Deployment a hybrid renewable energy system for enhancing power generation and reducing water evaporation of a dam

Abstract

In recent years, repetitive electricity outages, and water crisis have caused major problems in Iran. Moreover, air pollution is a serious problem that Iran is facing, especially in provinces such as Tehran, Khuzestan, Markazi, etc. In this study, a grid-connected Hybrid system consisting Hydropower turbine of Karun-3 dam in Khuzestan, and floating solar photovoice (FSPV) is proposed to cover 5% of the electrical demand of Khuzestan province during peak hours. This system can increase the stability of the system and prevent outages, reduce the water usage for energy production, reduce the evaporation, and reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As was anticipated, the proposed system produced a huge amount of electrical energy during peak hours, and the excess energy was used to pump the water back to the dam reservoir. Utilizing this idea could prevent the use of valuable water for energy production. The economic analysis represents the cost of energy (COE), and net present cost (NPC) of 0.0596 $/kWh and 1.66 B$, respectively. The required FSPV covers 1.16 km2 of the reservoir, and reduced 1.97% of the evaporation, preventing emitting almost 5 million tons of GHG per year. According to the results, increasing the FSPV capacity reduced the COE and evaporation and increased the NPC. Therefore, utilizing a system containing FSPV and the total hydropower capacity of the country to cover 5% of the peak load of Iran resulted in a COE of 0.0218 $/kWh, NPC of 32 B$, and reduced the evaporation to 41.68%. Also, replacing old power plants using the proposed system needs an investment cost of 616 M$, which is much higher than fossil fuel plants. While, the annual costs of the hybrid system are 37% lower than fossil fuel plants, which makes the hybrid system economically justifiable, in 20 years.