IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v298y2021ics0306261921005912.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimizing operational costs and PV production at utility scale: An optical fiber network analogy for solar park clustering

Author

Listed:
  • Pillot, Benjamin
  • Al-Kurdi, Nadeem
  • Gervet, Carmen
  • Linguet, Laurent

Abstract

Increasing the share of renewable energy sources in power systems is key to a successful energy transition. Optimal renewable site selection requires a holistic approach, involving land, resources, environmental and economical data and constraints. In this paper we consider the problem of solar PV penetration into the power network as a spatiotemporal analysis combined with decision support targeted for policy makers and investors. Our goal is to seek new models that maximize energy penetration and stability into the network, while minimizing the operational costs. We show how the selection of solar PV sites can be accomplished to satisfy such objectives by investigating the optimal clustering of multiple solar PV parks around a shared electrical substation. This is a combinatorial problem in terms of all the potential clusters given the set of PV site candidates. Our main contribution lies in identifying and proposing a modeling analogy of our problem with the so-called SONET problem, tackled in fiber network designs. We show how this new spatiotemporal PV park placement model minimizes operational costs, while increasing energy stability of the solutions produced. We also introduce a GIS preprocessing step to reduce the computational cost of the proposed approach. We compare our proposed SONET-based model to an existing GIS-optimization model on a real case study and data from the French Guiana’s power system. This new approach aggregates multiple PV parks into clusters distributed across the territory. In the case of French Guiana, the same global nominal power (≈45MW) can, for instance, be distributed among 11 PV parks and 3 clusters, against 3 large-scale PV parks. Results show substantial gain in costs per kWh produced, up to 10MW of extra installed power and 16GWh of extra power generation when considering PV parks ⩽5MW. The new cluster configuration also ensures improved energy stability of the solutions, resulting in mitigation of the risks for both the network manager and the decision maker.

Suggested Citation

  • Pillot, Benjamin & Al-Kurdi, Nadeem & Gervet, Carmen & Linguet, Laurent, 2021. "Optimizing operational costs and PV production at utility scale: An optical fiber network analogy for solar park clustering," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:298:y:2021:i:c:s0306261921005912
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117158
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261921005912
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117158?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Giamalaki, Marina & Tsoutsos, Theocharis, 2019. "Sustainable siting of solar power installations in Mediterranean using a GIS/AHP approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 64-75.
    2. Yang, Qing & Huang, Tianyue & Wang, Saige & Li, Jiashuo & Dai, Shaoqing & Wright, Sebastian & Wang, Yuxuan & Peng, Huaiwu, 2019. "A GIS-based high spatial resolution assessment of large-scale PV generation potential in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 247(C), pages 254-269.
    3. Lindberg, O. & Birging, A. & Widén, J. & Lingfors, D., 2021. "PV park site selection for utility-scale solar guides combining GIS and power flow analysis: A case study on a Swedish municipality," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(PA).
    4. Dhunny, A.Z. & Doorga, J.R.S. & Allam, Z. & Lollchund, M.R. & Boojhawon, R., 2019. "Identification of optimal wind, solar and hybrid wind-solar farming sites using fuzzy logic modelling," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    5. Frysztacki, Martha Maria & Hörsch, Jonas & Hagenmeyer, Veit & Brown, Tom, 2021. "The strong effect of network resolution on electricity system models with high shares of wind and solar," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    6. Headley, Alexander J. & Copp, David A., 2020. "Energy storage sizing for grid compatibility of intermittent renewable resources: A California case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    7. Hache, Emmanuel & Palle, Angélique, 2019. "Renewable energy source integration into power networks, research trends and policy implications: A bibliometric and research actors survey analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 23-35.
    8. Castro-Santos, Laura & Garcia, Geuffer Prado & Simões, Teresa & Estanqueiro, Ana, 2019. "Planning of the installation of offshore renewable energies: A GIS approach of the Portuguese roadmap," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1251-1262.
    9. Bogdanov, Dmitrii & Gulagi, Ashish & Fasihi, Mahdi & Breyer, Christian, 2021. "Full energy sector transition towards 100% renewable energy supply: Integrating power, heat, transport and industry sectors including desalination," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    10. Alhamwi, Alaa & Medjroubi, Wided & Vogt, Thomas & Agert, Carsten, 2019. "Development of a GIS-based platform for the allocation and optimisation of distributed storage in urban energy systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.
    11. Zappa, William & Junginger, Martin & van den Broek, Machteld, 2019. "Is a 100% renewable European power system feasible by 2050?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 1027-1050.
    12. Jayarathna, Lasinidu & Kent, Geoff & O'Hara, Ian & Hobson, Philip, 2020. "A Geographical Information System based framework to identify optimal location and size of biomass energy plants using single or multiple biomass types," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    13. Mrówczyńska, M. & Skiba, M. & Sztubecka, M. & Bazan-Krzywoszańska, A. & Kazak, J.K. & Gajownik, P., 2021. "Scenarios as a tool supporting decisions in urban energy policy: The analysis using fuzzy logic, multi-criteria analysis and GIS tools," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    14. Pillot, Benjamin & Al-Kurdi, Nadeem & Gervet, Carmen & Linguet, Laurent, 2020. "An integrated GIS and robust optimization framework for solar PV plant planning scenarios at utility scale," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xu, Xiaofeng & Cui, Xiaodan & Chen, Xiangyu & Zhou, Yichen, 2022. "Impact of government subsidies on the innovation performance of the photovoltaic industry: Based on the moderating effect of carbon trading prices," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    2. Rodney Itiki & Nils Stenvig & Teja Kuruganti & Silvio Giuseppe Di Santo, 2024. "Method for Spatiotemporal Solar Power Profile Estimation for a Proposed U.S.–Caribbean–South America Super Grid under Hurricanes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-39, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pillot, Benjamin & Al-Kurdi, Nadeem & Gervet, Carmen & Linguet, Laurent, 2020. "An integrated GIS and robust optimization framework for solar PV plant planning scenarios at utility scale," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    2. Mrówczyńska, Maria & Skiba, Marta & Bazan-Krzywoszańska, Anna & Sztubecka, Małgorzata, 2020. "Household standards and socio-economic aspects as a factor determining energy consumption in the city," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    3. Barbón, A. & Bayón-Cueli, C. & Bayón, L. & Carreira-Fontao, V., 2022. "A methodology for an optimal design of ground-mounted photovoltaic power plants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    4. Fakharizadehshirazi, Elham & Rösch, Christine, 2024. "A novel socio-techno-environmental GIS approach to assess the contribution of ground-mounted photovoltaics to achieve climate neutrality in Germany," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    5. Mrówczyńska, M. & Skiba, M. & Sztubecka, M. & Bazan-Krzywoszańska, A. & Kazak, J.K. & Gajownik, P., 2021. "Scenarios as a tool supporting decisions in urban energy policy: The analysis using fuzzy logic, multi-criteria analysis and GIS tools," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    6. Sward, Jeffrey A. & Nilson, Roberta S. & Katkar, Venktesh V. & Stedman, Richard C. & Kay, David L. & Ifft, Jennifer E. & Zhang, K. Max, 2021. "Integrating social considerations in multicriteria decision analysis for utility-scale solar photovoltaic siting," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    7. Graça Gomes, João & Medeiros Pinto, José & Xu, Huijin & Zhao, Changying & Hashim, Haslenda, 2020. "Modeling and planning of the electricity energy system with a high share of renewable supply for Portugal," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    8. Noorollahi, Younes & Ghenaatpisheh Senani, Ali & Fadaei, Ahmad & Simaee, Mobina & Moltames, Rahim, 2022. "A framework for GIS-based site selection and technical potential evaluation of PV solar farm using Fuzzy-Boolean logic and AHP multi-criteria decision-making approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 89-104.
    9. Copp, David A. & Nguyen, Tu A. & Byrne, Raymond H. & Chalamala, Babu R., 2022. "Optimal sizing of distributed energy resources for planning 100% renewable electric power systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PE).
    10. Lv, Furong & Tang, Haiping, 2024. "Sustainable photovoltaic power generation spatial planning through ecosystem service valuation: A case study of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    11. Li, Xiao-Ya & Dong, Xin-Yu & Chen, Sha & Ye, Yan-Mei, 2024. "The promising future of developing large-scale PV solar farms in China: A three-stage framework for site selection," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    12. Elkadeem, M.R. & Younes, Ali & Sharshir, Swellam W. & Campana, Pietro Elia & Wang, Shaorong, 2021. "Sustainable siting and design optimization of hybrid renewable energy system: A geospatial multi-criteria analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).
    13. Bogdanov, Dmitrii & Oyewo, Ayobami Solomon & Breyer, Christian, 2023. "Hierarchical approach to energy system modelling: Complexity reduction with minor changes in results," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).
    14. Martínez-Gordón, R. & Morales-España, G. & Sijm, J. & Faaij, A.P.C., 2021. "A review of the role of spatial resolution in energy systems modelling: Lessons learned and applicability to the North Sea region," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    15. Günen, Mehmet Akif, 2021. "A comprehensive framework based on GIS-AHP for the installation of solar PV farms in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 212-225.
    16. Radu, David & Berger, Mathias & Dubois, Antoine & Fonteneau, Raphaël & Pandžić, Hrvoje & Dvorkin, Yury & Louveaux, Quentin & Ernst, Damien, 2022. "Assessing the impact of offshore wind siting strategies on the design of the European power system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    17. Katkar, Venktesh V. & Sward, Jeffrey A. & Worsley, Alex & Zhang, K. Max, 2021. "Strategic land use analysis for solar energy development in New York State," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 861-875.
    18. Potrč, Sanja & Nemet, Andreja & Čuček, Lidija & Varbanov, Petar Sabev & Kravanja, Zdravko, 2022. "Synthesis of a regenerative energy system – beyond carbon emissions neutrality," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    19. Østergaard, P.A. & Lund, H. & Thellufsen, J.Z. & Sorknæs, P. & Mathiesen, B.V., 2022. "Review and validation of EnergyPLAN," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    20. Jung, Seunghoon & Jeoung, Jaewon & Kang, Hyuna & Hong, Taehoon, 2021. "Optimal planning of a rooftop PV system using GIS-based reinforcement learning," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:298:y:2021:i:c:s0306261921005912. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.