Feasibility study of the grid connected 10 MW installed capacity PV power plants in Saudi Arabia

The study presents technical, environmental and economic aspects for the selection of viable sites for constructing 10MW installed capacity grid connected photovoltaic power plants in Saudi Arabia. Available photovoltaic modules are analyzed and one is chosen for the analysis. Meteorological data like global solar radiation, sunshine duration, dry bulb temperature, and relative humidity was used to conduct the feasibility analysis using RETScreen software in terms of energy production, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and financial parameters for the 44 sites. Bisha is found to be the best site for the installation of 10MW installed capacity grid connected photovoltaic power plant due to highest solar radiation intensity and longer sunshine duration. Both of these factors contribute to higher energy yield and less GHG emissions. On the lower extreme, Sulayel is found to be generating minimum energy from the same installed capacity of PV panels. Finally, it is recommended to commence constructing large grid-connected photovoltaic plant at Bisha with 70% government grant because the electricity export rate in Saudi Arabia is 72.57% cheaper than global price.

[1]  Shafiqur Rehman,et al.  Photovoltaic technology of electricity generation for desert camping , 2006 .

[2]  Ravita D. Prasad,et al.  Grid-connected PV systems in the Pacific Island Countries , 2016 .

[3]  S. M. Pietruszko,et al.  Performance of a grid connected small PV system in Poland , 2003 .

[4]  Huan Yang,et al.  Topologies and control strategies of multi-functional grid-connected inverters for power quality enhancement: A comprehensive review , 2013 .

[5]  B. Numbi,et al.  Optimal energy cost and economic analysis of a residential grid-interactive solar PV system- case of eThekwini municipality in South Africa , 2017 .

[6]  V. Indragandhi,et al.  Review of grid integration schemes for renewable power generation system , 2014 .

[7]  Sivasankari Sundaram,et al.  Performance evaluation and validation of 5 MWp grid connected solar photovoltaic plant in South India , 2015 .

[8]  D. Milosavljević,et al.  Performance analysis of A grid-connected solar PV plant in Niš, republic of Serbia , 2015 .

[9]  A. Paudel,et al.  Economic analysis of a grid-connected commercial photovoltaic system at Colorado State University-Pueblo , 2013 .

[10]  Mehran Ameri,et al.  Technical and economic assessments of grid-connected photovoltaic power plants: Iran case study , 2016 .

[11]  Danny H.W. Li,et al.  A study of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) system in Hong Kong , 2012 .

[12]  Enzo Sauma,et al.  Review of grid-tie micro-generation systems without energy storage: Towards a new approach to sustainable hybrid energy systems linked to energy efficiency , 2013 .

[13]  E. E. van Dyk,et al.  Analysis of measured and simulated performance data of a 3.2 kWp grid-connected PV system in Port Elizabeth, South Africa , 2015 .

[14]  Shafiqur Rehman,et al.  Performance Evaluation of a PV Module under Climatic Conditions of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia , 2015 .

[15]  L.A. Kojovic,et al.  Summary of Distributed Resources Impact on Power Delivery Systems , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery.

[16]  Sarat Kumar Sahoo,et al.  Application of soft computing methods for grid connected PV system: A technological and status review , 2017 .

[17]  Houria Boumaaraf,et al.  A three-phase NPC grid-connected inverter for photovoltaic applications using neural network MPPT , 2015 .

[18]  Gustavo Nofuentes,et al.  Analysis of current and voltage indicators in grid connected PV (photovoltaic) systems working in faulty and partial shading conditions , 2015 .

[19]  Ahmed M. Kassem,et al.  Review, analysis and improving the utilization factor of a PV-grid connected system via HERIC transformerless approach , 2017 .

[20]  Shafiqur Rehman,et al.  A wind-solar PV hybrid power system with battery backup for water pumping in remote localities , 2016 .

[21]  Didier Beloin-Saint-Pierre,et al.  Environmental impacts of large-scale grid-connected ground-mounted PV installations , 2011 .

[22]  A. K. M. Sadrul Islam,et al.  Potential and viability of grid-connected solar PV system in Bangladesh , 2011 .

[23]  Young Seok Jung,et al.  Performance results and analysis of 3kW grid-connected PV systems , 2007 .

[24]  Gilles Notton,et al.  Optimal sizing of a grid-connected PV system for various PV module technologies and inclinations, inverter efficiency characteristics and locations , 2010 .

[25]  Angelina H.M.E. Reinders,et al.  Reviewing the potential and cost-effectiveness of grid-connected solar PV in Indonesia on a provincial level , 2013 .

[26]  Ahmet Teke,et al.  Investigation of multilevel multifunctional grid connected inverter topologies and control strategies used in photovoltaic systems , 2015 .

[27]  M. A. Bader,et al.  Cost of solar energy generated using PV panels , 2007 .

[28]  Shafiqur Rehman,et al.  Performance evaluation of an off-grid photovoltaic system in Saudi Arabia , 2012 .

[29]  Qiang Yao,et al.  Life cycle assessment of grid-connected photovoltaic power generation from crystalline silicon solar modules in China , 2016 .

[30]  K. Fahd,et al.  Economical Feasibility of Utilizing Photovoltaics for Water Pumping in Saudi Arabia , 2012 .

[31]  Papa A. Ndiaye,et al.  Performance analysis of the first large-scale (15 MWp) grid-connected photovoltaic plant in Mauritania , 2016 .

[32]  José L. Bernal-Agustín,et al.  Techno-economic analysis of grid-connected battery storage , 2015 .

[33]  Kamaruzzaman Sopian,et al.  Actual performance and characteristic of a grid connected photovoltaic power system in the tropics: A short term evaluation , 2013 .

[34]  A. Hamidat,et al.  Feasibility study of grid connected photovoltaic system in family farms for electricity generation in rural areas , 2016 .

[35]  Shafiqur Rehman,et al.  A Combined Optical, Thermal and Electrical Performance Study of a V-Trough PV System—Experimental and Analytical Investigations , 2015 .

[36]  N. F. Guerrero-Rodríguez,et al.  Synchronization algorithms for grid-connected renewable systems: Overview, tests and comparative analysis , 2017 .

[37]  Ignacio J. Pérez-Arriaga,et al.  Prospects for grid-connected solar PV in Kenya: A systems approach , 2013 .

[38]  Robert B. Bass,et al.  Trends and challenges of grid-connected photovoltaic systems – A review , 2016 .

[39]  Nicola Pearsall,et al.  Near-term economic benefits from grid-connected residential PV (photovoltaic) systems , 2014 .

[40]  Ammar M. Al-Sabounchi,et al.  Design and performance evaluation of a photovoltaic grid-connected system in hot weather conditions , 2013 .

[41]  V. Ramachandran,et al.  Steady state analysis of high penetration PV on utility distribution feeder , 2012, PES T&D 2012.

[42]  Shafiqur Rehman,et al.  Performance Comparison of Diesel and Solar Photovoltaic Power Systems for Water Pumping in Saudi Arabia , 2015 .

[43]  Nor Asiah Muhamad,et al.  Grid-connected photovoltaic systems for Malaysian residential sector: Effects of component costs, feed-in tariffs, and carbon taxes , 2016 .

[44]  Alessandra Di Gangi,et al.  Five-years-long effects of the Italian policies for photovoltaics on the energy demand coverage of grid-connected PV systems installed in urban contexts , 2016 .

[45]  Iván Patrao,et al.  Transformerless topologies for grid-connected single-phase photovoltaic inverters , 2011 .

[46]  Indradip Mitra,et al.  Performance ratio – Crucial parameter for grid connected PV plants , 2016 .

[47]  Xu Ruhang,et al.  The restriction research for urban area building integrated grid-connected PV power generation potential , 2016 .

[48]  Jozsef Ladanyi,et al.  Comparison of different discharge strategies of grid-connected residential PV systems with energy storage in perspective of optimal battery energy storage system sizing , 2017 .

[49]  Khaled Sedraoui,et al.  Optimal sizing of grid-connected photovoltaic energy system in Saudi Arabia , 2015 .

[50]  A. Hamidat,et al.  Viability study of the use of grid connected photovoltaic system in agriculture: Case of Algerian dairy farms , 2016 .

[51]  Sarah McCormack,et al.  Validated Real-time Energy Models for Small-Scale Grid-Connected PV-Systems , 2010 .

[52]  Saad Mekhilef,et al.  Grid-connected isolated PV microinverters: A review , 2017 .

[53]  Mohsen Gitizadeh,et al.  Battery capacity determination with respect to optimized energy dispatch schedule in grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems , 2014 .