Techno-economic optimization of a zero emission energy system for a coastal community in Newfoundland, Canada

Abstract

Research into renewable hybridized PV/Wind/Hydro with pumped hydro storage (PHS) options is rarely investigated in the literature for meeting a community’s electricity demand in Newfoundland, Canada. The pumped hydro storage-based hybrid system is compared with the battery-based configurations. A detailed techno-economic and environmental potential of hybridized energy systems with the pumped hydro storage are examined over conventional battery storage and diesel-only systems. The study also investigates the effects of uncertainty of renewable resources, load data, and hydro resources on the sizing of the hybrid system.Results revealed that the study area has the potential renewable resources (PV/Wind/Hydro/PHS) for supplying electricity to the community at a significantly lower cost (0.136$/kWh) compared to the diesel-only system (0.355$/kWh). Moreover, the integration of the proposed hybrid system could save 344,106 litres of diesel and 910,459 kg CO2 annually. The study also indicates that PV/Wind/Hydro with the pumped hydro storage reduces the cost of energy and net present cost compared to the battery technology. The excess energy generation, unmet load, and capacity shortage are substantially higher in pumped hydro-based hybrid options than those of a battery-based hybrid option. Moreover, battery storage requires higher capital and operational investment than the pumped hydro-based system configurations. Additionally, integrating hydro into the PV/Wind/PHS option reduces the cost of energy by 58% compared to the PV/Wind/PHS alone.