Evaluating the potential of a hybrid solar - hydro power station

• Main Author: Ahmad Fadhli Abdul Malek
• Format: text
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: photovoltaics; hybrid; HOMER

Energy in the form of electricity is very essential in our daily life, it makes everything easier and much more comfortable. But, to generate electricity is somehow very tedious and sometimes effecting the environment heavily. Globally, the most common method of power generation is through the burning of fossil fuel which emits harmful elements to the atmosphere such as carbon dioxide which eventually will result into disastrous phenomenon such as global warming. Alternatively, renewable energy has been identified to reduce the reliance of power generation through fossil fuel. There are several renewable energy generation projects have been done in Malaysia which is vastly on solar power generation and hydro generation. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the potential of hybrid solar-hydro power station. The idea came from the initiatives to apply renewable energy but also saving space in the process. Sultan Mahmud Power Station has been chosen as the research are to evaluate the system. In this project, floating solar PV system is selected to be deployed onto the lake owned by the power station. A simulation software called HOMERPRO is used to the simulation and evaluate the data gathered. The simulation shows that with an initial capital cost of RM 27.4 million, the project’s return of investment is 8.3% with payback period of 8.1 years, which is significantly great in terms of its economics quality. The project is expected to aid the existing power station to generate electricity daily. The research done in this would be probably brought to the professionals at Sultan Mahmud Power Station for their evaluation.