Matagira Sánchez, José R.
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Publication Restricted Economic feasibility study of micro pumped hydro and battery energy storage for the integration of solar photovoltaic energy into the grid(2016) Matagira Sánchez, José R.; Irizarry Rivera, Agustín A.; College of Engineering; Aponte Bezares, Erick E.; O'Neill Carrillo, Efraín; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Curbelo Ortiz, Aury M.The use of fossil fuels in the production of electric energy has raised some concerns over the last years; their finite nature, cost and environmental impact are the most important issues. This has resulted in the study and development of alternative energy sources that include solar photovoltaic as one of the most common. Integrating the energy produced from this kind of renewable sources represents a challenge due to its variability and intermittency, reason why some of the renewable energy producers are subject to an integration limit or curtailment by the utility. In this thesis we perform an economic feasibility study of micro pumped hydro and batteries for the integration of solar photovoltaic energy into Puerto Rico’s electric grid. To this end, a total of fourteen scenarios have been simulated and analyzed, these scenarios are PV facilities that inject a portion of the energy produced during the day into the electric grid, whereas the energy subject to curtailment is stored and then integrated at night. Some of the parameters that vary from case to case include installed PV capacity, integration limit, cost of the storage technology and selling price of the energy stored. Results show that the net present value for all scenarios simulated is positive, which means they are economically feasible when energy is sold at an escalated price of $0.185/kWh during the day and $0.195/kWh or more during the night. Optimum size for the storage system corresponding to each case is also found. The use of energy storage systems leads to an increase in the penetration of renewable energy into Puerto Rico’s electric grid.