Power System Design for Resilience and Flexibility Against Extreme Weather Events

Abstract

Recent challenges from severe weather events call for an adaptation in power systems planning methods, to ensure the sustainability of the resulting plans and the resilience of the power system against natural threats. Whereas studies have shown the importance of considering operational flexibility as an integral part of the design of power systems with a high share of renewable energy sources, very few works have incorporated the resilience against severe weather threats directly into the system design phase. We propose a comprehensive flexibility and resilience modeling and optimization framework for power systems planning considering extreme weather scenarios. A set of piece-wise linear models are developed to calculate the impact of extreme heat waves and drought events on the performance of the power generation units and on the system load. We propose a method to integrate the extreme climate impact within the power system planning model and investigate the results obtained compared to conventional planning methods under real future climate projections.