Flow tracing as a tool set for the analysis of networked large-scale renewable electricity systems

Abstract

The method of flow tracing follows the power flow from net-generating sources through the network to the net-consuming sinks, which allows to assign the usage of the underlying transmission infrastructure to the system participants. This article presents a reformulation that is applicable to arbitrary compositions of inflow appearing naturally in models of large-scale electricity systems with a high share of renewable power generation. We propose an application which allows to associate power flows on the grid to specific regions or generation technologies, and emphasizes the capability of this technique to disentangle the spatio-temporal patterns of physical imports and exports occurring in such systems. The analytical potential of this method is showcased for a scenario based on the IEEE 118 bus network.

Flow-Based Analysis of Storage Usage in a Low-Carbon European Electricity Scenario

“…In this context, the method of flow tracing has been shown to yield important insights. By following the path of partial power flows through the transmission network, this technique allows to connect the location of consumption with the location of generation, and to allocate power flows on transmission lines to exporters and importers [3], [4], [5]. It has been proposed for instance as a flow allocation method as part of the inter transmission system operator compensation (ITC) mechanism [6], or as the basis of a demand-side-oriented carbon emission allocation method [7].…”

Principal Cross-Border Flow Patterns in the European Electricity Markets

“…This matrix equation can be inverted, yielding the share of imports q n,m (t) in country n associated with an export from country m, calculated from the set of the nodal imports/exports p n (t) and flows f l (t) [9]. The associated value T n m = q n,m (t)p im n describes the country-to-country transfer, that is the amount of flow exported from country m through the power grid to the importing country n at time t.…”

Real-time carbon accounting method for the European electricity markets

“…Flow tracing has been proposed as the method for flow allocation in the Inter-Transmission System Operator Compensation mechanism for transit flows [20,21]. Recently, the method has been applied to various aspects of power system models to allocate transmission network usage [22,23], a generalization that allows associating power flows on the grid to specific regions or generation technologies [24], creating a flow-based nodal levelized cost of electricity [25], and analyzing the usage of different storage technologies [26]. The challenge of cross-border power flows in relation to carbon emission accounting has previously been studied in [6,11].…”