Integrated Natural Gas, Heat, and Power Dispatch Considering Wind Power and Power-to-Gas

A large amount of wind power has to be curtailed due to the inflexibility of the combined heat and power (CHP) system in the heating season in northern China. The power-to-gas (P2G) technology, which uses electricity to produce hydrogen or synthetic natural gas, has become a promising energy conversion option for the utilization of surplus power energy. In this paper, an integrated natural gas, heat, and power dispatch (INGHPD) model which balances natural gas, heat, and power demand considering wind power and a P2G unit, is proposed. A natural gas network and P2G are modeled and integrated into the dispatch model. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model, an integrated energy system consisting of a six-bus power system, a six-node natural gas system, and a district heating system is simulated. The benefits of P2G are investigated in terms of reducing wind power curtailment, as well as system operation cost and CO2 emissions. The results in the deterministic model show that with the introduction of 40 MW P2G, the wind power curtailment rate decreases from 24.0% to 9.7%. The daily wind power energy consumed by P2G reaches 256 MWh and the daily CO2 emissions reduction reaches 46,080 kg. Additionally, the impact of the power and heat demand on the gas production of P2G and of the P2G capacity on the wind power curtailment are also investigated. P2G tends to generate more natural gas when the power demand is low and the heat demand is high.