Abstract Hydropower offers both regulation and scale advantages that can respond to the substantial grid flexibility requirements arising from the integration of variable renewable energy (VRE). However, its short‐term regulatory capability heavily depends on long‐term operating rules, which largely overlook short‐term grid flexibility needs. This study proposes a novel method for deriving operating rules of hydro‐wind‐solar complementary systems (HWPCS) that accounts for short‐term flexible power allocation in different months. Typical historical hydropower output curves, along with peak capacity and peak duration, are initially used to quantify grid flexibility demands. Under grid demand constraints, a short‐term simulation model is developed to generate feasible hydropower output intervals and peak‐shaving electricity curves, which capture the responsiveness of long‐term generation to short‐term power fluctuations. Finally, a multi‐objective optimization model is formulated to simultaneously maximize energy production and regulation capability, subject to hydropower output interval constraints, thereby deriving optimal long‐term operating rules. A practical engineering cases demonstrate that: (a) The system's regulation capability is most effective when hydropower generation is maintained at around 50% of installed capacity, with a wind‐dominant mix calling for even higher optimal output; (b) The overall regulation capability of the system improves by 30.2%, while the grid demand deficit drops by 12%. Wet‐year conditions further amplify this advantage; and (c) Extending peak‐shaving durations will reduce overall benefits, though the marginal impact decreases with peak duration. These findings highlight the potential of HWPCS to improve system flexibility and support large‐scale VRE integration.
Lin et al. (Sun,) studied this question.
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