Optimal Photovoltaic/Wind Configuration of a Photovoltaic–Wind Turbine–Electric Heater–Concentrated Solar Power Integrated Energy System for Renewable Energy Curtailment Reduction

Large-scale renewable energy bases with high penetration of renewable energy are facing increasing challenges related to renewable energy curtailment. Concentrated solar power plants with thermal energy storage can provide dispatchable power output, while electric heaters offer a promising pathway for converting surplus renewable electricity into useful thermal energy. In this study, a photovoltaic–wind turbine–electric heater–concentrated solar power integrated energy system with a fixed CSP-EH configuration is investigated. The electric heater is introduced as the key electrical-thermal coupling device, which recovers otherwise curtailed photovoltaic and wind power and injects the converted thermal energy into the heat transfer fluid loop of the concentrated solar power plant. A mixed-integer linear programming model is developed to optimize the coordinated scheduling and evaluate different PV/wind capacity mixes under fixed CSP and electric-heater capacities. Results show that, under the fixed capacities of 100 MW concentrated solar power and 150 MW electric heater, the PV/wind capacity mix of 500 MW photovoltaic and 400 MW wind power achieves the best overall performance among the studied cases. Under different typical-day conditions, the electric heater recovers surplus renewable electricity, with recovery rates ranging from 16.06% to 20.21%. The proposed electric heater–concentrated solar power coupling mechanism transforms curtailed renewable electricity into dispatchable thermal energy, thereby reducing renewable energy curtailment, enhancing thermal-side flexibility, and improving the operating revenue of large-scale renewable energy bases under the studied PV/wind capacity-mix scenarios.