Management of renewable generation plants: Imbalance costs and local storage systems

Unpredictable renewable energy sources have recently increased their presence in electrical networks. Their penetration level could cause increased energy imbalances due to the difficulties in planning correct injection schedules. In Italy a novel resolution with regard to imbalance costs for generating plants, including renewables, has been released. In this paper the economic impact of this resolution is analyzed even if it was recently abrogated. A real wind power plant in combination with an energy storage system is studied. The paper investigates the imbalance costs or revenues for renewable power plant owners with or without energy storage systems having different sizes. A new managing approach with real-time zonal market status knowledge is also discussed.