Active development of renewable energy sources (RES) is having an impact on the electrical loading conditions of all power plants within the energy system, since the amount of electricity produced by wind and solar power plants (WPP and SPP, respectively) varies and is difficult to predict in advance. Currently, it is taken as an axiom that both WPP and SPP produce no carbon dioxide footprint, and the increase in greenhouse gas emissions as a result of decreased fuel efficiency of thermal power plants is not taken into account. The change in carbon dioxide emissions as a result of an increase in the percentage of WPP and SPP within the energy system should be attributed to the carbon dioxide footprint of the RES. In this paper, the maximum possible values of electric power for WPPs, SPPs, and NPPs in the Unified Energy System (UES) of Russia are determined. Calculations were performed to reflect changes in fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions as a result of replacing efficient power generation by thermal power plants, operating during the basic part of the daily load schedule, with less efficient power generation by the peak-load thermal power plants. When replacing thermal power plants using natural gas as fuel, greenhouse gas emissions attributed to WPPs and SPPs will range from 295 to 718 g CO2/(kW ∙ h) for an RES-based plant capacity factor (PCF) of 30%. The CUF values for WPPs and SPPs were determined, at which the fuel consumption within the energy system will not change. When replacing combined heat and power generation (CHP) plants, it is necessary to consider an increase in greenhouse gas emissions within the heat and power generating system.
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Translated from Élektricheskie Stantsii, No. 5, May 2022, pp. 10 – 18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.34831/EP.2022.1093.8.002
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Beloborodov, S.S. Carbon Dioxide Footprint of Wind and Solar Power Plants. Power Technol Eng 56, 718–725 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10749-023-01580-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10749-023-01580-2