Optimization of low-cost integration of wind and solar power in multi-node electricity systems: Mathematical modelling and dual solution approaches

Abstract: The global production of electricity contributes significantly to the release of CO2 emissions. Therefore, a transformation of the electricity system is of vital importance in order to restrict global warming. This thesis concerns modelling and methodology of electricity systems which contain a large share of variable renewable electricity generation (i.e. wind and solar power). The two models developed in this thesis concern optimization of long-term investments in the electricity system. They aim at minimizing investment and production costs under electricity production constraints, using different spatial resolutions and technical detail, while meeting the electricity demand. These models are very large in nature due to the 1) high temporal resolution needed to capture the wind and solar variations while maintaining chronology in time, and 2) need to cover a large geographical scope in order to represent strategies to manage these variations (e.g.\ electricity trade). Thus, different decomposition methods are applied to reduce computation times. We develop three different decomposition methods: Lagrangian relaxation combined with variable splitting solved using either i) a subgradient algorithm or ii) an ADMM algorithm, and iii) a heuristic decomposition using a consensus algorithm. In all three cases, the decomposition is done with respect to the temporal resolution by dividing the year into 2-week periods. The decomposition methods are tested and evaluated for cases involving regions with different energy mixes and conditions for wind and solar power. Numerical results show faster computation times compared to the non-decomposed models and capacity investment options similar to the optimal solutions given by the latter models. However, the reduction in computation time may not be sufficient to motivate the increase in complexity and uncertainty of the decomposed models.