Mainstreaming renewable energy developments into traditional planning: a Sri Lanka case study

Abstract

This study examines the Sri Lankan generation planning practices and recommends several methodological changes and models to successfully integrate and evaluate Non-Conventional Renewable Energy (NCRE) resources in the present planning approaches. The paper proposes the peak period capacity factor method to calculate the capacity credit of NCRE generation. A methodology is presented to model a wind power plant in Wien Automatic System Planning Package IV (WASP IV) and also to evaluate the benefits of modeled NCRE plants. The Mean Variance Portfolio Theory (MVPT) is proposed as a complementary planning tool to assess the risks of generation portfolios and finally, these concepts are applied on the Sri Lankan system to demonstrate the applicability.