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Enhancing Renewable Energy Integration with Flexible Power Sources

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "F1: Electrical Power System".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 April 2026 | Viewed by 112

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Institute of Hydropower and Hydroinformatics, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116000, China
Interests: hydropower system operations; hydropower-dominated electricity market; complementarity of renewable energy sources; data-driven large-scale power system operations; impact of climate change on high-proportion renewable energy system
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The large-scale integration of variable renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, presents a critical challenge to the stability and reliability of modern power systems. The inherent intermittency and unpredictability of these energy sources create imbalances between electricity supply and demand. This underscores the urgent need for flexible power sources that can rapidly respond to these fluctuations. Technologies such as hydropower, pumped storage, grid-scale energy storage, other flexible power sources, and demand-side response are pivotal in mitigating the variability of renewables, ensuring grid stability, and preventing curtailment of clean energy.

This Special Issue aims to explore innovative methods and strategies to enhance power flexibility to support the grid integration of large-scale wind and solar power, as well as methodologies for conducting renewable energy integration analysis. We invite submissions covering a wide range of topics, including but not limited to the following key research directions:

1) Dispatching hydropower–wind–solar hybrid systems;

2) Quantifying the flexibility requirements of power systems;

3) Quantifying the flexibility capability of hydropower plants;

4) Analyzing the capability of new energy integration;

5) Pumped-storage renovation of conventional hydropower;

6) Methods for configuring new energy storage systems.

Prof. Dr. Jianjian Shen
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • wind power
  • solar power
  • hydropower
  • flexible power sources
  • renewable energy integration
  • power flexibility
  • hydropower–wind–solar coordination and operation
  • power flexibility quantification

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 4348 KB  
Article
Assessment and Operational Strategies for Renewable Energy Integration in the Northeast China Power Grid Using Long-Term Sequential Power Balance Simulation
by Xihai Guo, Linsong Ge, Xiangyu Ma and Jianjian Shen
Energies 2026, 19(1), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19010093 (registering DOI) - 24 Dec 2025
Abstract
The rapid development of renewable energy has highlighted the issue of its accommodation, which has become a critical challenge for power grids with high renewable energy penetration. Accurately assessing a grid’s renewable energy accommodation capability is essential for ensuring power grid operational security, [...] Read more.
The rapid development of renewable energy has highlighted the issue of its accommodation, which has become a critical challenge for power grids with high renewable energy penetration. Accurately assessing a grid’s renewable energy accommodation capability is essential for ensuring power grid operational security, as well as for the rational planning and efficient operation of renewable energy sources and adjustable power resources. This paper adopts a long-term chronological power balance simulation approach, integrating the dynamic balance among multiple types of power sources, loads, and outbound transmission. Dispatch schemes suitable for different types of power sources, including hydropower, thermal power, wind power, solar power, and nuclear power, were designed based on their operational characteristics. Key operational constraints, such as output limits, staged water levels, pumping/generation modes of pumped storage, and nuclear power regulation duration, were considered. A refined analysis model for renewable energy accommodation in regional power grids was constructed, aiming to maximize the total accommodated renewable energy electricity. Using actual data from the Northeast China Power Grid in 2024, the model was validated, showing results largely consistent with actual accommodation conditions. Analysis based on next-year forecast data indicated that the renewable energy utilization rate is expected to decline to 90.6%, with the proportion of curtailment due to insufficient peaking capacity and grid constraints expanding to 8:2. Sensitivity analysis revealed a clear correlation between the renewable energy utilization rate and the scale of newly installed renewable capacity and energy storage. It is recommended to control the expansion of new renewable energy installations while increasing the construction of flexible power sources such as pumped storage and other energy storage technologies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Enhancing Renewable Energy Integration with Flexible Power Sources)
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