Hybrid wind power balance control strategy using thermal power, hydro power and flow batteries

The increased number of renewable power plants pose threat to power system balance. Their intermittent nature makes it very difficult to predict power output, thus either additional reserve power plants or new storage and control technologies are required. Traditional spinning reserve cannot fully compensate sudden changes in renewable energy power generation. Using new storage technologies such as flow batteries, it is feasible to balance the variations in power and voltage within very short period of time. This paper summarises the controlled use of hybrid flow battery, thermal and hydro power plant system, to support wind power plants to reach near perfect balance, i.e. make the total power output as close as possible to the predicted value. It also investigates the possibility of such technology to take part in the balance of the Lithuanian power system. A dynamic model of flow battery is demonstrated where it evaluates the main parameters such as power, energy, reaction time and efficiency. The required battery size is tested based on range of thermal and hydro power plant reaction times. This work suggests that power and energy of a reasonable size flow battery is sufficient to correct the load and wind power imbalance.