Assessment of the influence of demand-side responses on high-proportion renewable energy system: An evidence of Qinghai, China

The development of renewable energy (RE) is a critical path to achieve global climate goals and energy conversion. The understanding of Demand-side response (DR) is crucial for the stability and efficiency of renewable energy system (RES). The DR strategies are performed by coordinating various energy sources and electricity demand optimally in the operation of high penetration of renewable generations across different seasons from 2015 to 2050 using Qinghai, China as an example. The results show the reduced peak demand by DR is various in different seasons, and the shifted peak demand will be 56.8 GWh-596.5 GWh in 2050. In general, DR could cause a significant reduction of the total costs by avoiding unnecessary installed capacity from ￥2.19 billion to ￥28.62 billion in 2050. In the short-term, the structure of high-proportion RES cannot rapidly adjust to a new form. However, in the long-term, hydropower will have a large share in RES due to the ability of improving the synergistic stability of the high-proportion RES. In addition, the adoption of DR demonstrates a great potential on reducing PV curtailment and wind curtailment.