Simulation and analysis of a stand-alone solar-wind and pumped-storage hydropower plant

This work presents the simulation and evaluation of a renewable hybrid power plant for off-grid fully autonomous operation on an intermediate-sized island in the Aegean Sea. A stand-alone energy system including storage facilities is simulated, optimized and analyzed relying on real-case weather and demand data of a relatively large remote community. Optimization of the power plant structure shows that to ensure continuous off-grid energy generation, even under extreme conditions, the combination of more than one renewable technology is required. The hybrid power plant consists of a pumped-storage hydropower plant, photovoltaic cells and wind turbines. Energy surplus of the power plant is used in the incorporated electrolyzer to generate a secondary product, hydrogen. Robust operation of the plant results in 48% of the energy generated stemming from the photovoltaic system and 52% from the wind turbines. The pumped-storage hydropower plant has a mean annual power output of 1.0 MW. The total mean annual efficiency of the hybrid plant is found to be 14.4%. Although stand-alone operation was achieved with the proposed plant, this requirement led to net energy output restrictions, capacity oversizing and large storage facilities. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simulation and analysis of a stand-alone solar-wind and pumped-storage hydropower plant Articles