Optimal Configuration of Wind-PV and Energy Storage in Large Clean Energy Bases

The installed capacity of energy storage in China has increased dramatically due to the national power system reform and the integration of large scale renewable energy with other sources. To support the construction of large-scale energy bases and optimizes the performance of thermal power plants, the research on the corporation mode between energy storage and thermal energy, including the optimization of energy-storage capacity and its operation in large-scale clean energy bases. In this paper, a large-scale clean energy base system is modeled with EBSILON and a capacity calculation method is established by minimizing the investment cost and energy storage capacity of the power system and constraints such as power balance, SOC, and power fluctuations. The research proposed a method of using coupled system of thermal energy storage systems primarily based on molten salt thermal storage and thermal power generation for rough modulation and using battery energy storage system for fine modulation tasks. Example of fine modulation includes frequency modulation and heating demand of the district, which significantly reduces the energy storage investment by more than 95%. A case study of a 10 MW clean energy base is conducted. The result shows that the overall pre-tax internal rate of return of the base project is 8%, which has good economic benefits.