Optimization and allocation of spinning reserves in a low-carbon framework

Low-carbon electric power systems are often characterized by high shares of renewables, such as wind power. The variable nature and limited predictability of some renewables will require novel system operation methods to properly size and cost-efficiently allocate the required reserves. The current state-of-the-art stochastic unit commitment models internalize this sizing and allocation process by considering a set of scenarios representing the stochastic input during the unit commitment optimization. This results in a cost-efficient scheduling of reserves, while maintaining the reliability of the system. However, calculation times are typically high. Therefore, in this paper, we merge a state-of-the-art probabilistic reserve sizing technique and stochastic unit commitment model with a limited number of scenarios in order to reduce the computational cost. Results obtained for a power system with a 30% wind energy penetration show that this hybrid approach allows to approximate the expected operational costs and reliability of the resulting unit commitment of the stochastic model at roughly one thirtieth of the computational cost. The presented hybrid unit commitment model can be used by researchers to assess the impact of uncertainty on power systems or by independent system operators to optimize their unit commitment decisions taking into account the uncertainty in their system.