Abstract

China’s distinctive resource endowment, characterized by abundant coal, limited oil, and scarce gas, shapes the long-term development focus on coal power. However, the requirement for stable combustion imposes limitations on the deep peak-shaving flexibility of coal power. While previous studies have explored the technical feasibility of deep peak shaving for coal power, there is a scarcity of research addressing the delicate balance between the costs of flexibility retrofitting and the benefits of promoting renewable energy integration in power system. To this end, in this paper, we develop an optimal planning technology for the flexibility retrofitting of coal plants. The proposed technology employs a capacity expansion and dispatch model which formulate a flexibility retrofitting plan for coal-fired power plants and a configuration scheme for battery energy storage. Incorporating the proposed model and real-world data from power grid in Yunnan, China, we assess the decarbonization potential of coal fleet flexibility. The experimental results demonstrate that coal fleet flexibility effectively reduces renewable energy curtailment by 3.0% and decreases carbon emissions by more than 6 megatons compared to the coal fleet without retrofitting. Furthermore, the flexibility retrofitting of coal-fired power plants is projected to yield a 12.5% total cost reduction and a 11.1% decrease in coal power generation.