Renewable Energy Production and Storage Options and their Economic Impacts in Hungary

The study reviews the most relevant renewable energy sources, focusing on their possible application, economic aspects and potential for Hungary. Feasibility and economic analysis is made for plant-sized photovoltaic devices, wind turbines, geothermal power plants and biomass power plants. It was found that solar cell technology has the highest revenue. However, its further spread is limited by several factors, such as the reactive effect on the energy market, grid problems, and weather dependency. A possible solution for these problems is to use energy storage systems. For the sake of simplicity, only the economically mature technologies are investigated, including pumped hydroelectric storage, batteries, green hydrogen production, and thermal energy storage connected to a heat power plant. The payback calculations require a simple simulation algorithm to calculate the revenue using Hungarian data. With the simulation, the most important economic indicators are estimated. As a result of these calculations, we suggest a pumped hydroelectric storage to be built, or if it is impossible, the Paks 2 nuclear plant should be completed with a thermal energy storage facility

Optimal management of pumped hydroelectric production with state constrained optimal control

We present a novel technique to solve the problem of managing optimally a pumped hydroelectric storage system. This technique relies on representing the system as a stochastic optimal control problem with state constraints, these latter corresponding to the finite volume of the reservoirs. Following the recent level-set approach presented in O. Bokanowski, A. Picarelli, H. Zidani, "State-constrained stochastic optimal control problems via reachability approach", SIAM J. Control and Optim. 54 (5) (2016) , we transform the original constrained problem in an auxiliary unconstrained one in augmented state and control spaces, obtained by introducing an exact penalization of the original state constraints. The latter problem is fully treatable by classical dynamic programming arguments

JME 4110: Water Reservoir Energy Storage

The goal of this project was to create a demonstrative model of a Pumped Hydroelectric Storage System (PHS). A PHS stores energy by draining water from an upper reservoir through a turbine to generate electricity. This water is then pumped from a lower reservoir to the original upper reservoir to restart the system cycle. Using existing PHS applications, a small-scale prototype was built using an aquarium pump and mini turbine, along with PVC and plastic containers. When water is run through the system, a multimeter can be used to show the power output of the system. In addition to functionality, the system was designed to be portable, have low power consumption, and low maintenance for the user

Experimental Investigation of Spray Cooling/Heating of a Near-Isothermal Hydro-Pneumatic Energy Storage System

Proposing experimental investigation of spray cooling/heating of a near-isothermal, scalable, efficient, high density, hydro-pneumatic integrated energy storage system; capable of spray cooling/heating during gas compression/expansion and capable of excess heat integration. The invented Ground-Level Integrated Diverse Energy Storage (GLIDES) is an energy storage technology capable of storing energy in high-pressure vessel using hydro-pneumatic concept. Indicated roundtrip efficiencies of 98% can be reached using the proposed technology marking an isothermal compression/expansion energy storage

Energy Storage: Technology for a More Efficient Grid

Energy storage technologies have the potential to revolutionize the electric grid by allowing for the integration of renewable generation while increasing the utilization and efficiency of current grid assets. These technologies include pumped hydroelectric storage, compressed air energy storage (CAES), flywheels, batteries, thermal energy storage (TES), super capacitors, and superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES). While energy storage has been implemented in some areas, its benefits are greatly undervalued by current regulatory frameworks leading to suboptimal outcomes for grid operators, utilities, and ratepayers. Large-scale adoption of storage technologies will require regulatory frameworks that recognize the benefits of grid-scale storage across generation, and transmission and distribution. This thesis discusses the need for storage, currently available and developing storage technologies, and the present regulatory environment

A Methodology for Assessing the Feasibility of Pumped Hydroelectric Storage within Existing USACE Facilities

Variable, renewable energy (VRE) generation such as solar power has seen a rapid increase in usage over the past decades. These power generation sources offer benefits due to their low marginal costs and reduced emissions. However, VRE assets are not dispatchable, which can result in a mismatch of the electric supply and demand curves. Pumped-storage hydropower (PSH) seeks to solve this by pumping water uphill during times of excess energy production and releasing the water back downhill through turbines during energy shortages, thus serving as a rechargeable battery. Creating new PSH systems, however, requires a large amount of capital and suitable locations. The United States Army Corps. of Engineers (USACE) is the largest producer of hydroelectric power within the United States, and as such, may have favorable sites for the addition of PSH. This study seeks to develop a method for evaluating these existing hydroelectric facilities using techno-economic methods to assess the potential for adding PSH. Each USACE facility was evaluated based on site specific characteristics from previously unpublished data to estimate the power generation and energy storage potential. The temporal nature of local wholesale electricity prices was accounted for to help estimate the financial feasibility of varying locations. Sensitivity analysis was performed to highlight how the method would identify the viability of facilities with different operational conditions. The methodologies detailed in this study will inform decision-making processes, and help enable a sustainable electric grid

Large scale underground energy storage for renewables integration: general criteria for reservoir identification and viable technologies.

The increasing integration of renewable energies in the electricity grid contributes considerably to achieve the European Union goals on energy and Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions reduction. However, it also brings problems to grid management. Large scale energy storage can provide the means for a better integration of the renewable energy sources, for balancing supply and demand, to increase energy security, to enhance a better management of the grid and also to converge towards a low carbon economy. Geological formations have the potential to store large volumes of fluids with minimal impact to environment and society. One of the ways to ensure a large scale energy storage is to use the storage capacity in geological reservoir. In fact, there are several viable technologies for underground energy storage, as well as several types of underground reservoirs that can be considered. The geological energy storage technologies considered in this research were: Underground Gas Storage (UGS), Hydrogen Storage (HS), Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES), Underground Pumped Hydro Storage (UPHS) and Thermal Energy Storage (TES). For these different types of underground energy storage technologies there are several types of geological reservoirs that can be suitable, namely: depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs, aquifers, salt formations and caverns, engineered rock caverns and abandoned mines. Specific site screening criteria are applicable to each of these reservoir types and technologies, which determines the viability of the reservoir itself, and of the technology for any particular site. This paper presents a review of the criteria applied in the scope of the Portuguese contribution to the EU funded project ESTMAP – Energy Storage Mapping and Planning

Factors Affecting the Performance of Photo-voltaic Solar Energy Storage

One of the most important factors in a nation\u27s development is energy availability. All the aspects of its economy are directly proportional to the energy resources. Oil is one of the most sought energy resources currently. Solar energy is one of the most important renewable sources of energy available to us. With oil deposits depleting and current global warming, there is an emphasis on using more and more renewable sources or clean energy. This has led to immense research on solar cells and how it could better be used to get maximum output. Storage of energy is another aspect that is studied most as this stored energy could be used as and when required. This study aims to study the factors that affect the performance of solar energy storage. This study will be conducted by identifying and analyzing different factors that influence the solar energy storage. The goal of this research is to find the factors that affect energy storage and identify which factors has the greatest effect on its efficiency and suggest better and innovative ways that could help energy storage in a positive way