Virtual Power Plant Implementation and Cost Minimization for Retail Industry

Abstract

The fossil-fuel based energy generation has many constraints, including the rising cost as well as the effects on the environment. The demand for implementing renewable energy, therefore, has risen. This paper proposes dealing with installing the battery capability system on retail sites by setting up a virtual power plant. It is preferable that the batteries are grid-connected and potentially linked to solar photovoltaic (PV). The virtual power plant with the grid-connected solar PV system will work towards meeting the changing load demands. Also, the paper considers utilizing the excess energy in the grid after meeting the load demand at the retail sites to operate ultra-fast charging points for the electric vehicles. It will charge the battery quicker in terms of the conventional battery charging structure. Three approaches have been considered, which are- grid-connected PV with battery storage system, grid-connected battery storage system without PV modules and just a battery storage system. Besides, future aspects of the paper, such as ultra-fast charging and Vehicle to Home (V2H) and Vehicle to Grid (V2G) technologies are also explored. This paper focused on the analysis and calculation of the installation cost which is estimated at around $ 25,000, annual savings of $ 2920 and payback period of the system is calculated to be around 9 years, which showed the feasibility of the virtual plant.