Optimal management of compressed air energy storage in a hybrid wind-pneumatic-diesel system for remote area's power generation

Electricity in Canadian remote areas is, historically, produced using Diesel generators. Its total production cost is very high not only due to inherent cost of fuel but also due to transportation and maintenance costs. Moreover, the use of fossil fuels is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Hybrid systems that combine wind turbines and diesel generators reduce fuel consumption, operational cost and pollution. Adding a storage element to this hybrid system increases the penetration level of renewable sources, i.e. the percentage of renewable energy in the overall production, and further improves fuel savings. Among all energy storage techniques, CAES (compressed air energy storage) has several advantages to be combined with hybrid WDS (wind-diesel systems), due to its low cost, high power density and reliability. In a previous work, we have exposed and have evaluated a new technique to transform the existing Diesel engine to a HPCE (hybrid pneumatic combustion engine), able to operate as a bi-source engine (compressed air and fuel). Based on ideal cycle modeling, we provided a first estimation of the annual fuel economy obtained with this multi-hybrid system (WDS–HPCE). As a continuity to this work, we will compare, in this article, several strategies of management of the CAES. We will demonstrate that one of these strategies that uses an algorithm based on wind speed forecast, is the most efficient. We will, also, provide an evaluation of the fuel economy generated by the WDS–HPCE, as a function of the wind power penetration ratio, the air-storage capacity, and the average wind speed on site.