Learn How ETAP Helps in the Analysis of the Levelized Cost of Energy in Solar PV Plants

We have considered a 140 MW AC solar plant and various P50 Energy Yields of it. For all four cases, we have kept the modules, the inverter, the land cost, the electrical equipment, civil construction, and installation cost constant. The only variable component for the study was the generation of active and reactive energy by the inverters. Of course, we have used ETAP for Power Flow analysis.
By Mr. Mohammed Usama Shaikh, Electrical Design Engineer at SgurrEnergy

This case study examines the impact of reactive power compensation on distribution networks based on LCOE (Levelized Cost of Energy) analysis. With its various analysis modules, ETAP is used for network analysis, including load flow and energy cost analytics. The primary focus is to find a way to decrease energy losses caused by reactive power generated by DC/AC inverters in Solar PV.

SgurrEnergy was established in Glasgow, UK, in 2002 to excel in renewable energy consulting. With its in-depth expertise, the company progressed exponentially in renewable energy and assessed over 160GW of projects worldwide. Furthermore, with tremendous growth and expansion, SgurrEnergy has become a leading, reputable renewable engineering consultancy offering 360° services over the complete project lifecycle. They are actively working on large-scale utility projects in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Vietnam, Philippines, South Africa, Ukraine, Jordan, Australia, USA, and many more countries; the company is also rapidly expanding to the Far East, Africa, Americas, Middle East, and other Asian countries.

Location: Pune, Maharashtra, India

Year: 2022

Ensuring accurate LCOE analyzes to determine costs of energy production

Challenges

  • Finding a software tool to model the photovoltaic network with all symbols and behaviors used in PV installation, especially inverters, transformers, and capacitor banks.
  • Modeling the 140 MW PV network with different options according to the designed photovoltaic farm.
  • Software must implement variable power factors in research network models. The target power factor is 1, indicating that all solar energy is effectively converted into 100% power within the AC network. Typically, this value hovers around 0.9 and should be close to 1 to maximize energy efficiency.
  • Calculating electrical system performance by checking load flow, active and reactive power, and energy yield P50 in many cases. P50 Energy Yield (the annual energy production with 50% probability) should be calculated after 1 year of PV plant work and after a more extended period.
  • The designed model and calculation must meet national standards at every process step, and follow the high standards required by photovoltaic producers and installation companies.
  • Conducting feasibility studies with scenarios using specific electrical equipment, considering their parameters in the digital model to mitigate the effects of possible errors.

Which solutions did they choose?

Selected applications

They chose the full ETAP game of software enabling with Power Load Flow analyses, and ETAP Digital-Twin Modeling as the first solution to analyze, calculate, and set recommendations. 

ETAP ensured compliance with all photovoltaic standards for electrical designing and electrical calculations.

Why do they use ETAP?

Main Customer Benefits

  • The customer created the model of a photovoltaic plant accurately using the ETAP Digital Twin solution and a rich symbols library dedicated to the renewable industry.
  • According to the research, four plant configurations were created: the first case like an ideal case, the second case with inverters generating 10% reactive power, the third case with a capacitor bank, and the fourth case with a 50/50 split. Easy scenario definitions decided the utility of the ETAP solution.
  • The customer conducted a comparative study based on LCOE analysis, using ETAP Power Flow analysis as the main tool for calculation and visualization.
  • The difference between the worst scenario (second case with inverters generating 10% reactive power) and the best scenario (with capacitor bank) is about $2,5/MWh. It's a really high amount of money. This proves that robust analysis should be carried out before any photovoltaic offer or design. 
  • Thanks to ETAP analysis, a customer found the best, most cost-effective solution by using reactive power compensation equipment in the grid. After adding a capacitor bank to the ETAP virtual model, the P50 Energy Yield was near the ideal case.
  • The ETAP software supports PV industry designers and managers, enabling them to offer a guaranteed solution from a technical and business perspective.
  • Remark: This case study is only for one customer case. Every electrical design and ETAP model are different.

What do they think about ETAP?

Opinions

The paper aims to comprehensively analyze the performance and cost-based comparison of solar PV plants working for reactive power support with four configurations as shown in the ETAP model.
When you consider case two, the Energy Year decreases, the active and reactive energy decreases, and hence, the LCOE shoots up to around $2.00 per MW hour and $2.7 per MW hour.
By Mr. Mohammed Usama Shaikh, Electrical Design Engineer at SgurrEnergy

This is the scenario visualized in ETAP model. You can zoom onto the POI (Point of Interconnection) bus, and you come to know that the power fed from the inverters is 140 MW, and the power factor is 99%.
By Mr. Mohammed Usama Shaikh, Electrical Design Engineer at SgurrEnergy



Videos

Reactive Power based LCOE Analysis

High penetration of solar PV energy fed into an electrical grid brings its share of challenges making the grid volatile which requires stabilizing variable energy. This presentation addresses one such challenge, of voltage profile improvement with reactive power compensation at the point of interconnection. A solar PV plant is rated in terms of power (either AC or DC) and is typically not rated for their reactive counterparts (MVAr). IEEE 1547/UL 1741 compliant inverters will typically not have reactive power capability and operate with a unity power factor. Although modern inverters have a capacity to supply reactive power in the range of +0.9 lead/-0.9 lag, the PV plant is rated based on the AC power supplied by the inverter at unity PF. Operational data sourced from various plants in India suggest that a typical utility-scale PV plant provides reactive energy in the range of 7% to 10%. This leads to an inherent error in the per-unit cost calculation, as when the inverter providing the reactive power, the active power is hampered. This paper showcases a cost-to-benefit analysis of various scenarios, such as unity power.


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