Portfolio strategies for renewable energy share maximization

One of the major problems related to the use of renewable energy sources (RES) relies in the mismatching between renewable energy production and consumption curves. With reference to this problem, it is interesting to note that as wind blows differently in different sites, wind-based productions are differentiated in their production timing. The aim of this position paper is to show that these differences, when properly considered, can be useful for reducing the differences between RES production and energy consumption, thus to maximize the share of RES. The way these differences can be used for optimizing the hourly profile come from finance, where portfolio selection techniques are used, in the aim of combining some risky assets, so to obtain a more stable trend for the whole portfolio. Evidently, when dealing with energy, this strategy must be adapted, as in this case the goal is not a stabilization of results, but the production adaptation to the consumption request. In this way, the contribution of production from renewable sources can be effectively increased: in a test on the Sardinia region, in Italy, on the average hourly profile, we verified that the RES production actual characteristics only allows for a theoretical maximum coverage of 79% while it can go to 94% if the whole production were reorganized on the base of each plant production curves, based on the same techniques coming from finance, and adequately adapted.