Energy generation expansion planning model considering emissions constraints

Abstract

The generation expansion planning (GEP) problem consists in determining the type of technology, size, location and time at which new generation units must be integrated to the system, over a given planning horizon, to satisfy the forecasted energy demand. Over the past few years, due to an increasing awareness of environmental issues, different approaches to solve the GEP problem have included some sort of environmental policy, typically based on emission constraints. This paper presents a linear model in a dynamic version to solve the GEP problem. The main difference between the proposed model and most of the works presented in the specialized literature is the way the environmental policy is envisaged. Such policy includes: i) the taxation of CO2 emissions, ii) an annual Emissions Reduction Rate (ERR) in the overall system, and iii) the gradual retirement of old inefficient generation plants. The proposed model is applied in an 11region to design the most costeffective and sustainable 10technology US energy portfolio for the next 20 years.