The increase share of non-dispatchable renewables envisaged in the generation mix of Europe requires conventional plants to take on additional tasks. A higher flexibility of natural gas fired Combined Cycle (CC) power plants, which are currently the backbone of EU electrical grid, has become mandatory. To increase the flexibility, and to further enhance turn-down ratio and power ramp capabilities of power-oriented CCs, an innovative concept based on the coupling of a highly efficient heat pump (HP) with CCs is proposed, featuring thermal storage and advanced control concept for smart scheduling. A preliminary analysis of this integrated system is performed, evaluating the feasibility and the economic sustainability, along with the economic competitiveness with actual Combined Heat and Power plants, based on the analysis of the Energy Market trend.
