Kauai Island Utility Co-op (KIUC) PV Integration Study

Technical Report · Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1035325· OSTI ID:1035325

Ellis, Abraham ^[1]; Mousseau, Tom ^[2]

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1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
2. EnerNex Corporation, Knoxville, TN (United States)

This report investigates the effects that increased distributed photovoltaic (PV) generation would have on the Kauai Island Utility Co-op (KIUC) system operating requirements. The study focused on determining reserve requirements needed to mitigate the impact of PV variability on system frequency, and the impact on operating costs. Scenarios of 5-MW, 10-MW, and 15-MW nameplate capacity of PV generation plants distributed across the Kauai Island were considered in this study. The analysis required synthesis of the PV solar resource data and modeling of the KIUC system inertia. Based on the results, some findings and conclusions could be drawn, including that the selection of units identified as marginal resources that are used for load following will change; PV penetration will displace energy generated by existing conventional units, thus reducing overall fuel consumption; PV penetration at any deployment level is not likely to reduce system peak load; and increasing PV penetration has little effect on load-following reserves. The study was performed by EnerNex under contract from Sandia National Laboratories with cooperation from KIUC.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 1035325
• Report Number(s): SAND--2011-7541
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
CAPACITY
COOPERATIVES
ELECTRIC UTILITIES
FUEL CONSUMPTION
HAWAII
OPERATING COST
PEAK LOAD
PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER PLANTS
PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER SUPPLIES
SIMULATION
SOLAR ENERGY
SYNTHESIS