10.1007/s40095-021-00391-3

Economic investigation of repowering of the existing wind farms with hybrid wind and solar power plants: a case study

  • K. Boopathi*1,
  • S. Ramaswamy1,
  • V. Kirubakaran1,
  • K. Uma2,
  • G. Saravanan3,
  • S. Thyagaraj3,
  • K. Balaraman2,
  1. The Gandhigram Rural Institute - Deemed University, Dindigul, IN
  2. National Institute of Wind Energy, Chennai, IN
  3. ITCOT Consultancy and Services Limited , Chennai, IN

Published in Issue 2021-04-17

How to Cite

Boopathi, K., Ramaswamy, S., Kirubakaran, V., Uma, K., Saravanan, G., Thyagaraj, S., & Balaraman, K. (2021). Economic investigation of repowering of the existing wind farms with hybrid wind and solar power plants: a case study. International Journal of Energy and Environmental Engineering, 12(4 (December 2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40095-021-00391-3
Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC

Abstract

Abstract In Tamil Nadu, India, the old wind turbines installed in 1988 have to be repowered and replaced by modern/advanced technological wind turbines. A solar power plant can be set up using the vast area between the wind turbines on the farm. The economic evaluation must be carried out to determine whether this hybrid project is economically beneficial. This article aims to examine the financial viability of repowering old wind turbines with solar power plants’ inclusion. According to the initial investment costs specified within fixed areas and the distance between turbines, the issue is articulated as optimizing the net present value (NPV) of the project. In this study, the economic investigation on the wind farm located in Kayathar was explored by replacing 30 numbers of 200 kW old wind turbines with modern wind turbines of 2000–3000 kW and installing the solar power plant between wind turbines, excluding the shadow region of wind turbines. The HOMER Pro software and Excel spreadsheet were used to analyze the optimal allocation, economic, electricity production, and sensitivity analyses of the effective hybrid systems. The value of electricity prices was measured using the levelized cost of energy and NPV methods. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis of the chosen parameters for the internal rate of return and debt service coverage ratio was estimated for wind and solar hybridization. The economic analysis suggests satisfactory profitability for the project, even without depending on subsidies. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis helps one see the consequences of the risk on the life of the wind farm and its impact on the project’s productivity and performance.

Keywords

  • Wind turbine generator,
  • Repowering,
  • Annual energy production,
  • Net present value,
  • Solar power plant,
  • Levelized cost of energy

References

  1. India wind outlook towards 2022: looking behind headwinds report, Global Wind Energy Council
  2. Indian renewable energy industry report (2020) August
  3. http://gwec.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/IWEO_2011_lowres.pdf
  4. Goyal (2010) Repowering-next big thing in India 14(5) (pp. 1400-1409) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2010.01.002
  5. Klunne, W.E., Beurskens, H.J.M., Westra, C.: Wind repowering in the Netherlands Energy Research Foundation (2001)
  6. Cabrejas-Azagra, A., Gómez, J., Lusilla-Hombría, D., Santos-Herrín, M.: Repotenciación de parqueseólicos. Technical report, Escuela de Oganización Industrial (2011)
  7. Chen (2011) (pp. 75-175) Springer https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7820-2
  8. Villena-Ruiz et al. (2018) A techno-economic analysis of a real wind farm repowering experience: the Malpica case (pp. 182-199) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2018.07.024
  9. Nivedh et al. (2013) Repowering of wind farms-a case study 37(2) (pp. 137-150) https://doi.org/10.1260/0309-524X.37.2.137
  10. Prabu and Kottayil (2015) Repowering a windfarm—“a techno-economic approach” 39(4) (pp. 385-395) https://doi.org/10.1260/0309-524X.39.4.385
  11. Castro et al. (2016) Is it economically possible repowering wind farms, a general analysis in Spain https://doi.org/10.24084/REPQJ09.603
  12. Del Río et al. (2011) Policies and design elements for the repowering of wind farms: a qualitative analysis of different options 39(4) (pp. 1897-1908) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2010.12.035
  13. Pookpunt et al. (2020) A comprehensive techno-economic analysis for optimally placed wind farms (pp. 2161-2179) https://doi.org/10.1007/s00202-020-01014-6
  14. Gölçek et al. (2007) A techno-economical evaluation for installation of suitable wind energy plants in Western Marmara Turkey (pp. 407-428) https://doi.org/10.1260/014459807783791791
  15. Gungor et al. (2019) Analysis of wind energy potential and Weibull parameter estimation methods: a case study from Turkey https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-019-02566-2
  16. Li et al. (2012) Feasibility analysis of applying the wind-solar hybrid generation system in pastoral area Springer
  17. Ohunakin et al. (2013) Economic analysis of wind energy conversion systems using levelized cost of electricity and present value cost methods in Nigeria https://doi.org/10.1186/2251-6832-4-
  18. Agrawal M., Saxena B.K., Rao K.V.S.: Techno-economic analysis of a grid-connected hybrid solar–wind energy system (2019)
  19. Adaramola et al. (2012) Techno-economic evaluation of wind energy in southwest Nigeria (pp. 366-378) https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-012-0205-y
  20. Kassem et al. (2019) Modeling of techno-economic assessment on wind energy potential at three selected coastal regions in Lebanon (pp. 1037-1049) https://doi.org/10.1007/s40808-019-00589-9
  21. Anoune et al. (2019) Techno-economic investigation of solar-wind potential to power an industrial prototype using a hybrid renewable energy system https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-019-1358-7
  22. Eltamaly et al. (2014) Economic modeling of hybrid renewable energy system: a case study in Saudi Arabia (pp. 3827-3839) https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-014-0945-6
  23. Wyrobek J., Was J., Zachara M.: Simulation-based analysis of wind farms’ economic viability. In: Swiatek, J., Borzemski, L., Wilimowska, Z. (Eds.) Information Systems Architecture and Technology: Proceedings of 38th International Conference on Information Systems Architecture and Technology—ISAT 2017. ISAT 2017. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol. 656. Springer, Cham (2018)
  24. Bennaceur et al. (2019) Technical and economic viability of a wind farm installed in a windy area of Algerian western south region https://doi.org/10.1007/s41207-018-0088-3
  25. Tudu et al. (2012) Techno-economic feasibility analysis of hybrid renewable energy system using improved version of particle swarm optimization Springer
  26. Javed and Tao (2019) Techno-economic assessment of a hybrid solar–wind–battery system with genetic algorithm https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2019.01.211
  27. Atherton et al. (2017) Techno-economic analysis of energy storage systems for application in wind farms https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2017.06.151
  28. Li et al. (2019) Techno-economic performance study of stand-alone wind/diesel/battery hybrid system with different battery technologies in the cold region of China https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2019.116702
  29. Azerefegn et al. (2019) Techno-economic analysis of grid-integrated PV/wind systems for electricity reliability enhancement in Ethiopian industrial park https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2019.101915
  30. Ahmad et al. (2018) Techno economic analysis of a wind-photovoltaic-biomass hybrid renewable energy system for rural electrification: a case study of KallarKahar https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2018.01.133
  31. Ramli et al. (2016) Techno-economic energy analysis of wind/solar hybrid system: case study for western coastal area of Saudi Arabia https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2016.01.071
  32. Vendoti et al. (2021) Techno-economic analysis of off-grid solar/wind/biogas/biomass/fuel cell/battery system for electrification in a cluster of villages by HOMER software (pp. 351-372) https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00583-2
  33. Taner (2018) Economic analysis of a wind power plant: a case study for the Cappadocia region 32(3) (pp. 1379-1389) https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-018-0241-6
  34. Ramli et al. (2016) Techno-economic energy analysis of wind/solar hybrid system: case study for western coastal area of Saudi Arabia (pp. 374-385) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2016.01.071
  35. Golovanov, N., Lazaroiu, G.C., Porumb, R.: Wind generation assessment proposal by experimental harmonic and distortion factor analysis. In: 2013 48th International Universities’ Power Engineering Conference (UPEC), Dublin, Ireland, pp. 1–4 (2013).
  36. https://doi.org/10.1109/UPEC.2013.6715045
  37. Dumbrava, V., Ulmeanu, A.P., Scutariu, M., Lazaroiu, C., Duquenne, P.: Analysis of reliability aspects of wind power generation in Romania using Markov models. In: IET Conference on Renewable Power Generation (RPG 2011), Edinburgh, 2011, pp. 1–5.
  38. https://doi.org/10.1049/cp.2011.0173
  39. Golovanov et al. (2013) Power quality assessment in small scale renewable energy sources supplying distribution systems 6(2) (pp. 634-645) https://doi.org/10.3390/en6020634
  40. Kadhirvel, B., Ramaswamy, S., Kirubakaran, V., Bastin, J., ShobanaDevi, A., Kanagavel, P., Balaraman, K.: Optimization of the wind farm layout by repowering the old wind farm and integrating solar power plants: A case study. Int. J. Renewable Energy Res-IJRER.
  41. 10
  42. (3), (2020)