalized and represent averaging over what are important specific conditions (although the uncertainty analysis accounts for this somewhat).Publication Handshake, No. 13 (April 2014)(Washington, DC, 2014-04)This issue of Handshake, focused on public-private partnerships in the power sector, brings diverse expert voices together to discuss how to increase access to energy in developing countries. Features on hydropower and renewables together with examples from Africa and Latin America provide an up-to-the-minute look at one of the most important and rapidly evolving sectors today. This issue includes the following headings: power and mining: digging deep to power up; market mover: intraday electricity trading; timeline to transformation: Nigerias privatization; energy for development: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MITs) new research; and interview: United Nation (UN) sustainable energy for all (SE4ALL) special representative Kandeh Yumkella. Whats it like to be energy-poor? Kandeh Yumkella, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Sustainable Energy for All, answers that question and many more in this issue of Handshake. Yumkella recalls his own experiences in Sierra Leone to illustrate the link between energy poverty and income poverty and explains how PPPs can help.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Women, Business and the Law 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-04)Women, Business and the Law 2024 is the 10th in a series of annual studies measuring the enabling conditions that affect women’s economic opportunity in 190 economies. To present a more complete picture of the global environment that enables women’s socioeconomic participation, this year Women, Business and the Law introduces two new indicators—Safety and Childcare—and presents findings on the implementation gap between laws (de jure) and how they function in practice (de facto). This study presents three indexes: (1) legal frameworks, (2) supportive frameworks (policies, institutions, services, data, budget, and access to justice), and (3) expert opinions on women’s rights in practice in the areas measured. The study’s 10 indicators—Safety, Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Childcare, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension—are structured around the different stages of a woman’s working life. Findings from this new research can inform policy discussions to ensure women’s full and equal participation in the economy. The indicators build evidence of the critical relationship between legal gender equality and women’s employment and entrepreneurship. Data in Women, Business and the Law 2024 are current as of October 1, 2023.Publication Global Economic Prospects, January 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-16)Global growth is expected to hold steady at 2.7 percent in 2025-26. However, the global economy appears to be settling at a low growth rate that will be insufficient to foster sustained economic development—with the possibility of further headwinds from heightened policy uncertainty and adverse trade policy shifts, geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, and climate-related natural disasters. Against this backdrop, emerging market and developing economies are set to enter the second quarter of the twenty-first century with per capita incomes on a trajectory that implies substantially slower catch-up toward advanced-economy living standards than they previously experienced. Without course corrections, most low-income countries are unlikely to graduate to middle-income status by the middle of the century. Policy action at both global and national levels is needed to foster a more favorable external environment, enhance macroeconomic stability, reduce structural constraints, address the effects of climate change, and thus accelerate long-term growth and development.Publication Global Economic Prospects, June 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-10)The global economy is facing another substantial headwind, emanating largely from an increase in trade tensions and heightened global policy uncertainty. For emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs), the ability to boost job creation and reduce extreme poverty has declined. Key downside risks include a further escalation of trade barriers and continued policy uncertainty. These challenges are exacerbated by subdued foreign direct investment into EMDEs. Global cooperation is needed to restore a more stable international trade environment and scale up support for vulnerable countries grappling with conflict, debt burdens, and climate change. Domestic policy action is also critical to contain inflation risks and strengthen fiscal resilience. To accelerate job creation and long-term growth, structural reforms must focus on raising institutional quality, attracting private investment, and strengthening human capital and labor markets. Countries in fragile and conflict situations face daunting development challenges that will require tailored domestic policy reforms and well-coordinated multilateral support.Publication Business Ready 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-03)Business Ready (B-READY) is a new World Bank Group corporate flagship report that evaluates the business and investment climate worldwide. It replaces and improves upon the Doing Business project. B-READY provides a comprehensive data set and description of the factors that strengthen the private sector, not only by advancing the interests of individual firms but also by elevating the interests of workers, consumers, potential new enterprises, and the natural environment. This 2024 report introduces a new analytical framework that benchmarks economies based on three pillars: Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency. The analysis centers on 10 topics essential for private sector development that correspond to various stages of the life cycle of a firm. The report also offers insights into three cross-cutting themes that are relevant for modern economies: digital adoption, environmental sustainability, and gender. B-READY draws on a robust data collection process that includes specially tailored expert questionnaires and firm-level surveys. The 2024 report, which covers 50 economies, serves as the first in a series that will expand in geographical coverage and refine its methodology over time, supporting reform advocacy, policy guidance, and further analysis and research.Publication World Bank Annual Report 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-25)This annual report, which covers the period from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, has been prepared by the Executive Directors of both the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA)—collectively known as the World Bank—in accordance with the respective bylaws of the two institutions. Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, has submitted this report, together with the accompanying administrative budgets and audited financial statements, to the Board of Governors.