Least cost combinations of solar power, wind power, and energy storage system for powering large-scale grid.

Abstract A number of valid possible arrangements of renewable energy sources (wind turbines, solar photovoltaics) with energy storage systems (electrochemical storage, fuel cell, battery) for the large-scale electric grid system (26 GW) are explored in this paper. There are two core motivations for choosing such arrangements. First, the same type of renewable resources located at a single site have high fluctuation, so we model various type of renewable resources located at various locations to have lesser fluctuations accompanied with relatively compact energy storage systems. The second incentive is to find the true minimum cost combination, excluding subsidies and relaxation in taxes for governments. This study includes the whole year (hourly, 8760 h in total) electric load and related weather elements. It is found that the least cost combinations require excessive generation capacity, diverse renewable generation resources and energy storage techniques, which would meet the load requirements and have less carbon emissions. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • We modeled renewables & storage to meet demand of large-scale electric grid (26 GW). • We investigated several combinations of RES & storage for a large grid. • Economical combinations have excessive generation (1.3–2 times of load). • Economical combinations with 80% of RES penetration have 220% of installed capacity. • Economical combinations with 93% of RES penetration have 312% of installed capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]