HU Jiahua, WEN Fushuan, MA Li, PENG Shengjiang,FAN Menghua,XU Haoliang
With the ever-increasing penetration of intermittent renewable energy generation, the operation flexibility of a given power system is more and more demanded. To address the issue of insufficient upward and downward ramping capability in real-time dispatch, flexible ramping product (FRP) has been proposed and initially implemented by some independent system operators (ISOs) in the United States as a new market design. The main function of FRP is to explore flexible capability from dispatchable resources so as to meet potential upward and downward ramping requirements, and thus to enhance power system operation flexibility for effectively responding to various operation conditions. The basic concepts and related subjects of power system operation flexibility are first clarified, and it is pointed out that the ability to maintain the balance between power supply and power demand at all time scales under credible complex scenarios is one of the important characteristics of strong operation flexibility. Besides, the impacts of high penetration of intermittent renewable energy generation on power system operation flexibility are examined. FRP is then introduced with the focuses on basic concepts, main characteristics, pricing mechanism and clearing models, and comparisons with the existing ancillary services are made as well. Furthermore, two case studies are served for demonstrating the implementation of FRP in enhancing power system operation flexibility. Finally, the current research status of FRP is outlined, and prospects on FRP-related subjects to be studied presented.