Abstract:
Hydrokinetic power generation is currently gaining interest as a cost effective way of supplying isolated
areas where reasonable water resource is available. However the seasonal characteristic of the water
resource as well as the intermittent fluctuating load demand prevents this power generation system from
being entirely reliable without appropriate energy storage system. Few researchers have recently
analyzed the use of hydrokinetic systems as standalone or combined with other energy source, however
the authors of these researches did not explore other means of storing energy except for traditional
battery storage systems. In this study, the most conventional and established storage technology,
pumped hydro storage, is proposed to be used in conjunction with a standalone hydrokinetic system
in off-grid power supply. The techno-economic feasibility of such combination is analyzed and compared
to the option where batteries are considered as storage system. The operation principle of the system is
presented; the mathematical model and simulation model are also developed. Simulations are performed
using two different types of loads in rural South Africa as case studies to demonstrate the technical cost
advantages as well as the cost effectiveness of the proposed supply option. The results reveal that the
novel micro-pumped hydro storage based hydrokinetic system is a cost-effective, reliable and
environmentally friendly solution to achieve 100% energy autonomy in remote and isolated communities.
