Wind volatility deepens Europe’s dependence on gas flexibility

Wind volatility and gas flexibility is like a modern day love story… capricious, unpredictable, but they both need each other.

Wind speeds are displaying unusually volatile patterns this October, with lull periods followed by stormy episodes, especially in Northwest Europe, where most of wind powgen capacity is concentrated.

Flexible gas-fired power plants are playing a key role in accommodating these wild wind swings, by ramping-up and ramping down their generation, to ensure system integrity and electricity supply security.

The negative correlation between wind and gas-fired generation rose to 0.8 this October, highlighting their intimate increasingly intimate relationship, especially when wind patterns are becoming more capricious… and there is a need for a flexible partner.

The growing share of variable renewables is ultimately driving up the flexibility needs of our power systems and hence the volatility of gas-to-power demand.

These more variable patterns are also naturally supporting more short-term gas price volatility… which in turns requires more sophisticated trading and hedging strategies.

What is your view?

How will the wind-gas relationship evolve over the medium-term?

And what does this mean for gas-fired power plants?

How could be flexibility services better remunerated?

Source: Greg Molnár