Technical assessment of KSA Power System with large participation of renewables

In line with the objectives of Vision 2030 laid out by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), ambitious levels of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) need to be integrated into the network. This objective requires a systematic analysis of the impacts of renewable sources on the network across varying load growth & renewable deployment scenarios.Amongst other aspects, it includes ensuring the adequacy of the generation mix to counter renewable variability & uncertainty and a cost-beneficial reduction of the curtailment levels through optimal allocation of RES and storage resources. This optimal allocation is performed while considering the capacity of the transmission system and, where required, strengthening the transmission network to make it N−1 secure for each of the expected network states across the analysis scenario.The augmentation and testing of a transmission system that meets these security requirements are conducted by implementing a DC load flow calculation spanning each hour of the year. The outcomes of this analysis form the basis for further steady-state (AC) and dynamic analysis of the network.