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Concept
Dispatchable generation
Summary
Dispatchable generation refers to sources of electricity that can be programmed on demand at the request of power grid operators, according to market needs. Dispatchable generators may adjust their power output according to an order.
Non-dispatchable renewable energy sources such as wind power and solar photovoltaic (PV) power cannot be controlled by operators.
Other types of renewable energy that are dispatchable without separate energy storage are hydroelectric, biomass, geothermal and ocean thermal energy conversion.
Dispatchable plants have varying startup times.
The fastest plants to dispatch are grid batteries which can dispatch in milliseconds. Hydroelectric power plants can often dispatch in tens of seconds to minutes and natural gas power plants can generally dispatch in tens of minutes.
For example, the 1,728 MW Dinorwig pumped storage power plant can reach full output in 16 seconds.
Gas turbine (Brayton cycle) thermal plants require around 15-30 minutes to startup.
Coal and nuclear thermal plants based on steam turbines (Rankine cycle) are dispatchable sources that require hours to startup.
The primary benefits of dispatchable power plants include:
providing spinning reserve (frequency control)
balancing the electric power system (load following)
optimizing economic generation dispatch (merit order)
contributing to clearing grid congestion (redispatch)
These capabilities of dispatchable generators allow:
Load matching - slow changes in power demand between, for example, night and day, require changes in supply too, as the system needs to be balanced at all times (see also Electricity).
Peak matching - short periods of time during which demand exceeds the output of load matching plants; generation capable of satisfying these peaks in demand is implemented through quick deployment of dispatchable sources.
Lead-in times - periods during which an alternative source is employed to supplement the lead time required by large coal or natural gas fueled plants to reach full output; these alternative power sources can be deployed in a matter of seconds or minutes to adapt to rapid shocks in demand or supply that cannot be satisfied by peak matching generators.
Official source
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