Complementing hydroelectric power with floating solar PV for daytime peak electricity demand

Huzaifa Rauf, Muhammad Shuzub Gull and Naveed Arshad

Renewable Energy, 2020, vol. 162, issue C, 1227-1242

Abstract: Renewable energy is the cornerstone of our future energy needs. In particular, solar energy is being utilized at a faster pace than ever. Floating Solar Photovoltaics (FSPV) has recently gained traction as a suitable alternative of land-based large scale PV installation. It is a promising technology to utilize water surfaces for placing solar plants. Not only it utilizes the water as real estate but it has several other advantages as well. For example, FSPV can use the existing transmission and distribution infrastructure that is the part of hydroelectric power plants. In this paper, we evaluate an FSPV plant and its integration with the existing hydroelectric power station of a small reservoir in Pakistan. We have investigated the 500 kV, 132 kV and 11 kV voltage levels for the integration of FSPV plant. Moreover, we have devised a hydro-solar optimization model for the efficient utilization of energy. The combined system consisting of hydroelectric and 200 MWp FSPV produces more than 3.5% additional power overall when compared with production of only hydroelectric power. More importantly the FSPV generation coincides with the daily mid-day peak load thus works as a peaker plant for the national grid.

Keywords: Floating solar PV; Hydroelectric power; Optimization; Integration; Complementary operation; Peaking plant (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:162:y:2020:i:c:p:1227-1242

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2020.08.017

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