A review on the complementarity of renewable energy sources: Concept, metrics, application and future research directions

Abstract

It is expected, and regionally observed, that energy demand will soon be covered by a widespread deployment of renewable energy sources. However, the weather and climate driven energy sources are characterized by a significant spatial and temporal variability. One of the commonly mentioned solutions to overcome the mismatch between demand and supply provided by renewable generation is a hybridization of two or more energy sources in a single power station (like wind-solar, solar-hydro or solar-wind-hydro). The operation of hybrid energy sources is based on the complementary nature of renewable sources. Considering the growing importance of such systems and increasing number of research activities in this area this paper presents a comprehensive review of studies which investigated, analyzed, quantified and utilized the effect of temporal, spatial and spatiotemporal complementarity between renewable energy sources. The review starts with a brief overview of available research papers, formulates detailed definition of major concepts, summarizes current research directions and ends with prospective future research activities. The review provides a chronological and spatial information with regard to the studies on the complementarity concept.

An Image Processing-Based Method to Assess the Monthly Energetic Complementarity of Solar and Wind Energy in Colombia

“…It can take a range of values from +1 to −1, where, in the case of evaluating the energetic complementarity between two RES, a positive value indicates higher feasibility of joint use of both resources. From a set of points (x, y), the negative of the Pearson correlation coefficient R can be obtained in terms of the covariance σ as [9,14,50] , , / , , ,…”

“…From a set of points (x, y), the negative of the Pearson correlation coefficient R can be obtained in terms of the covariance σ as [9,14,50]…”

“…The results indicate that projects related to the joint use of solar and wind generation systems could be developed in these regions.Some solutions proposed in the literature to deal with the intermittent nature of the VRE sources are to use energy storage systems, oversize the renewable energy generation plants, use distributed generation systems and flexible consumers, or use two or more VRE sources, whose generations complement each other [7,8].In this regard, it is necessary to conduct energetic complementarity studies to evaluate the feasibility of the joint use of VRE sources, in a determined region in a specific time interval. The obtained results can be used for the analysis of the tradeoff between the storage and the cost of the energy from various VRE sources, and for the design of energy management strategies, which can increase the reliability of the system and help to reduce the electricity cost [9].The term energetic complementarity refers to the capacity of two or more energy sources to have complementary energy availabilities [10]. The energetic complementarity between two or more RES may occur in time, when the sources have generation periods that complement each other over the time in the same region, or in space, when the generation of the RES complement each other over a region, or even both.…”

“…In this regard, it is necessary to conduct energetic complementarity studies to evaluate the feasibility of the joint use of VRE sources, in a determined region in a specific time interval. The obtained results can be used for the analysis of the tradeoff between the storage and the cost of the energy from various VRE sources, and for the design of energy management strategies, which can increase the reliability of the system and help to reduce the electricity cost [9].…”

Dataset after Seven Years Simulating Hybrid Energy Systems with Homer Legacy

“…The article by During F o . et al (2018) study the influence of temporal complementarity in time [according to the concept of energetic complementarity discussed by Jurasz et al (2019)] on the energy storage in batteries in PV hydro hybrid systems, applying a specific method (Beluco, Souza & Krenzinger, 2012) appropriate for the analysis of hybrid systems based on complementary energy resources.…”