The Role of Natural Gas Power Plants in Mitigation of High Variability of Renewable Energy Sources in the North and Northeast of Brazil

  • Gabriel Nascimento Companhia Maranhense de Gás
  • Osvaldo R. Saavedra Universidade Federal do Maranhão
  • Sandoval A. Feitosa Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica
  • Gilson S. da Silva Junior Operador Nacional do Sistema Elétrico
Keywords: Variability, Natural gas power plants, Gas-to-power, Flexibility

Abstract

The increasing penetration of renewable energy sources in Brazil’s north and northeast regions indicates economic development, employment generation and income, as well as several other environmental externalities. However, in terms of electric system operations, this situation raises concerns, mainly due to the entry of new wind farms and of the incipient but growing portion of photovoltaic solar generation. In this paper, we discuss the use of natural gas to provide greater flexibility and resilience to the electric system and thus mitigate the impact of the great variability of generation in the region where they preferentially occur. Gas turbines are characterized by rapid response ramps to generation-load changes, and can be used in the gas-to-power success model.

Published
2021-02-14
Section
Articles