Hybrid power system for effective utilization of natural energy resources

Abstract

An evaluation on the technoeconomic assessment of a hybrid solar-geothermal power plant is performed taking into account the geothermal and solar energy resources available at Tendaho -1 (Dubti) geothermal site in Ethiopia. A hybrid power plant in which a single-flash geothermal power plant integrated with a parabolic trough concentrated solar power system is used as a base for the technoeconomic analysis. The technoeconomic performance of the hybrid system was compared with a power generation system composed of stand-alone solar and geothermal power plants. Results showed that the that by combining the solar and geothermal energies, in hybrid power system it is possible to generate 10.4% more electricity than it would be generated by two-stand-alone power plants. Moreover, the economic figure of merit values is found to be 3.42 and 2.62 for the hybrid power plant with and without TES respectively. This mean that the specific cost of utilizing the solar energy in the hybrid power system is lower by 70.5% and 61.5% than the specific cost of utilizing the solar energy in stand-alone solar power plant.