Quantifying the Benefits of Balancing Area Expansion in China Southern Power Grid

Abstract

The global energy sector is currently going through a transition, shifting away from the use of traditional fossil fuels into low-carbon or clean renewable energy sources (RES). While the adoption of RES into the grid continues growing, the intermittent nature of renewable supplies poses challenges to system stability and reliability. To overcome those challenges, balancing area expansion (BAE) could be a potential solution. This study quantifies the economic and environmental benefits of BAE using a case study in China Southern Power Grid (CSG). In this study, we modeled annual CSG system operation under two cases and compared the total system cost, emission, and reliability to quantify the benefits of BAE. The baseline case assumes each province within CSG operates its grid independently, while the consolidated operation case assumes the grids in all provinces are managed by one authority. We modeled the two cases using a Unit Commitment Model developed by the GRACE Lab Team, with slight modifications to match the CSG’s system better. Given its independent operation and similarities with the rest of the country, examining CSG sheds light on the prospects of expanding balancing areas on a national level.