Search

This paper explores the potential of rooftop solar PV to meet the electricity demand in the urban areas of Abha city, Saudi Arabia (KSA), minimising imports from the grid. A localised energy system for Abha is proposed that considers two types of loads: (i) residential loads with a monthly aggregated energy consumption of 172,440 MWh and an electric demand of 239.5 MW, and (ii) commercial loads with a monthly aggregated energy consumption of 179,280 MWh and an electric demand of 249 MW. The grid currently supplies this load. This paper proposes a PV development planning tool for residential and commercial areas to calculate the total PV production for each type of load to achieve a balanced energy area, considering (i) the number of buildings, (ii) the type of load, (iii) the peak load, and (iv) the total PV array area in m2 per building. The results of the modelling study using real data demonstrate that the anticipated total PV production in residential and commercial areas is sufficient to meet local peak demand, and there is an excess of power that can either be stored locally or exported to the grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high penetration of inverter-fed renewable energy sources (RESs) in modern energy systems has led to a reduction in the system's inertial response. This reduction in the rotational inertial response is associated with synchronous generation and might result in a deteriorated frequency response following a power disturbance. This paper investigates the frequency stability of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's (KSA) grid. It includes a description of the changing energy landscape of the KSA's electricity grid and an investigation of the impact of high penetration levels of inverter-fed RESs on the dynamic behavior of the KSA grid. The impact of RESs has been studied through a simulation of case studies of the future KSA power system using the MATLAB/Simulink simulation software. The frequency stability of the KSA's power system has been evaluated with various RES levels under peak and base load conditions. The simulation results show that the high penetration levels of RESs dramatically affect the system's frequency response, especially under off-peak conditions. In addition, the significance of battery energy storage systems (BESSs) for compensating the reduction in the system inertial response has been addressed. The results show the effectiveness of aggregated BESSs for enhancing the system frequency control of the KSA grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time series modeling is an effective approach for studying and analyzing the future performance of the power sector based on historical data. This study proposes a forecasting framework that applies a seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average with exogenous factors (SARIMAX) model to forecast the long-term performance of the electricity sector (electricity consumption, generation, peak load, and installed capacity). In this study, the model was used to forecast the aforementioned factors in Saudi Arabia for 30 years from 2021 to 2050. The historical data that were inputted into the model were collected from Saudi Arabia at quarterly intervals across a 40-year period (1980−2020). The SARIMAX technique applies a time series approach with seasonal and exogenous influencing factors, which helps reduce the error values and improve the overall model accuracy, even in the case of close input and output dataset lengths. The experimental findings indicated that the SARIMAX model has promising performance in terms of categorization and consideration, as it has significantly improved forecasting accuracy compared with the simpler autoregressive integrated moving average-based techniques. Furthermore, the model is capable of coping with different-sized sequential datasets. Finally, the model aims to help address the issue of a lack of future planning and analyses of power performance and intermittency, and it provides a reliable forecasting technique, which is a prerequisite for modern energy systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for electricity in Saudi Arabia has grown in the last few years due to the growth in the economy and the population. The country has invested in many solutions such as promoting renewable energy and shifting to generation mix to respond to this growing demand. However, Electric Vehicles (EVs) are used as an important factor in achieving the Saudi Vision 2030 in its environmental and economical parts. This work gives an overview on the Saudi electrical energy system and then investigates the impact EVs technology in the electricity sector in Saudi Arabia and its relevant consequences. A statistical analysis is used to quantify the number of EVs, travelled distance and traffic congestions, and State of Charge (SOC). The data were used to implement a daily load profile for EVs for a large population of vehicles. The obtained results show that the EVs peak loads occur during the late evening and early morning at different means. Interestingly, the work shows that the peak periods of EVs occur during the off-peak times of the daily load curve. This means that a large population of EVs can offer more flexibility and improvement to the electric grid, and the summative EV load of a large population of vehicles has a smooth pattern and will not affect the national electric system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The marked development of renewable energy has been able to offer in the GCC market the possibility to pave the road for a sustainable energy development in the area. In particular recent tariffs of 2.5–3 cents/kWh achieved in recent PV tenders in the UAE and the record tariff of 1.75 cents/kWh achieved in the tender of Sakaka project in Saudi Arabia underpins a continuous development of renewable energy technology and tariff that are more competitive than conventional energy supply [1]. One of the aspects that often is at odds with installing more renewable energy and in particular PV systems in the GCC is the objective difficulty in the energy storage and in harmonizing the energy production with the energy demand pattern and stabilizing the grid operation. In the UAE where the weather conditions are stable and predictable for the great part of the time, photo voltaic power generation operates practically at base load. This poses several objective difficulties for instance during the winter months there may not be sufficient electricity generation at co-generation stations to maintain water production of the existing thermal plants. Moreover the peak energy production from PV plants does not correspond with the peak energy consumption from the grid and daily peak load remains still to be catered by peaking stations operating inefficiently and with large CO2 emissions [3]. This paper aims at demonstrating how judicious use of SWRO technology can offer a great contribution to energy savings and peak load reduction as well as in the stability of the grid operation when a large PV capacity is installed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 3E evaluation of a solar system connected to the grid with battery backup was discussed. • It is not cost-effective to use batteries on a large scale in Najran city. • The electricity cost was $0.104, which is 24% lower than the average global electricity price. • Annually, the release of more than 57.4 thousand tons of pollutants will be also prevented. In the past decades, due to population growth, rapid economic development, and infrastructure development in Saudi Arabia, electricity consumption has enhanced significantly. Since Saudi Arabia and especially the city of Najran has a very good radiation potential, no study has been conducted on the feasibility of generating solar electricity to supply electricity to a society with near-zero energy consumption. In the present work, using HOMER 2.68 software, the 3E evaluation of a solar system connected to the grid with battery backup is discussed for a community with near-zero energy consumption in Najran. The results of technical-economical-energy-environmental investigations demonstrate that it is not cost-effective to use batteries on a large scale in this location. It is also observed that to supply the load of 18 MWh/day with a peak load of 2.2 MW, the best option is to utilize a 50 MW solar power plant with a 40 MW electric converter, which can provide 98% of the required load. The cost of each kWh of electricity generated is $0.104, which is 24% lower than the average global electricity price. Annually, the release of more than 57.4 thousand tons of pollutants will be also prevented. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a techno-economic optimization procedure for selecting the best energy mix of renewable energy sources to meet the predefined power demands of an isolated community. The simulation model, based on Trnsys software, incorporates the technical characteristics of each plant component, site meteorological data, investment, and operation and management costs. An optimization procedure selects the best combination and sizing of each generation system and energy storage capacity to achieve the minimum value of Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) for different renewable energy fractions from 40% to 100%. A case study for a new renewable community with a peak load of 50 MW in the Tabuk region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is presented and discussed. The implementation of a complete renewable system raised the LCOE trend to 0.156 USD/kWh from 0.081 USD/kWh. The optimal renewable penetration for the analyzed case is approximately 80%, with an overall LCOE of 0.092 USD/kWh. The optimized power mix highlights the possibility of providing clean energy without a huge cost burden. • High penetration of renewables in remote communities requires an optimized energy mix. • PV and wind coupled with CSP benefit from increased energy dispatchability. • Thermal energy storage enables a reduction in LCOE in energy mix with high renewables content. • The load-following operation requires the use of high storage capacity. • The LCOE is minimized by minimizing the use of electric storage at utility-scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of around 300 TWh of electricity was consumed in Saudi Arabia in the year 2018, a per capita consumption of 9100 kWh. Almost all of this electricity is generated by non-renewable sources of energy. This study explores the prospective application of hybrid energy systems PV/Wind/Diesel and PV/Wind with battery storage for three residential compounds in Jubail Industrial City, an eastern coastal city in Saudi Arabia. Technical and economic viability of various hybrid energy system designs is weighed and an optimum system is adopted using HOMER software. This hybrid system is optimized to meet the electrical load demand of three residential compounds with one, two, and three-bedroom apartments with a load demand of 11,160; 4865; and 3288 kWh/day and a peak load of 685, 463 and 270 kW. The minimum COE was found to be 0.183, 0.224 and 0.244 US$/kWh, for PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery option for compound 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The average total NPC was around 9.9, 5.6, and 3.9 million US$, respectively. For options with 100% RE penetration, minimum COE was found to be 0.25 US$/kWh, for PV/Wind/Battery option for all three compounds. This optimum system will also save 2800 tons of carbon-dioxide emissions every year. This proposed hybrid energy system can be applied to other regions of the world with similar weather conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]