Hydropower Advantages over Batteries in Energy Storage of Off-Grid Systems: A Case Study

Prajwal S. M. Guruprasad, Emanuele Quaranta, Oscar E. Coronado-Hernández and Helena M. Ramos ()
Additional contact information
Prajwal S. M. Guruprasad: Energy Technologies Dual Degree Program, Instituto Superior Tecnico and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, CERIS at IST, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
Emanuele Quaranta: European Commission Joint Research Centre, 21027 Ispra, Italy
Oscar E. Coronado-Hernández: Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar, Cartagena 131001, Colombia
Helena M. Ramos: Civil Engineering Research and Innovation for Sustainability (CERIS), Instituto Superior Técnico, Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Environment, University of Lisbon, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 17, 1-28

Abstract: Microgrids are decentralized power production systems, where the energy production and consumption are very close to each other. Microgrids generally exploit renewable energy sources, encountering a problem of storage, as the power production from solar and wind is intermittent. This research presents a new integrated methodology and discusses a comparison of batteries and pumped storage hydropower (PSH) as energy storage systems with the integration of wind and solar PV energy sources, which are the major upcoming technologies in the renewable energy sector. We implemented the simulator and optimizer model (HOMER), which develops energy availability usage to obtain optimized renewable energy integration in the microgrid, showing its economic added value. Two scenarios are run with this model—one considers batteries as an energy storage technology and the other considers PSH—in order to obtain the best economic and technical results for the analyzed microgrid. The economic analysis showed a lower net present cost (NPC) and levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for the microgrid with PSH. The results showed that the microgrid with the storage of PSH was economical, with an NPC of 45.8 M€ and an LCOE of 0.379 €/kWh, in comparison with the scenario with batteries, which had an NPC of 95.2 M€ and an LCOE of 0.786 €/kWh. The role of storage was understood by differentiating the data into different seasons, using a Python model. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis was conducted by varying the capital cost multiplier of solar PV and wind turbines to obtain the best optimal economic solutions.

Keywords: hydropower; energy storage; pumped storage hydropower (PSH); batteries; net present cost (NPC); levelized cost of energy (LCOE); microgrids (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/17/6309/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/17/6309/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:17:p:6309-:d:1229146

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().