Electrical Energy Generation Research Articles

An enumerative analysis of major power blackouts in Asian region in the last two decades

Power System represents an interconnected network, where generation, transmission and distribution of electrical energy takes place. They are complex systems constituting various components like synchronous generators, motors, transformers, circuit breakers, transmission lines etc. A power system is required to operate in a reliable manner, thus providing continuous power supply of good quality. This requires the power system to be stable. Blackouts can occur due to equipment failure, human errors, natural disasters, overloading / imbalance, cyber-attacks, lack of redundancy etc. When they act in a combined manner/ if one of those issues lead to the other issue, widespread and long - lasting blackouts happen. Severities of the blackouts depend on geographical extent, duration of its existence, financial repercussions, and initial services being broken, public safety. This paper discusses the major blackouts that have occurred in the Asian region, in the last two decades, along with their causes and consequences.

Exergy Analysis of Waste-to-Energy Technologies for Municipal Solid Waste Management

In recent years, there have been increasing concerns over the detrimental effects of irreversible linear patterns of material and energy consumption, which have led to an enormous generation of municipal solid waste (MSW). Concepts like waste-to-energy (WtE) and recycling have gained increasing recognition and support as responses to these challenges. This study assessed the exergetic potential of four WtE technologies (landfill gas-to-energy, anaerobic digestion, incineration, and plasma gasification) in the context of the MSW characteristics of Maiduguri, Borno State. The population of Maiduguri, waste generation rate, waste composition, and the ultimate and proximate analysis of the MSW were used for the assessment. Exergetic potential in the form of electrical energy generation and three exergy-based indicators (exergy efficiency, exergy defect, and improvement potential) were evaluated for each WtE option. The results reveal that anaerobic digestion and plasma gasification are viable options based on the exergetic potential and the measured exergy performance indicators. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and waste management authorities, facilitating informed decisions to address environmental concerns and promote resource-efficient urban development in Maiduguri and similar regions.

Application of Photovoltaic Panels as Producers of Electrical Energy With IoT Technology Based on Programmable Logic Controller

The process of converting solar cell electrical energy is a form of utilizing environmentally friendly alternative energy sources (renewable energy). The conversion system is in the form of PV panels that are installed in a location exposed to sunlight and unobstructed. Monitoring is carried out when the sun shines from morning to evening. The location of the panel is in the vehicle parking lot of the engineering faculty, while monitoring is carried out in the Control Laboratory of the Tanjungpura University Engineering Faculty, which is 300 meters away. Factors that determine the quality of PV panels are the system and dimensions. This shows that fluctuations in current (I), voltage (V) and power (P) need to be controlled so that load distribution and reserves can prevent reduced energy generation. Observation and control using Long Range Area (LoRa) radio transmission media connections, Internet of Things (IoT) and Programmable Logical Control (PLC) in real-time. Observation and test results show that energy generation has experienced an increase in temperature which has an impact on reducing power. Meanwhile, the effect of the distance between the installed panels produces an average delay of 7 milliseconds (midday conditions). Meanwhile, the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) value for data transmission is 30 dBm at the device frequency of 868.125 MHz. Baud rate 2400-9600 bps with a speed of 0.3 bps – 62.5 Kbps. The application of this system is a research novelty because it can determine and control the generation of electrical energy at minimum, maximum and optimum conditions with a certain distance between the observer and the installed panel.

Reinvestigating the EKC hypothesis: Does renewable energy in power generation reduce carbon emissions and ecological footprint?

For a developing nation such as Malaysia with a significant reliance on fossil fuels for electricity, understanding the environmental consequences of this dependency is crucial. Thus, this study utilizes the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) method to explore the impact of electricity intensity (EINT), renewable energy in electricity generation (ERE), and gross domestic product (GDP) on Malaysia's environmental quality, from 1985 to 2020. By using carbon emissions (CO2 emissions) and ecological footprint (EF) as proxies, the study finds a significant long-run impact of these factors on environmental degradation. Notably, the study also observed an inverted U-shaped relationship between GDP and environmental degradation, validating the existence of Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. The findings also imply that while electricity intensity is associated with increased emissions, the use of renewable energy (RE) sources for electricity generation may contribute to emission reduction. But the results for both variables show reversal signs on EF. The study's adoption of the fully ordinary least square (FMOLS) method reinforces the same results, thus, justifying the cointegrating relationship between studied variables. Drawing from these outcomes, the study advocates for a comprehensive approach to renewable energy management, emphasizing both its utilization and waste in order to improve ecological footprint. Moreover, the pressing need to enact legislation on energy efficiency and conservation is crucial in ensuring decoupling and securing sustainable development in Malaysia.

Coordinated Control Strategy Based on Virtual Synchronous Generator Technology in New Energy System

The innovative system control strategy of chemical energy-based virtual synchronous generator technology combines the principles of energy storage and virtual synchronous generator techniques to achieve stable generation and transmission of electrical energy. With the increasing integration of new energy sources into the grid, the existing grid-connected inverters utilizing direct current control struggle to effectively regulate the load fluctuations of the grid. In this paper, a mathematical model is established that includes both the energy storage system and the integration of new energy sources. By integrating optimal coordination control theory with coordinated control regulations, a coordinated control regime is developed, including the design of a damping controller. Additionally, a control strategy based on communication delay is employed to ensure active involvement of the rectifier side of the direct current transmission line at the appropriate timing. Analysis reveals that as the power of the direct current transmission line increases, the coupling between the virtual synchronous generator and direct current transmission becomes stronger within specific frequency bands, which may lead to subsynchronous oscillations and result in system instability. Compared to traditional control strategies, the proposed chemical energy-based virtual synchronous generator technology presented in this paper effectively resolves the coupling challenges within specific frequency bands, suppresses subsynchronous oscillations, exhibits improved robustness, and allows the system to more flexibly respond to complex load fluctuations and new energy source fluctuations.

Short-Term Electrical Energy Demand Forecasting Using Fuzzy Logic Technique

Minimization of electrical energy wastage and provision of its regular supply make electrical load forecasting an important aspect of the power infrastructure. An accurate load forecasting is crucial for the reduction of the cost of electrical energy generation and spinning reserve capacity. Therefore, in this study, fuzzy logic (FL) technique was employed for the projection of electrical energy demand on short-term basis. The FL model was trained using the six months hourly load and temperature data respectively obtained from 132/33 kV Ikeja West Transmission Station, Ayobo and Nigerian Meteorological Agency, Oshodi, Lagos State, Nigeria. Triangular and trapezoidal membership functions (MFs) were used in the training of the model with Mamdani fuzzy inference system. The time, load and temperature inputs were fuzzified into six, four and three MFs respectively while the fuzzification process used 25 fuzzy rule bases. The centroid method of defuzzification was used to change the results into readable values. The adequacy of the FL model was determined using five metrics including mean square error (MSE), mean absolute error (MAE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), chi square (χ2) and F- test. The obtained results revealed that the FL model developed excelled in all the five tests of adequacy considered with MSE, MAE, MAPE, χ2 and F-test values of 4.17, 6.74, 11.51%, 7.93 and 1.27 respectively and hence, performed satisfactorily. This work established that the fuzzy logic approach is appropriate for electrical load projection on short-term basis.

Dynamic effect of disaggregated level electricity generation on residential carbon emissions: Daily inference from the largest EU economies

This study examines the dynamic effects of electricity generation (EG) on CO2 emissions from the residential sector. The study focuses on the EU-4 countries (Germany, Spain, France, and Italy), considers residential CO2 emissions as the dependent variable, and includes disaggregated level fossil and renewable EG as explanatory variables. In this context, the study runs nonlinear quantile-on-quantile (QQ) regression and Granger causality in quantiles (GQ) as the main models with daily data from January 2, 2019, to March 10, 2023, while quantile regression (QR) is used for robustness check. The findings present that in terms of CO2 emissions: (i) EG from coal, natural gas, and oil has a stimulating effect at higher quantiles in all countries; (ii) EG from hydro has an increasing effect at higher quantiles, while it has a decreasing effect at lower and middle quantiles in all countries except France; (iii) EG from solar has a dampening effect at higher quantiles in all countries except France; (iv) EG from wind has a declining effect at higher quantiles in both Spain and France; (v) both fossil and renewable energy EG have a causal effect on residential sector CO2 emissions at the disaggregated level except at some quantiles. Overall, the effect size and the causal effect of EG on CO2 emissions change for quantiles, countries, and EG sources. Therefore, the study proposes to rely on the specific EG sources for Germany and Italy (solar energy), Spain, and France (wind energy) to mitigate climate change by reducing residential CO2 emissions.

Application of the SMAP monthly model to the Piauitinga river basin located in the State of Sergipe, Brazil

The generation of flow data allows the assessment of the capacity to meet water demands, predict floods, and estimate the potential for hydraulic exploitation for electrical energy generation. In Brazil, precipitation data series, due to their ease of measurement, are more extensive compared to flow data series, enabling the use of hydrological models called rainfall-runoff models capable of estimating flows from precipitation data. Therefore, utilizing the Brazil Gridded Meteorological Data (BR-DWGD) database, this study aims to generate, calibrate, and validate flow data for the Piauitinga river basin located in the state of Sergipe, Brazil, using the monthly rainfall-runoff SMAP model. The soil parameters considered in the validation for the studied region showed a good fit to the observed data, achieving a Nash-Sutcliffe (NS) of 84% and log-Nash-Sutcliffe (NSLog) of 85% in calibration, and Nash-Sutcliffe (NS) of 70% and a log-Nash-Sutcliffe (NSLog) of 80% in validation. Therefore, since the rainfall-runoff model used exhibited good performance for the studied hydrographic basin, it becomes feasible to use the generated synthetic series to fill possible gaps in the historical series of monthly average flows.

Photosvaltable Characteristics Monitoring System Using the Internet of Things (IOT)


 
 
 
 Continuous monitoring of solar panel performance is essential to ensure effective and efficient generation of electrical energy. Developing a monitoring system such as an I-V characteristic curve tracker enables real-time monitoring and identification of potential problems or efficiency improvements. The system utilizes a circuit switching system for accurate and continuous measurement, providing insight into how the solar panel responds to changing environmental and load conditions. The data recorded by temperature, light intensity, current, and voltage sensors on the solar panel provides valuable information about its condition and the environmental factors affecting it. Utilizing IoT technology allows real-time monitoring of the data, accessible via a web page and presented graphically. The data is also stored in Excel format for further analysis, so users can access and monitor continuously as long as they are connected to the internet. From the experimental results, the Voc of the solar panel ranged from 18.7 V to 20.42 V, and Isc between 0.0727 A to 0.2145 A, which were tested under solar irradiation ranging from 100 to 500 W/m². This research demonstrates the importance of continuous monitoring and the effectiveness of the developed monitoring system in providing real-time data for analysis and optimization of solar panel performance. The system has been tested to meet the IEC No. 13B-23 standard for accuracy classes 0.2 and 0.5. A comparison between manual testing and sensor testing shows that despite the difference in accuracy levels, the sensor measurements have a relatively low average error (1.04% for voltage and 0.64% for current) compared to manual measurements, indicating that the sensor is reliable in providing accurate data. This demonstrates the reliability and effectiveness of using the sensor in the solar panel characteristics monitoring system.
 
 
 

Exploring the capacity and economic viability of green hydrogen production by utilising surplus energy from wind farms and small hydropower plants in Southern Brazil

This study seeks to estimate the potential hydrogen production from the remaining energy in the small hydropower plants (SHPs). SHPs are plants with a reservoir of three-square miles and an installed capacity between 1 and 30 MW and wind plants in the south of Brazil. Subsequently, to evaluate the generation of chemical and electrical energy and the amount of stored hydrogen and to determine possible applications in the transport sector and its injection into the natural gas network of the regional mesh. Moreover, scenarios 1 and 2 represented 5% and 3% of the surplus power for hydrogen production. The results indicated that green hydrogen production from the remaining energy in the small hydroelectric and wind power plants proved viable. There was an average potential of 5.95 MNm3/day in SHPs and 7.66 MNm3/day in wind farms. Furthermore, the wind farms could generate an average of 16,000 MWh/day through H2 production, while the SHPs have the potential to produce an average of 9340 MWh/day. Further, the proposed scenarios were economically viable since the profit estimated ranged from 27.13 to 617.92 U$/kg in wind farms and from 162.87 to 342.42 U$/kg in SHPs.

Preliminary Experimental Study of Herbal Electrolyte for Future Green Battery

Batteries are turned into one of the widely used energy source in our day-to day life which relies on the electrochemical dynamics and interaction among the electrolyte and electrodes. An electrolyte is important component of battery to decide the transfers ions back and forth between two electrodes which results electrical energy generation. However, electrolytes used in the conventional batteries are very hazardous due to release of toxic chemicals in the environment which affects the growth of plants and aquatic life. Therefore, it becomes clear that the chemical electrolyte system could no longer be required in future and design and characterization of alternative electrolyte is very important. The new electrolyte concepts hold the important metrices of any battery, higher safety, lower cost, and better cycle time. In the present paper we have carried out the preliminary investigation of the performance of Herbal electrolyte, which is cheap, non-flammable and insensitive to temperature. The main constituents of the proposed electrolyte are aloe vera gel, garlic cloves and Indian Jadi Buti which makes the electrolyte eco-friendly and non-toxic and does not cause any damage to environment when it disposed of.

How did the Russia–Ukraine war impact energy imports and electricity generation? A comparative analysis between Germany and the United Kingdom

The energy crisis caused by the Russia–Ukraine war (RUW) has affected the energy supply chain. The countries most impacted by the sanctions imposed on Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine focused on replacing the countries they import their energy from in the short term and switching fuel, for example, from natural gas to coal in Germany. The objective of this article is to verify how the war has impacted energy trade and electricity generation in Germany and the United Kingdom (UK). The results indicate that the RUW had consequences on these countries’ energy sector, significantly affecting fuel trade and electricity generation in the immediate aftermath of the war.

Investigating the characteristics of combustible fraction of legacy waste: A study on energy recovery potential and GHG emission quantification

In India, majority of the generated municipal solid waste (MSW) was dumped in poorly managed landfills and dumpsites over the past decades and is an environmental and health hazard. Landfill mining is a promising solution to reclaim these sites along with the recovery of resources (materials and energy). During landfill mining operations, the combustible fraction is one of the major components recovered and needs proper management for maximizing resource recovery. For the identification of appropriate resource recovery options, knowledge of the physicochemical characteristics is required. The present study aims to assess the depth-wise change in the composition of legacy waste and the physicochemical characteristics of the combustible fraction. Furthermore, a material flow analysis considering the incineration of combustible fraction was performed to estimate the energy generation potential and the associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The results of the compositional analysis of dry legacy waste revealed that the fine fraction (<4 mm soil-like material) was dominating with a share of 36%. The depth-wise analysis showed a decrease in the calorific value with increasing landfill depth, while no specific trend was observed for the other parameters analyzed, including proximate and ultimate analysis, and chlorine content. The material flow analysis performed for 100 tonnes of wet legacy waste indicated that 52 tonnes of waste is combustible fraction. The GHG emissions through incineration of one tonne of dry combustible fraction would be 1389 kg CO2-eq, with 1125 kWh of electrical energy generation potential.

Performance of the Heat Pump and Photovoltaic Systems Installed in the Single-family House

Renewable energy sources are increasingly common in Poland, and a growing number of single-family houses are now equipped with such systems. The article presents the study of the performance of the heat pump and the photovoltaic system installed in a house in the Swietokrzyskie Province near the city of Kielce. The data related to thermal and electrical energy generation throughout three years has been analysed with a focus on the advantages offered by such systems in the climate conditions of Central Poland. It turned out that 2022 was the best year for electricity production because it exceeded the value of 8000 kWh, and in the winter period from November to February, energy production balances at 200-300 kWh, which proves the high efficiency of panels for electricity production even in unfavourable climatic conditions. The heat pump generates the smallest energy production to heat the house in the summer, while in the winter, this production increases intensively due to the heating season in Poland. These are values from 1500 kWh to values above 3000 kWh. Similarly, in the case of domestic hot water, these values are higher in winter than in summer. Additionally, the work includes electricity consumption before and after the installation of renewable energy sources. Simplified economic analysis has also been presented in the paper. The simple payback period is estimated at approximately 9 years.

Technical-economic limitations of floating offshore wind energy generation in small isolated island power systems without energy storage: Case study in the Canary Islands

Coastal areas committed to the development of affordable and clean energy sources can find significant means to achieve their decarbonization objectives in offshore wind technology for power generation. However, the development of this technology in island territories with small-scale isolated electrical systems faces technical constraints that, in turn, translate into economic limitations. The objective of this study is to determine offshore wind energy curtailment and its impact on the LCOE in island territories with small-scale isolated electrical systems. To accomplish this, the data of electrical energy demand and generation of onshore renewable energy and conventional energy over a year have been used, with the Canary Islands (Spain-EU) adopted as a case study. The regional government there has established total decarbonization of its economy by 2040 as the central axis of its energy policy. The results show percentages of offshore wind energy curtailment exceeding 35% and an increase in the LCOE of up to 17%. One of the conclusions highlights the need for governmental action to neutralize this increase in the LCOE. This study sheds light on the technical and economic implications for government energy plans promoting the large-scale deployment of floating offshore wind facilities in island territories.

Fabrication, Design, and Analysis of Dual Axis Solar Tracking System

Energy crisis is one of the prime issues in the third world developing country like Bangladesh. There is an enormous gap between generation and demand of electrical energy. Nearly 50% of the population of the country is extremely isolated from this blessing. Renewable energy is the only answer to solve this issue. Solar energy is one of the most effective resources of renewable energy which could play a significant role in solving this crisis. This research presents a performance analysis of the dual axis solar tracking system using Arduino. The main objective of this research is whether a static solar panel is better than a solar tracker or not. This work is divided into two parts, hardware, and software system. In the hardware part, four light dependent resistors (LDR) is used to detect the utmost light source from the sun. Two servo motors conjointly used to move the solar panel to maximum light source location perceived by the LDRs. In the software part, the code is written by using C programming language and has targeted to the Arduino UNO controller. The outcome of the solar tracker system has analyzed and compared with the fixed or static solar panel found better performance in terms of voltage, current and power. Therefore, the solar tracker has proved more practical for capturing the maximum sunlight supply for star harvesting applications. The result showed dual- axis solar tracking system produced extra 10.53-watt power compared with fixed and single axis solar tracking system. Key Words: Solar Pannel, Servo Motor, LDR

Temporally Decoupled Ammonia Splitting by a Zn-NH3 Battery with an Ammonia Oxidation/Hydrogen Evolution Bifunctional Electrocatalyst as a Cathode.

Ammonia splitting to hydrogen is a decisive route for hydrogen economy but is seriously limited by the complex device and low efficiency. Here, we design and propose a new rechargeable Zn-NH3 battery based on temporally decoupled ammonia splitting to achieve efficient NH3-to-H2 conversion. In this system, ammonia is oxidized into nitrogen during cathodic charging (2NH3 + 6OH- → N2 + 6H2O + 6e-) with external electrical energy conversion and storage, while during cathodic discharging, water is reduced to hydrogen (2H2O + 2e- → H2 + 2OH-) with electrical energy generation. In this loop, continuous and efficient H2 production without separation and purification is achieved. With the help of the ammonia oxidation reaction (AOR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) bifunctional catalyst of Mo2C/NiCu@C, a rechargeable Zn-NH3 battery is realized that exhibits a high NH3-to-H2 FE of 91.6% with outstanding durability for 900 cycles (300 h) at 20 mA/cm2, enabling efficient and continuous NH3-to-H2 conversion.

Electrical Energy Generation by Microbial Fuel Cells With Microalgae on the Cathode

Background. The possibility of converting organic compounds into electrical energy in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) makes MFCs a promising eco-friendly technology. However, the use of platinum or hexacyanoferrates may increase costs or lead to secondary environmental pollution. The use of microalgae in the cathode chamber is a promising solution to these problems. Objective. We aimed to establish the dependence of electrical energy generation and the efficiency of the appli­cation of a specific type of algae on the type and mode of lighting. Methods. In the study, two-chamber H-type MFC with salt bridge was used. Fermented residue after methanogenesis was used as inoculum in the anode chamber, and microalgae cultures Chlorella vulgaris, Desmodesmus armatus, and Parachlorella kessleri were used as inoculum in the cathode chamber. Results. MFCs with microalgae demonstrate the ability to generate current under different light sources. The maximum voltage for the MFC with an anode biofilm and with microalgae in the cathode chamber is 13–15% lower compared to the MFC with an abiotic cathode (840 ± 42 mV). The maximum current is 2–6% lower than the control (480 ± 24 mA) for the MFC with Chlorella vulgaris and the MFC with Parachlorella kessleri, and 8% higher for the MFC with Desmodesmus armatus compared to the MFC with an abiotic cathode. The MFCs with microalgae are capable of generating electrical energy for an extended period. Conclusions. With a pre-grown anodic biofilm, both the current and voltage maintain relative stability when the light source is changed. The potential use of solar lighting broadens the applicability of the MFCs with microalgae, as it eliminates the need for additional costs associated with artificial light sources.

Cryptocurrency mining as a novel virtual energy storage system in islanded and grid-connected microgrids

Renewable electrical energy (such as: solar and wind energies) generation in microgrids (MGs), is gaining attention to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Microgrid operators (MOs) aim to create self-sufficient, environmentally sustainable grids, increasing the capacity of renewable energy sources (RESs) by up to 100%. Despite of the benefits of this trend, challenges arise from non-controlled characteristics of these power generations and their seasonal variations, causing fluctuations and renewable energy curtailment. Although the technical solutions; such as: the demand response (DR) programs, and the conventional electrical energy storage systems (EESSs) can help, however those may face limitations in countries with high seasonal energy generation and consumption variations. This paper introduces cryptocurrency mining loads (CMLs) as innovative virtual energy storage systems (VESSs), named cryptocurrency energy storage systems (CESSs). It proposes a structure to store excess renewable energy in cryptocurrency units (CCUs) like Bitcoin (BTC). CESSs can be charged during off-peak intervals and, conversely, they discharge during high-demand periods to reduce the overall operational cost of MGs. Furthermore, it presents a new energy management system (EMS) formulation for the optimal operation of MGs in the presence of CESSs, providing an opportunity to generate additional electricity from RESs and to mitigate renewable energy curtailment. This paper explores the optimal operation conditions of both islanded and grid-connected MG with the proposed CESS. Utilizing a dataset from an island in Finland as a practical MG, its effectiveness is demonstrated through several case studies. The results of one case study in this paper demonstrate that the proposed CESS can decrease the operating cost of the MG by about 46.5%. Additionally, it is showed that by application of CESS the renewable energy curtailment is significantly reduced, and approached zero.

Development of a wind turbine with two multidirectional wind wheels

The object of research is a wind generator with counter-rotating blades. A special feature of this design is the presence of two wind wheels that rotate in opposite directions. Wind wheels are on the same axis, between them there is a certain distance, which is determined based on research data. The problem of modern wind power is the low range of operating wind speeds, weak generation at low wind speeds. The upper speed limit is 25 m/s, exceeding which leads to breakdowns of various units of the wind station, especially this affects the integrity of the blades, rupture of the wind wheel, cracking of the metal parts of the bearings and their fasteners. The wind turbine presented in the article allows to achieve an increase in the generation of electric energy by 50–70 %. This is achieved by increasing the relative rotational speed of the rotor relative to the stator. Therefore, even at low speeds, the rotor speed relative to the stator increases, which leads to an increase in power generation. The design of the device includes: two wind wheels, one transmits its rotation to the stator, the second to the rotor axis, a metal base, a current collector mechanism. For conducting the research, an experimental model and a semi-industrial installation were used. Results studies have confirmed the theoretical increase in the generation of electrical energy by this design. The peculiarity of the obtained results is connected with the determination of the distance between two wind wheels, the optimal distance between them corresponds to the maximum energy generation. A distinctive feature of the results obtained can be considered an increase in the number of blades on the second wind wheel