This research develops a new method for assessing Hybrid Power Plants (HPPs) profitability, combining wind and battery systems. It addresses the need for an efficient, accurate, and comprehensive operational model by approximating a state-of-the-art Energy Management System (EMS) for spot market power bidding using machine learning. The approach significantly reduces computational demands while maintaining high accuracy. It thus opens new possibilities in terms of optimizing the design of HPPs.

A methodology for an early design of hybrid power plants (wind, solar, PV, and Li-ion battery storage) consisting of a nested optimization that sizes the components and internal operation optimization. Traditional designs that minimize the levelized cost of energy give worse business cases and do not include storage. Optimal operation balances the increasing revenues and faster battery degradation. Battery degradation and replacement costs are needed to estimate the viability of hybrid projects.

This paper presents a comprehensive validation of time series produced by a mesoscale numerical weather model, a global reanalysis, and a wind atlas against observations by using a set of metrics that we present as requirements for wind energy integration studies. We perform a sensitivity analysis on the numerical weather model in multiple configurations, such as related to model grid spacing and nesting arrangements, to define the model setup that outperforms in various time series aspects.

Detailed wind generation simulations of the 2028 Belgian offshore fleet are performed in order to quantify the distribution and extremes of power fluctuations in several time windows. A model validation with respect to the operational data of the 2018 fleet shows that the methodology presented in this article is able to capture the distribution of wind power and its spatiotemporal characteristics. The results show that the standardized generation ramps are expected to be reduced in the future.

This research paper proposes a generic structure of electrical test benches and a novel categorization of test options for experimental analysis of wind turbines and wind power plants. The new proposed test structure would concern the increasing challenges in wind power integration and control including reliability, stability, harmonic interactions, and control performance of WPPs in connection to different types of AC and HVDC transmission systems.