Optimal Operation of an Integrated Energy Park Including Fossil Fuel Power Generation, CO2 Capture and Wind

Advisor

Louis Durlofsky
Adam R. Brandt

Abstract

This study considers the operation of an integrated energy park consisting of a baseload coal-fired power station, an MEA-based CO₂ capture facility powered by an auxiliary natural gas combustion turbine, and wind generation. Energy park components are modeled using energy and mass balances. A formal optimization procedure is used to determine the optimal hourly dispatch of energy park components to maximize operating profit given fuel prices, hourly electricity price, and hourly wind generation data. The optimization procedure enforces a daily CO₂ emission intensity constraint modeled after a California emission performance standard.

Idealized wind and energy price scenarios as well as scenarios from a synthetic year constructed from historical U.S. fuel prices, California electricity prices and Wyoming wind generation data are considered. Several different energy park configurations are studied. For the synthetic year, operating profit excluding maintenance costs for optimized dispatch schedules showed improvement of about 20% over that for schedules derived from a heuristic dispatch procedure. Statistical analysis of aggregate data for the synthetic year indicates that the benefit from optimization is positively correlated with daily electricity price variability and mean wind generation.

Taken in total, this study quantifies the benefit attainable through the flexible operation of an integrated energy park.