Simulation of an isolated system behavior at high RES penetration coupled with storage

Abstract The aim of the present work is to assess the overall benefits of applying electrical energy storage, especially to isolated grids, to harvest the underlying Renewable Energy Sources potential sustainably. One such case is Cyprus, where due to various technical constraints related to the isolated nature of the island’s electricity system, RES in the electricity sector can reach a maximum level assuming limited curtailments, as early as 2023–2024. To this end, simulations have been set up and run using the DISPA-SET tool to investigate the potential of new electricity storage facilities at effective accommodation of high Renewable Energy Technologies (RET) penetration, especially photovoltaics in the coming years. Results show that particularly in isolated grids, RET penetration has to be coupled with storage to avoid power curtailment and provide security to the whole system, reduce the energy not served and provide a long-term perspective for the decarbonaization in the electricity sector towards 2050 zero-emission targets.