Page 31 - Energize December 2022

TECHNICAL

demand decreases. In the short term, it amount of renewable energy capacity and four times the amount of energy storage.
will be important to provide the ability These investments, however massive, will become the lowest cost options in the future
to maintain quick response times, due to the decreasing costs of renewables.
whereas in longer time frames, energy On a country level, modelling conducted for the Philippines shows that total installed
shifting and offering larger storage capacity increases from 24,735 MW to 64,271 MW from 20% renewable energy sources
content will require more emphasis. (RES) to 100% RES. Additionally, storage increases from zero to 44,000 MWh. These
Operational planning flexibility will also trends signify the importance of these sustainable technologies in the future and the
be required to ensure that sufficient importance of investing into these to accelerate the growth to a cleaner future.
flexibility resources are available to
enable safe operation under forecast Energy system integration
uncertainty in the supply (loss of An energy system integrator understands the role of different technologies in customer
generation units). power systems and combines a customer’s assets through software, full EPC offerings and
The three main types of flexibility optimal life cycle management to create optimal paths towards 100% renewable energy
required are daily, weekly and seasonal systems.
flexibility. The daily variations caused Wärtsilä’s view is that energy system integration happens on a power plant level as
by changes in supply and demand will well as during its lifecycle.
be covered by energy storage, a key
component for overall grid balancing Understand
and will provide second- and minute- An energy system integrator should understand the evolving energy market and analyse
level frequency balancing when economic and market trends, to recognise value-based opportunities for customers in
renewable energy is unavailable. In the utility and industrial market. Modern power system modelling, including technology
a 100% renewables scenario, flexible flexibility constraints, high-resolution renewable energy profiles and co-optimisation of
thermal capacity which will incorporate energy and reserves, should be conducted to identify the requirements and long-term
synthetic gas, biogas and synthetic capacity additional needs for optimal power systems. This provides a holistic view of the
liquid fuels for back-up will replace type of assets that should be integrated into the system, the system requirements on a
existing baseload capacity and ensure customer or country level and the type of technologies needed to minimise costs, and to
week to week shifting and system maximise efficiency and reliability.
reliability. Lastly, seasonal variation
caused by significant changes in Design and build
weather conditions such as monsoons Based on power system analysis and optimisation, the next step is to design and build
or extended periods of daylight, will the assets required in a system. It requires looking within an individual asset, i.e., the
greatly affect the output of a high building of a new power plant, which may be a hybrid (integrated solar, engines, storage)
renewables power system. This will be or a single technology power plant, to identify the various sub-systems that need to be
balanced by fuel as a form of energy integrated to provide one functioning entity that can operate in a power system in the
storage with existing LNG infrastructure intended way. This step also requires understanding the values and operational and
and power-to-gas. maintenance profiles for customers, depending on the complexity of the power system
In addition to investing in and the number of energy sources to be integrated to create an optimal power system.
increasing flexibility, the transition to
a 100% renewable energy system also Serve
requires massive investments in new Serving seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of energy systems, including
capacity. As existing baseload capacity fully integrated assets and advanced software complete with value adding lifecycle
will be replaced by flexible thermal services for customers. This step also includes understanding the customers’ needs over
capacity, renewables and storage, the the lifecycle and how to optimise and maintain the existing asset portfolio of a power
intermittent nature of renewables will market operator.
require a large increase in generation As an energy system integrator, capable of modelling and defining optimal energy
capacity to sufficiently meet peak systems as well as integrating products and solutions to existing grid assets, Wärtsilä
demand as compared to traditional has the knowledge and competencies to facilitate the path to 100% renewables at the
baseload power plants. In an 80% country, community and customer levels. Furthermore, being a leading EPC and lifecycle
renewable energy system scenario, support provider, Wärtsilä provides support to customers with a combination of engine
assuming peak demand remains power plants, gas-to-power solutions, integrated solar PV, energy storage, integration and
constant, four times as much renewable lifecycle optimisation. For example, New Mexico in the USA is one of the best locations for
energy capacity is required to meet a 100% renewable energy system due to abundant wind and solar resources. Results from
demand compared to a 0% renewable Wärtsilä’s power system modelling for the optimised path from the current 10% renewables
system. Similarly, a 100% renewable energy system to a 100% renewables energy system, show a 954 MW increase in flexible
energy system requires five times the gas capacity and a 700 MW increase in energy storage compared to the current portfolio.

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