The thesis shows the process of sizing and optimizing a solar Photovoltaics (PV) system for an off-grid resort with desalination loads in Marsa Alam, Egypt. Through load profile management, an optimal hybrid solar PV-diesel system, in the sense of maximum solar share that could be achieved without using energy storage while avoiding surpluses, is analyzed and presented. The self- consumption analysis aim was to determine the optimal PV system size in two load profile case scenarios that would give a SCR of not less than 90 percent to avoid surpluses in the hybrid system. Then an economic analysis for the optimal system sizes was conducted to measure and compare the economic benefits of implementing a hybrid solar PV-diesel system. It accounts for three different scenarios for the projection of future diesel prices in Egypt.
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
CONTEN
LISTOF FIGU
LISTOFTABLES
LIST OF ACRONYMS AND SYMBO
ABSTR
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Motivation
1.2 Research objectives
1.3 Thesisstructure
CHAPTER 2: STATE OF THE ART OF A SOLAR-PV DIESEL HYBRID SYS
CHAPTER 3: OVERVIEW OF EGYPT'S ELECTRICITY SECT
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Egypt's energy sector
3.3 Solar energy resources and potential in Egypt
3.4 Red Sea energy situation
CHAPTER 4: SOLAR PV SYSTEM YIELD SIMULATION
4.1 selected location, site description and solar energy potential
4.2 current energy supply system inthe off-grid resort
4.3 Energy generation from solar PV and Yield simulation
4.3.1 Location and weather data- input simulation parameters
4.3.2 Solar PV array characteristics- input simulation parameters.
4.3.3 DC-AC inverter characteristics- input simulation parameters
4.3.4 input simulation parameters- Pre-determined losses.
4.3.5 PVSYST analysis and yield forecast
CHAPTER 5: LOAD PROFILE CONSTRUCT
5.1 Methodology
5.2 Annual load profiles construction
5.2.1 Construction ofthe annual hotel load profile without desalination load
5.2.2 Construction ofthe total annual load profile ofthe off-grid resor
CHAPTER 6: DEMAND-SIDE MANAGEMEN
6.1 Shifting the desalination operating hours to sunshine hou
CHAPTER 7: ANNUAL SELF-CONSUMPTION ANALYSI
7.1 Methodology
7.2 self-consumption analysis for different load profile scenarios
7.2.1 Scenario 1: Current load profile (current desalination schedule
7.2.2 Scenario 2: New load profile (shifted desalination operation to sunshine hour
7.3 comparison ofthe results forthe scenarios
7.4 conclusion
CHAPTER 8: ECONOMICAL ANALY
8.1 Methodology
8.2 Economicalanalysis for diffreentsolar PV system sizes
8.2.1 Diesel price scenarios in egypt
8.2.2 PV-hybridsystem CAPEX& OPEX
8.2.3 LCOEfrom PV calculation
8.2.4 Profitability measures results ( Fuel cost savings, NPV,equity IRR,paybackperiod)
8.2.5Alternativefinancing optio
8.3 Comparison of results
8.4 conclusion
CHAPTER 9: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AND CO2 EMISSION SAVING
CHAPTER 10: CONCLUSI
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDIX
Appendix A: Components Datasheets
A.l.SolarPVmodulesDatasheet.
A.2.Solar Inverter Datasheet
A.3. Hybrid controllerDatashe
Appendix B: PVSYST Report
Appendix C: Measured Load Raw data from Janitza Device
Appendix D: Historical and future projections of diesel prices
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
“Praise is to Allah by whose grace good deeds are completed” Sunan Ibn Majah 3803, Book 33, Hadith 148.
This master thesis would not be possible without the acceptance I got from Technische Universität Campus El-Gouna as well as from Sawiris Foundation for Social development to pursue this master’s degree program. This research work would not be easy without Kraftwerk company’s support and its global expertise in the solar PV market.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Tatjana Morozyuk. As my professor and study dean, she has directly and indirectly taught me more than I could ever give her credit for here. Throughout the 2 years master program, she has shown me, by her example, what a role model and a great successful woman should be.
I would especially like to thank my supervisor Prof. Dr. Ing. George Tsatsaronis for the noble mentoring, professional academic experience, and for his immense knowledge.
I am especially indebted and would like to express my gratitude to my boss and my advisor Dr. Roman Brinzanik, Director of new markets at Kraftwerk Renewable Power Solutions GmbH, who has been so much supportive and has provided me extensive personal and professional guidance during my time at thecompany.
Special thank you to Mohamed Noaman, Research Associate at the Energy Engineering Department, Technische Universität Berlin, for his support, his patience with me and for being my master thesis guide.
Furthermore, I would like to deeply thank Eng. Hussein Fahmy, for being so generous with his knowledge, for all the discussions we had until I identified the key points and the objective of my research topic and for his continual support to come up with this research. I have had the pleasure to work with him during this and other related projects along 8 months.
I would like to thank my parents; whose love and guidance are with me in whatever I pursue. Nobody has been more important to me in the pursuit of this work than my loving and supportive husband and life partner, Seif, and my little piece ofheart, Sajda, who have been my true motive and inspiration.
Berlin, 2019
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 PV-diesel-hybrid system (ComAp, www.comap.cz, 2017) ©InteliSys-NTC Hybrid 2.1.0 GlobalGuide
Figure 2 Solar PV Array (Al-Waeli A.H.A., 2019)
Figure 3 InteliSys NTC Hybrid (ComAp, ComAp.cz, 2019) ©ComAp
Figure 4 Smart Hybrid Controller (ComAp, www.comap.cz, 2017) ©ComAp
Figure 5 Energy Transformation for the diesel generator (Renac, 2015)
Figure 6 Solar PV diesel hybrid system configuration
Figure 7 Solar resource potential ofEgypt (GeoModel, 2015)
Figure 8 Electricity transmission grid ofEgypt (GIS, 2004) © GIS
Figure 9 Marsa Alam, Egypt (source: google maps)
Figure 10 Solar yield simulation of one inverter (source: PVSYST V6.79)
Figure 11 Monthly in-plane irradiation for fixed angle 1 kWp PV system (©PVGIS, 20012019)
Figure 12 Simulated monthly energy output from 1 kWp solar PV installed
Figure 13 Total power in kW for the measured period- 10 minutes resolution
Figure 14 Total power in kW for a sample week
Figure 15 Average and Maximum current in Amps for two days (w/ and w/o desalination load)
Figure 16 Reconstructed desalination load profile for the measured period
Figure 17 Total annual reconstructed desalination load profile
Figure 20 Average daily load profile for summer and winter seasons
Figure 21 Monthly diesel consumption in liters
Figure 22 Average weekly load profile
Figure 23 Annual reconstructed base load profile without desalination load
Figure 24 Extrapolated load profiles projection for one year of the off-grid resort, based on data measured for some months
Figure 25 Monthly electricity consumption of the off-grid resort in kWh
Figure 26 Load profile for exemplary summer week (August 11-17)
Figure 27 Load profile for exemplary winter week (December 23-29)
Figure 28 Load curve shape modification techniques (de Almeida, Demand-Side Management and Electricity End-Use Efficiency, 1988)
Figure 29 Actual water consumption and production in m3
Figure 30 Exemplary of shifting the desalination load to sunshine hours over 48 hours
Figure 31 Self-consumption rate vs. Solar share for the current load profile (scenario 1)
Figure 32 Exemplary summer week shows the power shares ofa91 kWp PV hybrid diesel station for the current load profile
Figure 33 Exemplary winter week shows the power shares ofa91 kWp PV hybrid diesel station for the current load profile
Figure 34 Self-consumption rate Vs. solar share for the load profile with new desalination operation schedule (scenario 2)
Figure 35 Exemplary summer week shows the power shares of a 454 kWp PV hybrid diesel station for the new load profile
Figure 36 Exemplary winter week shows the power shares of a 454 kWp PV hybrid diesel station for the new load profile
Figure 37 Self-consumption rate and solar share for the two scenarios
Figure 38 Projection of diesel future prices developments in Egypt
Figure 39 Specific CAPEX versus system size
Figure 40 Breakdown of annual operational expenditures
Figure 41 Cumulative cash flow of installing 91 kWp PV system, 100% equity
Figure 42 Cumulative cash flow of installing 454 kWp PV system, 100% equity
Figure 43 Influence ofWACC on LCOE (Jäger-waldau, 2016)
Figure 44 Cumulative cash flow of installing 91 kWp PV system, 30% equity
Figure 45 Cumulative cash flow of installing 454 kWp PV system, 30% equity
Figure 46 yearly CO2 emissions with and without 454 kWp PV plant
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Main energy indicators in 2018 (NREA, Outlining Egypt’s Renewable Energy Roadmap, 2019)
Table 2 input simulation parameters- location data
Table 3 input simulation parameters- solar PV array
Table 4 input simulation parameters- DC/AC inverter
Table 5 input simulation parameters- losses
Table 6 PVSYST simulation results- Main indicators
Table 7 PVSYST simulation results - Main results
Table 8 Monthly diesel consumption in liters
Table 9 Total estimated electricity monthly consumption in kWh
Table 10 Actual monthly water production and consumption in m
Table 11 New desalination operation schedule- load shifting technique
Table 12 Screenshot of the used excel tool- self-consumption calculation - scenario 1
Table 13 Scenario 1: Self-consumption rate and solar share results for different PV plant sizes
Table 14 Screenshot of the used excel tool- self-consumption calculation - Scenario 2
Table 15 Scenario 2: Self-consumption rate and solar share for different PV plant sizes
Table 16 PV system cost for 454 kWp
Table 17 LCOE calculation inputs: 91 kWp PV system
Table 18 LCOE calculation inputs: 454 kWp PV system
Table 19 Profitability measures results for 91 kWp PV system in case of 100% equity financing
Table 20 Profitability measures results for 454 kWp PV system in case of 100% equity financing
Table 21 Profitability measures results for 91 kWp PV system in case of 30% equity- 70% debt financing
Table 22 Profitability measures results for 454 kWp PV system in case of 30% equity- 70% debt financing
Table 23 Comparison of results for different financing options (454 kWp PV system)
Table 24 Historical and future diesel prices in USA and Egypt
LIST OF ACRONYMS AND SYMBO
Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten
ABSTRACT
In the current energy transition phase to renewables in compliance with the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), there is no doubt about the vast potential of solar energy especially in countries like Egypt. The global solar resource is massive, around 885 million TWh worth of solar radiation reaches the Earth’s surface each year (IEA, 2011). This thesis objective is to show the optimization of solar Photovoltaics-diesel hybrid systems for the off-grid areas in Egypt where whole touristic cities are still 100% dependent on burning diesel to supply their needs of freshwater and electricity.
The thesis shows the process of sizing and optimizing a solar Photovoltaics (PV) system for an off-grid resort with desalination loads in Marsa Alam, Egypt. Through load profile management, an optimal hybrid solar PV-diesel system -in the sense of maximum solar share that could be achieved without using energy storage while avoiding surpluses- , is analyzed and presented such that the same current electricity and daily consumed desalinated water demands are provided to the resort. The process of optimization and sizing of the solar PV system started with constructing a total annual load profile from real measured data gathered through on-site load profile measurement for almost four months in the resort that includes its desalination loads and actual monthly diesel consumption of the off-grid resort for a whole year. The annual load profile was then analyzed to decouple the annual desalination load as a rectangular function according to the real current desalination operation schedule. Then a self-consumption analysis was conducted to calculate the self-consumption rate and solar share of different solar PV system sizes in two annual load profile case scenarios. The first case takes the current total annual load profile as input while the second case focused on shifting the desalination plant operating hours to the sunshine hours to better benefit from a bigger installed solar PV station with higher solar share while maintaining the constraint of supplying the same water demand. The selfconsumption analysis aim was to determine the optimal PV system size in both load profile cases that would give a self-consumption rate of not less than 90% to avoid surpluses in the hybrid system. Then an economic analysis for the optimal system sizes was conducted to measure and compare the economic benefits of implementing a hybrid solar PV-diesel system. It accounts for three different scenarios for the projection of future diesel prices in Egypt. The analysis shows the LCOE from PV, IRR, NPV, payback period of the investment, diesel savings, total net savings, and the CO2 emission reduction for different diesel price scenarios for each load profile case.
The results show that through demand-side management such as shifting the desalination operating hours of the off-grid resort to sunshine hours instead of the current operating schedule while supplying the same current monthly water demand, the PV system could reach 454 kWp instead of 91 kWp without storage, while maintaining the self-consumption rate above 90% to avoid surpluses. 454 kWp PV system would give 26% solar share which is more than 5 times the solar share in case of installing a 91 kWp PV system with the current daily load profile shape curve. Also, the economic analysis shows good measures for an investment decision, the LCOE from PV is 0.0617 USD/kWh in comparison with more than 0.158 USD/kWh from the diesel gen-sets, IRR is 71.1%, NPV is 540,512 USD, total Net savings of 3,466,245 USD over the project lifetime as well as 2 years payback period in case of 30 % equity and 70% debt financing for the project. The CO2 emissions avoided are 16,341 tons over 25 years. In conclusion, for off-grid resorts where a huge part of the consumption comes from energyintensive loads like desalination plants, the hybridization of PV systems with diesel gen-sets while shifting the energy-intensive loads’ operation to sunshine hours when possible is found out to be the optimal and the most economical solution.
Keywords: Hybrid, Solar PV-diesel, Optimization, Off-grid, Resort, Desalination, Egypt, Demand-side Management
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 MOTIVATION
In many regions of the world, power grids are either inadequate or nonexistent. As a result, whole cities and areas often ensure their power supply through diesel gen-sets. Five hundred gigawatts of power from diesel gen-set provides industrial companies with electricity worldwide. However, fuel costs for the gen-sets continue to rise (SMA, 2013).
In addition, if the fuel has to be transported to remote regions, the effective costs increase even more as a result of the necessary storage. Growth in the solar photovoltaic sector has been robust. The Compound Annual Growth Rate over the last 15 years was over 40 %, thus making photovoltaics one of the fastest growing industries at present (Jäger-Waldau, 2016). At the same time, PV system costs have dropped by more than 50 percent within the last three years: Solar power is often the most economical alternative energy source for remote regions in the world’s sunbelt. It simply makes sense to combine PV and diesel systems so that solar irradiation - which is both abundant and free - can profitably be used as an energy source in industrial applications.
Egypt is one of the countries lying in the solar belt region, the most convenient for solar energy applications. Solar Atlas reveals that the average of vertical solar radiation is between 2000-3200 kWh/m2/year and the rate of solar rise ranges between 9-11 hours/day offering opportunities of investment in the various solar energy fields (EEHC, 2017) . In addition to the national goals of the New & Renewable Energy Authority in Egypt which aims to increase the share of generated energy from renewable energy to 20% out of the total generated energy in the country by 2022, there is a huge potential in the off-grid areas where private businesses and whole industries like tourism only rely on burning diesel to supply their electricity demand.
Off-grid power plants that use both diesel power and renewable energy are known as ‘hybrid’ power plants. There is a range of reasons for using diesel plants in mini grids. They have flexible operating modes and fast starting times, which allows for quick responses to load changes. Diesel fuel also has a relatively high energy density and can be transported to even very remote locations. However, these advantages are accompanied by high fuel costs, which results in high power generation costs. When diesel fuel and maintenance costs are high and depending on other factors like availability and relative stability of solar resources throughout the year, the introduction of PV technology should be economically viable to cover part of the electricity demand or all of the electricity demand. Also, converting part or all of the power source to renewable energy source would have positive environmental impacts in reducing CO2 emissions and noise pollution.
1.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
This research presents a feasibility study for an off-grid resort located in Marsa Alam in Egypt of the opportunity to complement the existent diesel generators micro-grid with a hybrid solar PV system to reduce the fuel cost and CO2 emissions. The main objective of the research is to prove through a self-consumption analysis that shifting the energy-intensive loads -like desalination loads- to sunshine hours will benefit the resort to have a bigger PV system size with high self-consumption rate to be integrated with the diesel gen-sets microgrid, thus higher solar share could be achieved and consequently higher fuel savings and higher CO2 emission reduction.
1.3 THESIS STRUCTURE
Through the preceding section, the motivation and objectives of this research were explained. After this, an overview of the state of the art of a solar-PV diesel hybrid system is shown in Chapter 2.
The energy sector in Egypt overview is stated in Chapter 3 to give an insight into the electricity sector structure as well as the potential of solar PV with a special focus on the remote cities where there is no power grid yet.
Solar PV system simulation by using PVSYST software is extensively explained in Chapter 4 to serve as a demonstration of the potential of solar energy in the selected location.
Accordingly, Chapter 5, Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 proceed with the annual load profiles reconstruction of the off-grid resort, demand-side management and shifting of the energy-intensive loads of desalination and then the self-consumption analysis of two load profile case scenarios respectively.
Then, Chapter 8 shows the economic analysis and profitability measures for the technically optimized PV system sizes.
Environmental impact and CO2 emission reduction are shown in Chapter 9, and finally in Chapter 10 the conclusion and future recommendations.
CHAPTER 2: STATE OF THE ART OF A SOLAR-PV DIESEL HYBRID SYSTEM
2.1 What is a Photovoltaics diesel hybrid system (Pfeifer, 2013)
A “hybrid” is something that is formed by combining two kinds of components that produce the same or similar results. A photovoltaic diesel hybrid system ordinarily consists of a PV system, diesel gensets, and intelligent management to ensure that the amount of solar energy fed into the system exactly matches the demand at that time. Despite the advantageous part of diesel-generator system that it provides reliability, variable load coverage and capability of quick responses to changing loads, there is adverse of high fuel costs, continual maintenance costs as well as negative impact on the environmental due to CO2 emissions that comes out with burning fuel. In contrast to power supply systems using only diesel gen-sets, PV systems are environmentally friendly since no fuel is burnt, and it requires less maintenance, so they have much less associated maintenance costs. In addition, PV systems can provide cheaper power generation. Compared to pure gen-sets systems, a photovoltaic diesel hybrid system provides numerous advantages:
- Lower electricity costs and pollution
- Keep reliability
- Avoid the risk of supply shortages
- Reduced risk of fuel price increases
- Lower maintenance costs
- Save fuel
- Lower requirement for power storage
Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten
Figure 1 PV-diesel-hybrid system (ComAp, www.comap.cz, 2017) ©InteliSys-NTC Hybrid -2.1.0 Global Guide
2.2 PV-diesel-hybrid system components
1- SolarPVArray
The solar power is generated in the PV modules, which can be mounted to the mounting structures either on ground or on rooftop, depending on local site conditions.
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Figure 2 Solar PV Array (Al-Waeli A.H.A., 2019)
2- DC/ACInverter
A central inverter PV system contains only one inverter where direct current (DC) is converted to alternating current (AC). In a decentral inverter PV system, the PV power is divided into many strings, which are converted into AC by several mini inverters. The choice between a centralized or decentralized inverter-systems depends on many factors. Both system installation costs and operating costs must be considered. For example, maintenance work on a decentralized inverter-system is not complicated, even in inaccessible areas. If service is needed, local electricians can replace individual inverters. However, remote monitoring is simpler for a central inverter system structure.
3- Hybrid controller
The smart hybrid controller could be regarded as the brain of the hybrid system. It mainly provides the perfect interface between the gensets, PV systems and loads for applications that combines gen-sets with a renewable source of power. It manages demand-based PV feed-in into the diesel-powered grid. It continuously monitors data from all sources of energy including solar, wind, gen-sets and batteries.
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Figure 3 InteliSys NTC Hybrid (ComAp, ComAp.cz, 2019) ©ComAp
i- How the hybrid controller works
The main duty of the hybrid controller is to collect information from the PV inverters (status, actual PV output, statics, etc.), calculate accordingly the required Data Subject Rights (DSR) and share it with the other genset controllers over a communication bus (i.e. CAN bus). The gen-set controllers are then responsible for optimum power management of the gen-sets with respect to the renewable energy source, which output utilization must be maximized, and only in case the gen-sets face the thread of being underloaded, the hybrid controller would curtail the output from the PV plant. The limitation of the renewable energy source is based on a calculation considering the minimum allowed Genset loading level (Minimum GS Power setpoint) to prevent the gen-sets from underloading.
Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten
Figure 4 Smart Hybrid Controller (ComAp, www.comap.cz, 2017) ©ComAp
ii- Main Features of the smart hybrid controller (ComAp, comap.com, 2019)
1) The Controller automatically performs synchronization sequence including corresponding regulations to achieve the correct phase and voltage on both synchronized sides. It is possible to set the phase shift caused by transformers to be taken into account during synchronization. Synchronization automatically closes the corresponding breaker if the voltages on both sides do not differ more than the Voltage window and their phases do not differ more than the Phase window for a time equal to Dwell time.
2) Complex load shedding and reconnection function.
3) Minimum required power in parallel to Mains operation, this function sets minimal power produced by the gen-set group in parallel to Mains operation in % of the nominal power of each gen-set regardless ofImport/Export limit.
4) Peak Shaving function can be based on active power (kW) or reactive power (kVA).
5) Power management is a very complex function with many settings that are used if the gen-sets are in AUT mode of operation (and other requirements are fulfilled) to start and stop engines accordingly to set parameters for a more efficient functioning system. Part of Power management consists of automatic priority swapping for the extended efficiency of the system.
6) Remote start and stop of the system, the hybrid system can be started and stopped based on activation/deactivation of binary input Rem start/stop. The behavior of the system then depends on load control mode, power management, process control, and other factors.
7) Remote Control Function
8) Soft unloading can be performed in the standard way or it can be performed based on actual current to the load or through Master Generator Circuit Breaker (MGCB) measurement to prevent sudden overloading of gen-sets because of other loads on the bus. This function is using Auxiliary current measurement to ensure that soft unloading is performed correctly in case of complex installations (e.g. two Mains incomers).
9) The dynamic spinning reserve function allows the controller to adjust the output from the gen-sets according to the output of the renewable source. So, if the power output from the renewable source begins to drop, the controller automatically starts the gen-sets to ensure no drop-in energy production from the system.
10) The hybrid controller communicates over CAN bus with the gen-set controllers which manage outputs from gen-sets of different installed capacity and various manufacturers. The smart power management automatically selects the most efficient combination of gen-sets based on their sizes to maximize fuel savings.
11) The hybrid controller provides an interface to photovoltaic inverters with respect to the gen-sets minimum loading level. If the gen-set output approaches the allowed minimum, the intelligent hybrid controller regulates the inverter output to prevent the diesel engine from running underloaded.
4- Diesel Genset
In grid-remote regions, pure diesel systems often provide energy for industrial applications. They constitute the local grid, ensuring a constant power supply to the consumer Because the gen-sets require constant fuel supply, they are often the system’s highest operating cost. In regions with weak utility grids, diesel gen-sets often serve as a backup during grid power outages (AG, PV-diesel hybrid systems, 2017)
General Schematic of Energy Transformation Process in a Genset
Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten
Figure 5 Energy Transformation for the diesel generator (Renac, 2015)
5- Genset system house
This includes the monitoring and control systems for the diesel gen-sets. The Genset system house is the central terminal and point of common coupling.
6- The Balance of System
The balance of system (also known by the acronym BOS) includes all the components of a photovoltaic system with the exception of photovoltaic panels. the mechanical support structure, the electrical wiring , and the protection devices (fuses, ground connections and switches).
7- Loads
Application-specific load, e.g., heavy-duty industrial loads, are generally characterized by loads with high starting currents and widely fluctuating load curves. Intelligent system management ensures that generation and load are perfectly matched. It achieves constant system stability by reacting quickly to generation and load performance spikes, e.g. when a desalination plant is turned on.
2.3 Solar PV-diesel-hybrid system configuration and characteristics
After an assessment of the existing diesel-only system and the situation on site has been completed, a possible PV-diesel hybrid plant can be designed to include the existing diesel-only system, the PV system (including PV modules, inverters etc.) and a hybrid control unit. The main job of the hybrid controller unit is to ensure appropriate balancing between PV power generation and diesel power generation, taking into account the operational limits of the diesel gensets and the characteristics of the load. The control units used in PV-diesel hybrid mini-grids currently available for systems ranging in size from a few 100 kW through to several MW. It continuously monitors the load and the power production of the diesel generators. If the operational limits of the diesel generators are exceeded, they restrict PV power generation in order to allow more diesel-generator power generation. Some control units can also control the starting and stopping of the individual diesel generators, taking into account power output of the PV plant and the loads, in order to operate the system in the most economical configuration (the configuration that saves the most fuel). The DC power from the PV modules is converted into AC power using standard grid-tied inverters. The inverters feed in AC power at the existing plant’s AC bus bar. Power distribution is via the already existing mini grid lines (AG, Planning ofPV-diesel hybrid power stations, 2016).
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Figure 6 Solar PV diesel hybrid system configuration
CHAPTER 3: OVERVIEW OF EGYPT’S ELECTRICITY SECTOR
3.1 INTRODUCTION
The Arab Republic of Egypt has a unique geographical position in Northeast Africa and at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Egypt is at the center of the Arab world with a great position on the Mediterranean and Red Seas and a connection to sub-Saharan Africa through the Nile Valley. The country’s population is 101,371,895? The total land area is 995,450 sq.km (Worldatlas, 2019).The population density is 102 per sq.km (Worldometers, 2019). The population is growing very fast and hence the electricity market is huge and as well expanding very rapidly.
3.2 EGYPT’S ENERGY SECTOR
Electricity service was first introduced in Egypt in 1893, it was running exclusively by private companies. In 1962, all the electrical private companies were nationalized, and the government became the sole owner and operator of all the electrical utilities in the country. In 1964, the Ministry of Electricity was first established in Egypt. In 1965, the three main authorities of electricity in Egypt which are; the Generation Authority, the Distribution authority, and the project implementation authority were replaced by the public Egyptian Establishment for Electricity that was responsible for managing and operating the whole electricity business chain in the country. In 1976 and through the Egyptian electricity law no.12, the Public Egyptian Establishment was replaced by the Egyptian Electric Authority (EEA). In 1978 and under the supervision of the EEA, seven electricity distribution companies were established that are divided geographically among the country. In 1996, the electricity private sector became allowed to have concession agreement by the Egyptian law no.100. In 1997 and under the presidential decree 399/2000, the Egyptian Electric Utility and consumer protection agency was established to regulate and monitor the electric utility framework. In 2000 and by law no. 164, the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) was established to replace the EEA which is responsible for conventional electricity. Then in 2001, the EEHC has legally unbundled the electricity business chain in Egypt into Generation companies, Transmission companies, and Distribution companies. Currently, the Egyptian electric utility system is represented by the EEHC which consists of 16 subsidiaries divided geographically as 9 distribution companies, 6 production companies, and 1 transmission company.1
New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) was established in 1986. It is one of the authorities affiliated to the Ministry of Electricity & Renewable Energy. The “Hydro Power Projects Execution Authority” is currently an independent authority, however, there are negotiations nowadays to merge it under NREA in the near future since there is a promising future for hydropower projects in Egypt. NREA is meant to be the national focal point for developing and introducing renewable energy (RE) technologies in Egypt on a commercial scale along with implementation of related energy conservation programs in the country with a clear vision of increasing the share of RE in the energy mix and a strategy to reach 20% of the installed capacity from renewables by 2022 and 42% by the year 2035.
3.3 SOLAR ENERGY RESOURCES AND POTENTIAL IN EGYPT
In fact, Egypt is one of the richest countries in the world in solar energy and one of the most suitable solar belt countries for solar energy applications. The following figure shows the solar resource map of Egypt. The results of the Atlas Sun Egypt show that the average direct solar irradiation is between 2000 and 3200 kWh/m2/year from North to South and the average sunshine hours are between 9.3 and 10.8 hours/day, in the North the sunshine hours are between 6 to 8 hours per day and in the Southern part, the sunshine hours reach 8 to 10 hours per day, however, it increases in the summer during June and July to reach almost 12 hours per day, which indeed provides good opportunities to make excellent use Solar energy is a sustainable renewable source of energy. It is a natural source of energy which can be used to generate other forms of energy such as heat, electricity or even fuel for cars. Through the use of solar photovoltaic modules, electricity can be directly generated and thus will allow for abandoning the public electricity grid and the dependency on fossil energy resources. Acquiring electricity from the solar energy power plants will not require a lot of maintenance work since the periodic maintenance required for maintaining the regularity of the system operation is very little compared to what is needed for a similar conventional fossil-fueled power plant. In addition to that, solar panels are a very silent source of energy, they do not make noise while converting the sunlight to electric energy.
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The crisis of electricity outages in 2014 was the main driving force for most of the legal frameworks, laws, and decrees that the government started to issue starting from July 2014 to encourage the increase in the share of the renewable energy mix. Electricity tariff reform was a very important milestone that encouraged the private sector to invest in RE in Egypt. The current RE share is 4% only within the Egyptian electricity mix, which means a big number of RE projects to be implemented in the future, however, currently an installed capacity surplus of around 15 GW is hindering NREA’s plan. The 4 GW of RE installed capacity in Egypt is divided into 70% hydro, 25% of wind farms, 4.3% from PV (excluding Benban complex) and 0.7% from Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology (IRENA, Renewable Energy Outlook: Egypt, 2018).
There are around 250 certified Photovoltaics (PV) installation companies with allowable installing capacity less than 500 kW, and according to data that NREA collected from 95 companies, 65 MW grid-connected PV projects are implemented and 18 MW off-grid PV projects. However, the figures for off-grid installations might not be as accurate as it should be since there is still no defined regulations and authorizations required from NREA for the implementation of such projects, although in the near future there will be legal frameworks and obligations for off-grid projects as well (NREA, Egypt’s Renewable Energy Journey:Outlining Egypt’s Renewable Energy Roadmap, 2019).
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Energy policies and incentive decrees are the main pillars of achieving the RE strategy for Egypt. The current policies are focusing on competitive bidding such as EPC and BOO systems for the private sector. The merchant scheme which allows independent power producers (IPP) as a private-sector party to sell the electricity directly to the consumer is also available besides the feed-in-tariff and net-metering schemes. The net-metering scheme has been issued by the Egyptian Protection and Regulatory Agency (EgyptERA) -through Periodical Book No. 3 for 2017- to encourage the customers for installing solar PV systems. The net-metering scheme is currently available up to 20 MW for every single project. The potential projects for such scheme are industry, resorts, hotels as well as residential compounds.
The Egyptian government has a clear vision at the moment to increase the share of its RE in the energy mix by having a strategic targets of satisfying 20% of the installed capacity from renewable energies by the year 2022 and 42% by the year 2035 through the mentioned current available policies such as; competitive bidding, the merchant scheme, feed-in-tariff, and net-metering scheme (NREA, Outlining Egypt’s Renewable Energy Roadmap, 2019).
Renewable energy prices are currently below grid parity, precisely PV and Wind, which encourages further development in the RE sector. Although Egypt has a comprehensive legal framework for RE, yet enhancements are still needed to catch up with the market developments. Progress in the RE market is very much linked to the development in the electricity market in general and implementing existing plans to move forward to a competitive market since the energy strategy is targeting 42% of the electricity generated to come from RE sources by 2035 still several technical challenges in the Egyptian market needs to be overcome in order to achieve such target including; reliable grid network availability, grid stability that could be able to absorb the electricity generation from those new RE installed plants and allocating enough lands to implement such projects. Resource assessment is a must for private sector investors and project developers to have. Nevertheless, NREA already invested many efforts into developing Egypt’s Solar and wind Atlases in addition to the allocation of lands for renewable energy projects. Renewable energy policies, regulations, and decrees are also very important when it comes to attracting the private sector investors. Finance is the main pillar for mega project investments, however Benban PV solar park in Aswan “the largest in the world” is a great proof for the successful capturing of the abandoned solar energy which shows the solar potential in Egypt that encouraged the international financiers and international lenders to invest (NREA, Outlining Egypt’s Renewable Energy Roadmap, 2019).
3.4 RED SEA ENERGY SITUATION
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There are still isolated touristic cities and whole private businesses in Egypt that are fully dependent on diesel gen-sets to generate their electricity demands. Earlier the whole southern coast of the Red Sea from Quseir and further south to Barnis was not connected to the national electricity grid. However, the recent governmental plan for the development of the national electricity grid aims to provide quality reliable services and energy sources that help in opening new gates for the investments in Egypt, especially in the tourism sector. It wasjust in September 2019, when El Quseir city got connected to the national grid through transformers station with a capacity of 100 MW. However, there is still more than 300 km along the southeast coast of the Red Sea from El Quseir to Marsa Alam and from there to Barnis relies mainly on burning diesel to supply their needs of electricity demands. Currently, there is a plan to extend a 220-kV transmission line along that 300 km to achieve an important milestone in the development plan of this area and hence, put it on the touristic map of Egypt.
Retrofitting the existent diesel micro-grids along this way with solar PV-diesel-hybrid power systems can be a very attractive solution compared to the current diesel and fossil fuels electricity generators. Even though when the whole southern part is connected to the national grid in the future, the solar PV systems can be then also connected to the grid through the active net-metering scheme to have a cleaner and lower-cost electricity from renewable power sources.
CHAPTER 4: SOLAR PV SYSTEM YIELD SIMULATION
4.1 SELECTED LOCATION, SITE DESCRIPTION AND SOLAR ENERGY POTENTIAL
Marsa Alam is located in the eastern part of Egypt on the western shore of the Red Sea with a vast tourism potential. Twenty years before, Marsa Alam wasjust a little more than a sleepy fishy town and then by the beginning of 1990s, its virgin beaches and the fascinating coral reefs were then recognized. However, this gem on earth is isolated from the national electricity and water grids and depends mainly on burning fossil fuels to generate its electricity and fulfilling its freshwater demand through sea water desalination (Governorate, 2019).
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Figure 9 Marsa Alam, Egypt (source: google maps)
Die Abbildung wurde aus urheberrechtlichen Gründen von der Redaktion entfernt.
The off-grid beach resort used in this thesis as case study is located south of Marsa Alam city. It is a beautiful long sandy beach with some of the richest virgin reefs for water activities. The location of the resort holds a huge solar energy potential with a very high annual PV yield of1920 kWh/kWp.
4.2 CURRENT ENERGY SUPPLY SYSTEM IN THE OFF-GRID RESORT
The chosen off-grid resort is mainly dependent on diesel generators to generate its electricity demand as well as the fresh water supply through a desalination RO plant. Five diesel gensets with total capacity of 3,3 00 2 kVA formulates a micro-grid that feeds the resort with the required electricity demand along the year. Diesel generators are Caterpillar brand with capacities of 900, 800, 750, 600 and 250 kVA. Based on data collected from the resort through questionnaire in May 2019
4.3 ENERGY GENERATION FROM SOLAR PV AND YIELD SIMULATION
This part shows the simulation results of the PV system yield in the selected location by using PVSYST V6.79. First the location and weather data were determined as input parameters for the simulation. Then components selection step was conducted to insert the input variable parameters of the component’s characteristics. Then all the expected losses are considered as variable inputs to achieve as accurate as possible simulation output results. Components datasheets are attached in Appendix A.
4.3.1 LOCATION AND WEATHER DATA- INPUT SIMULATION PARAMETERS
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PV collector plane orientation3
4.3.2 SOLAR PV ARRAY CHARACTERISTICS- INPUT SIMULATION PARAMETERS
First-generation solar cells - crystalline silicon - the wafer-based crystalline silicon (c-Si) technology, either single crystalline (sc-Si) or multi-crystalline (mc-Si) are chosen here in this case study for some reasons. First, they are fully commercial. It dominates the market with their low costs and has the best commercially available efficiency. They are a relatively mature PV technology, with a wide range of well-established manufacturers (IRENA, Volume 1: Power Sector Issue 4/5, 2012). Poly crystalline modules were preferred here in the case study over the mono crystalline. Since Poly crystalline will produce less power per square foot due to their lower efficiency rate however, there is plenty of unused free land in this project which made us choose the poly-Si modules technology.
Considering 22 PV modules connected in series as a string and 5 parallel-connected strings per one inverter as an initial reference system in the selected location. The following parameters are the input simulation parameters for the chosen solar PV module Total no. ofPV modules Nominal array power (STC) Array power at (50°C)
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4.3.3 DC-AC INVERTER CHARACTERISTICS- INPUT SIMULATION PARAMETERS
A simulation of one inverter with nominal power equals to 30.0 kW as an initial size was performed in PVSYST simulation software (V6.79) to simulate the potential behavior of the entire plant in the selected location. The following table shows the inverter characteristics.
Table 4 input simulation parameters- DC/AC inverter4
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4.3.4 INPUT SIMULATION PARAMETERS- PRE-DETERMINED LOSSES
Table 5 input simulation parameters- losses
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4.3.5 PVSYST ANALYSIS AND YIELD FORECAST
The system yield evaluations are performed in monthly values, using the above-mentioned system characteristics and input parameters. By having a 5x22 string configuration per inverter with the chosen 275 Wp modules, one inverter will have 30.0 kWp connected on the DC side. A simulation of this initial size was performed in PVSYST to represent the potential behavior ofthe entire plant. Other expected losses are embedded in the model from the software. The initial system simulation result is shown in the following figure.
[...]
1 Based on the latest united nations estimates (August 2019)
2 Based on data collected from the resort through questionnaire in May 2019
3 PVGIS ©European Union, 2001-2017.
4 PVSYST simulation for the selected location, database: PVGIS.
- Quote paper
- Gehad Elabnoudy (Author), 2020, Solar Photovoltaics -Diesel Hybrid System for an Off-Grid Resort with Desalination Loads, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/540656
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