Spatio-temporal smoothing and dynamics of different electricity flexibility options for highly renewable energy systems—Case study for Norway

In this article, we investigate the mismatch of renewable electricity production to demand and how flexibility options enabling spatial and temporal smoothing can reduce risks of variability. As a case study we pick a simplified (partial) 2-region representation of the Norwegian electricity system and focus on wind power. We represent regional electricity production and demand through two stochastic processes: the wind capacity factors are modelled as a two-dimensional Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process and electricity demand consists of realistic base load and temperature-induced load coming from a deseasonalised autoregressive process. We validate these processes, that we have trained on historical data, through Monte Carlo simulations allowing us to generate many statistically representative weather years. For the investigated realisations (weather years) we study deviations of production from demand under different wind capacities, and introduce different scenarios where flexibility options like storage and transmission are available. Our analysis shows that simulated loss values are reduced significantly by cooperation between regions and either mode of flexibility. Combining storage and transmission leads to even more synergies and helps to stabilise production levels and thus reduces likelihoods of inadequacy of renewable power systems.