energy from solar and hydro power - battery energy storage system

I am a mechanical engineer and have lived in Malaysia for more than 30 years and have been involved in many Tenaga Nasional Bhd power projects.
I was employed by TNB at the end of 1980 and have been working for other local companies since then, and am currently a consultant for power plant insurance investigation and accident investigation in the area.
The current focus is on the use of renewable energy to generate electricity in order to avoid the use of fossil fuels and reduce the carbon footprint of the power generation industry.
Renewable energy plants are dependent on natural weaknesses and therefore do not have continuous availability, so their use must be designed to overcome these natural effects of no wind, no day, and so on.
My following ideas provide a potential solution for making photovoltaic power plants a more practical and reliable renewable energy source.
Traditional power stations are theoretically determined by the cost of three determinants-the cost of supplying power to the load center, the cost of supply and the infrastructure of the fuel supply, and the supply of cooling water.
The load center is the industrial and household electrical demand of factories and residential quarters, and the system cost of power supply from power stations by transmission lines and substations will be determined by the land acquisition cost and the distance from the load center to the power station.
The cost of fuel supply is equal, whether it is natural gas or oil supplied through pipelines and pumping stations, or coal transported by barge to coastal docks and to power stations by conveyor or truck.
The quantity of cooling water supply will depend on the type of power station and the practicality of the potential location of the power station.
The supply of cooling water is preferably from the ocean or river, but in the case of proximity to these sources, the remaining option is a cooling tower or an air/water heat exchanger.
The cost of these determinants is priced and mathematical optimization will determine the minimum cost option for a potential location.
Other considerations may go beyond purely technical aspects.
Considerations such as land acquisition and development zones can change the position of the ideal minimum cost option.
In a sunny country like Malaysia, photovoltaic power stations can be found almost anywhere.
However, due to the cost of the transmission line to the load center, approaching the load center will be a major consideration.
Similar considerations will apply for wind power, but Malaysia will only receive a lot of wind before the storm.
The main disadvantages of photovoltaic are (PV)
Power supply is the continuity of its power supply.
If there is no sun, there is no power.
In order to obtain a reliable, constant power supply from a photovoltaic power station, a backup power supply must be installed in the absence of sunlight or in the absence of a power supply at night.
Another option to maintain continuity of supply is to store energy, such as the battery system.
Another disadvantage of the photovoltaic power station is its power output compared to the main power station.
The largest photovoltaic power station is about 50 MW, the capacity of the main power station in Malaysia is far more than 1,000 MW, and the generator set is about 300-500MW.
Therefore, the matching, balanced output of smaller power stations becomes less easy.
The use of renewable energy is a noble goal, but additional power generation capacity must be installed as a backup to maintain continuous power supply, which increases the cost of capital for installation, thus reducing the idle power generation system of the overall backup plant of power.
If the backup plant or battery storage is included in the overall operating cost, the cost of renewable energy does not seem to be that favorable.
One way to overcome this disadvantage is to install photovoltaic power stations next to existing traditional power stations that can be used for post-up.
Or install photovoltaic cells in power station buildings.
The building area of the power station is very large and can be used.
However, this means that when the sun is shining, the existing power stations are at a disadvantage due to reduced output, thus providing preferential power generation for photovoltaic power stations.
Therefore, the operating efficiency of traditional power stations is reduced from its optimal level.
However, this arrangement has an advantage-the power outlet of the photovoltaic plant can take advantage of the transmission lines of the existing power station, thus reducing the capital cost of the photovoltaic plant.
This arrangement will provide preferential treatment for photovoltaic power stations, and in a competitive environment, traditional power stations will foul unless some compensation is given.
An interesting change to the above solution is to position the photovoltaic power station next to a hydropower station with a reservoir.
TNB typically operates hydropower stations to save water and maintain water storage for emergencies and peak cuts.
The hydro power plant can generate electricity in a few minutes.
Depending on the size and type and readiness, it will take a few hours for a traditional power station to be fully loaded.
Hydropower plants are in standby state at different times and do not generate electricity.
Therefore, the transmission line from the hydraulic power plant to the load center is less-utilised.
There is a photovoltaic plant next to the hydropower plant, and the transmission line can be used for the output of the photovoltaic plant.
One obvious advantage of this arrangement is to assume that there is no sun when it rains and vice versa.
When the sun shines, the photovoltaic plant provides power generation. when it rains, the hydropower plant can generate power.
Hydropower stations are usually located in rural areas, with a wide coverage of reservoir dams, and most of them do not have production capacity.
This large area of water and surrounding environment can be covered by photovoltaic cells to provide the output of photovoltaic power plants.
A major drawback of the photovoltaic power generation method is that it is only available when the sun shines (
Or enough solar radiation).
If renewable energy is to be considered as a reliable continuous source of electrical energy, it must be associated with energy storage or
Power up.
Battery storage is a common solution for the back
Increase energy sources, but the amount of energy stored in supporting photovoltaic plants will be very large for a period of time.
Another form of energy storage is the pumped storage system, which consists of two reservoirs-one at a high level and the other at a low level.
When there is excess electricity generated, electricity is used to pump water from a lower water level to a higher reservoir.
When there is a shortage of power generation, water from higher reservoirs is used for power generation.
The turbines used are reversible, that is, they can generate electricity and pump water.
This method of pumped storage has been adopted in some countries.
Combined with the pumped storage scheme, the photovoltaic power station can be regarded as a continuous power supply, thus eliminating some shortcomings of the solar power station.
Another advantage of connecting a photovoltaic plant to a hydropower station is that some electrical AIDS will be of similar size to smaller hydropower stations.
These plants will have generators in the range of 50 mw, so step-
The Up transformer and switch equipment are similar in size and can share maintenance procedures and spare parts.
I think this is a concept worth thinking about further.