Multi-Stage Expansion Planning for Decarbonizing Thermal Generation Supported Renewable Power Systems Using Hydrogen and Ammonia Storage

Large-scale centralized development of wind and solar energy and peer-to-grid transmission of renewable energy source (RES) via high voltage direct current (HVDC) has been regarded as one of the most promising ways to achieve goals of peak carbon and carbon neutrality in China. Traditionally, large-scale thermal generation is needed to economically support the load demand of HVDC with a given profile, which in turn raises concerns about carbon emissions. To address the issues above, hydrogen energy storage system (HESS) and ammonia energy storage system (AESS) are introduced to gradually replace thermal generation, which is represented as a multi-stage expansion planning (MSEP) problem. Specifically, first, HESS and AESS are established in the MSEP model with carbon emission reduction constraints, and yearly data with hourly time resolution are utilized for each stage to well describe the intermittence of RES. Then, a combined Dantzig-Wolfe decomposition (DWD) and column generation (CG) solution approach is proposed to efficiently solve the large-scale MSEP model. Finally, a real-life system in China is studied. The results indicate that HESS and AESS have the potential to handle the intermittence of RES, as well as the monthly imbalance between RES and load demand. Especially under the goal of carbon neutrality, the contribution of HESS and AESS in reducing levelized cost of energy (LCOE) reaches 12.28% and 14.59%, respectively, which finally leads to a LCOE of 0.4324 RMB/kWh.