Optimal planning of distributed photovoltaic generation for the traction power supply system of high-speed railway

Abstract

The ever-increasing electricity price and energy consumption in high-speed railway industry push railway companies to seek a promising way to realize their sustainable developments. Making full use of the solar resource along with high-speed railways can be a potential solution to cut the electricity bill, bring more profit to railway companies and realize the decarbonization of high-speed railway industry. This paper studies the optimal planning of distributed photovoltaic generation (DPVG) and energy storage system (ESS) for the traction power supply system (TPSS) of high-speed railway. A quantitative method is proposed to study the time and space characteristics of photovoltaic generation and electricity demand of high-speed trains. An integrated cost-benefit analysis framework is developed to evaluate the effect of DPVG and ESS on the economy of TPSS. To derive the optimal planning scheme and energy management strategy of DPVG and ESS, a mathematical programming model with the objective of minimizing the total cost is proposed to seek the most economical solution. A hybrid global optimal solution approach is developed to solve the model. A real-world case of Beijing-Baoding high-speed railway in China is used to illustrate the capability and characteristics of the proposed model. The computational results show that DPVG is able to supply 32.5% electricity demand of high-speed trains. The integration of DPVG and ESS can help railway company save 4.2 million CNY each year in Beijing-Baoding high-speed railway. This paper demonstrates the potential and applicability of DPVG and ESS in high-speed railway industry.