Evaluation of the Accuracy of Different PV Estimation Models and the Effect of Dust Cleaning: Case Study a 103 MW PV Plant in Jordan

The estimation of PV production has been widely investigated previously, where many empirical models have been proposed to account for wind and soiling effects for specific locations. However, the performance of these models varies among the investigated sites. Hence, it is vital to assess and evaluate the performance of these models and benchmark them against the common PV estimation model that accounts only for the ambient temperature. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the accuracy and performance of four empirical wind models considering the soiling effect, and compare them to the standard model for a 103 MW PV plant in Jordan. Moreover, the study investigates the effect of cleaning frequency on the annual energy production and the plant’s levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). The results indicate almost identical performance for the adopted models when comparing the actual energy production with R2 and RMSE (root mean square error) ranges of 0.93–0.98 and 0.93–1.56 MWh for both sub-plants, with a slight superiority of the models that incorporate wind effect. Finally, it is recommended in this study to clean the PV panels every two weeks instead of every three months, which would increase annual energy production by 4%, and decrease the LCOE by 5% of the two PV sub-plants.

Critical Assessment of Feed-In Tariffs and Solar Photovoltaic Development in Vietnam

Vietnam became the world’s third largest market for solar photovoltaic energy in 2020. Especially after the Vietnamese government issued feed-in tariffs for grid-connected solar photovoltaic systems, the installed capacity of solar photovoltaic applications exploded in 2019. From studies carried out in the relevant literature, it can be said that support policies are highly important for the initial development of the renewable energy industry in most countries. This is especially true in emerging countries such as Vietnam. This paper reviews the feed-in tariffs issued and deployed in different regions of Vietnam for grid-connected solar photovoltaic applications. Moreover, the paper takes a closer look at the costs of electricity production from these systems in relation to the feed-in tariffs issued in Vietnam. The results show that the gap between the levelized cost of electricity and the feed-in tariff for solar photovoltaic electricity is relatively high, particularly in regions with a lower irradiation potential.

Roadmap to Profitability for a Speed-Controlled Micro-Hydro Storage System Using Pumps as Turbines

Storage technologies are an emerging element in the further expansion of renewable energy generation. A decentralized micro-pumped storage power plant can reduce the load on the grid and contribute to the expansion of renewable energies. This paper establishes favorable boundary conditions for the economic operation of a micro-pump storage (MPS) system. The evaluation is performed by means of a custom-built simulation model based on pump and turbine maps which are either given by the manufacturer, calculated according to rules established in studies, or extended using similarity laws. Among other criteria, the technical and economic characteristics regarding micro-pump storage using 11 pumps as turbines controlled by a frequency converter for various generation and load scenarios are evaluated. The economical concept is based on a small company (e.g., a dairy farmer) reducing its electricity consumption from the grid by storing the electricity generated by a photovoltaic system in an MPS using a pump as a turbine. The results show that due to the high specific costs incurred, systems with a nominal output in excess of around 22 kW and with heads beyond approximately 70 m are the most profitable. In the most economical case, a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of 29.2 €cents/kWh and total storage efficiency of 42.0% is achieved by optimizing the system for the highest profitability.

Comparison of the most likely low-emission electricity production systems in Estonia

To meet targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, many countries, including Estonia, must transition to low-emission electricity sources. Based on current circumstances, the most likely options in Estonia are renewables with energy storage, oil shale power plants with carbon capture and storage (CCS), or the combination of renewables and either oil shale or nuclear power plants. Here we compare these different scenarios to help determine which would be the most promising based on current information. For the comparison we performed simulations to assess how various systems meet the electricity demand in Estonia and at what cost. Based on our simulation results and literature data, combining wind turbines with thermal power plants would provide grid stability at a more affordable cost. Using nuclear power to compliment wind turbines would lead to an overall levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) in the range of 68 to 150 EUR/MWh (median of 103 EUR/MWh). Using oil shale power plants with CCS would give a cost between 91 and 163 EUR/MWh (median of 118 EUR/MWh). By comparison, using only renewables and energy storage would have an LCOE of 106 to 241 EUR/MWh (median of 153 EUR/MWh).

System levelized fuel cost of electricity generation in a two-component nuclear energy system with a closed uranium-plutonium NFC

The authors propose an approach to the calculation of the levelized unit fuel cost (LUFC) of electricity generation for a fast reactor in a two-component nuclear energy system (NES) with regard for plutonium production. The approach is based on taking into account the additional economic effect, which can be achieved through the sale at the market price of the natural uranium released due to the substitution of thermal reactors by fast reactors with MOX fuel based on the plutonium bred in a fast reactor. This requires considering simultaneously the reactor parts of the fuel cycle for fast and thermal reactors. Relationships have been obtained which connect the key neutronic and fuel characteristics with the NPP and fuel cycle economic performance. The described methodology was used for the computational study of the LUFC for a fast sodium-cooled reactor. Calculations have shown that, in the considered case, taking into account the plutonium production leads to the LUFC reduction by nearly half and, therefore, to a major decrease in the total unit cost of electricity generation (levelized cost of electricity or LCOE).

Levelized Cost Based Economic Assessment of Waste-to-Energy Conversion Technologies in Pakistan

Regarding the bridging of the existing gap around the economic assessment of waste-to-energy (WTE) conversion technologies in Pakistan, this study performs a techno-economic assessment of energy generation through both the thermal and biochemical processes. The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) serves as the fundamental parameter for analyzing the economic viability of these processes and their comparison with other energy generation processes. Based on the results, essential components of a bioenergy supply chain have been identified, through which the levelized cost can be lowered significantly. Furthermore, it has been defined as: What should be the role of key stakeholders for mobilizing the finance towards the bioenergy infrastructure development in Pakistan?

Evolution of Hydropower Support Schemes in Poland and Their Assessment Using the LCOE Method

Hydropower as stable power installations play an important role among renewable energy sources. Yet, their share in renewable energy is small. Currently, it is only 10% of energy from renewable energy sources (RES), compared to 27% in 2010. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to assess the RES support schemes in Poland related to hydropower, such as green certificates, auctions and FIT, with the use of the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) analysis in order to determine which support scheme is best incentivizing hydropower development. The evolution of the hydropower support scheme in Poland is presented. The total LCOE and possible revenues from support systems for various segments of hydropower installations are graphically analyzed for two analysis periods (15 and 50 years) and for two discount rates (7% and 11.4%). The analysis shows the great importance of the support schemes in the profitability of the hydropower plants investments. The LCOE graphical analysis proves to be suitable for showing sensitivity analysis of capital and operating costs of various sizes of hydropower plants. The analysis shows that the LCOE in micro-power plants is usually higher than the support and revenues available in the green certificates or auctions or FIT schemes in Poland.

Design of Hybrid (PV-Diesel) System for Tourist Island in Karimunjawa Indonesia

The main problem with electricity supply on densely populated islands is reliable, low-carbon, and sustainable electricity. The availability of potential energy needs in-depth observation to ensure that the system can be built sustainably. This paper examines the integration of PV systems and diesel power systems on Karimunjawa Island to meet the need for reliable systems from economic, ecological, and technological aspects. Using the DigSilent Power Factory program to obtain the system response interference and penetration of the Photovoltaic (PV) system. Furthermore, this paper also tests short circuit analysis and economic feasibility analysis while validating the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) and Electric Production Cost (EPC) approaches. The results show that the availability of irradiation can handle the electricity needs on Karimunjawa Island. In addition, it proposes the designed requirements for an integrated PV power system and Diesel Power Plant (DPP) system. The research has also captured the synergistic profile of PV and DPP working coordination within 24 h.

Comparative Techno-Economic Analysis of Carbon Capture Processes: Pre-Combustion, Post-Combustion, and Oxy-Fuel Combustion Operations

Evaluation of economic aspects is one of the main milestones that affect taking rapid actions in dealing with GHGs mitigation; in particular, avoiding CO2 emissions from large source points, such as power plants. In the present study, three kinds of capturing solutions for coal power plants as the most common source of electricity generation have been studied from technical and economic standpoints. Aspen HYSYS (ver.11) has been used to simulate the overall processes, calculate the battery limit, and assess required equipment. The Taylor scoring method has been utilized to calculate the costliness indexes, assessing the capital and investment costs of a 230 MW power plant using anthracite coal with and without post-combustion, pre-combustion, and oxy-fuel combustion CO2 capture technologies. Comparing the costs and the levelized cost of electricity, it was found that pre-combustion is more costly, to the extent that the total investment for it is approximately 1.6 times higher than the oxy-fuel process. Finally, post-combustion, in terms of maturity and cost-effectiveness, seems to be more attractive, since the capital cost and indirect costs are less. Most importantly, this can be applied to the existing plants without major disruption to the current operation of the plants.

Sensitivity Analysis of the Levelized Cost of Electricity for a Particle-Based CSP System

This study presents a sensitivity analysis of the LCOE for a particle-based system with the costs of the most current components. New models for the primary heat exchanger, thermal energy storage and tower are presented and used to establish lower and upper bounds for these three components. The rest of component costs such as particle cost, cavity cost and lift cost are set to lower and upper bounds estimating an uncertainty between 25% and 50%. Other relevant parameters related to lift and storage performance are also included in the analysis with the same uncertainty. This study also includes an upgrade to the receiver model by including the wind effect in the efficiency, which was not included in previous publications and may have a big impact in the system design. A parametric analysis shows the optimum values of solar multiple, storage hours, tower height and concentration ratio, and a probabilistic analysis provides a cumulative distribution function for a range of LCOE values. The results show that the LCOE could be below $0.06/kWh with a probability of between 80% and 90%, where the costs of primary heat exchanger, particles and lifts have largest contribution to the variance of the LCOE.