Spatial autocorrelation of power grid instability in the context of electricity production from renewable energy sources in Polish regions

The basis for ensuring secure and economically efficient operation of the power supply system is proper planning of its operation in various time horizons. The priority is to cover consumer demand for power and electricity, taking into account the operating conditions of the network and generating units as well as the requirements of system operating security. This is not always successful, as grid instabilities may occur. Therefore, this paper presents spatial autocorrelation of power grid instability in the context of electricity production from renewable energy sources in Polish regions. The theoretical issues are presented based on an analysis of available source literature on power grids, electricity and renewable energy sources (RES). Research methods employed in the paper include: critical analysis of source literature and analysis of secondary data using Moran’s global statistics, Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient. The paper demonstrates spatial differentiation of causes underlying instability of power grids and, simultaneously, presents original research: spatial autocorrelation between the specific country’s regions. Additionally, the grid effect of the studied units (regions) was identified in the system of balancing flows in power grids (production and consumption of electricity). The analysis and evaluation carried out in the article indicate that there exists spatial autocorrelation of the examined variables. The issues outlined herein were not the subject of joint research in the Polish and foreign literature.