11,8-100% Rural Renewable Energy and Power Supply and its Influence on the Luxembourgish Power System

in Energy Procedia (2015), 73

Currently, the majority of countries tries to reduce their dependency on fossil fuels by the introduction of renewable resources in their energy systems. In the following the relatively small ... [more ▼]

Currently, the majority of countries tries to reduce their dependency on fossil fuels by the introduction of renewable resources in their energy systems. In the following the relatively small Luxembourgish electricity system is analysed (0.55 Mio Inhabitants). Current power-system-models mainly focus on larger systems, due to the unavailability of specific consumption-data. Prices and effects on the Luxembourgish power system of different supply scenarios for rural-private households are analysed. A linear optimisation for the minimum-cost of the power-supply of a village with the following renewable energy resources: wind- (max.100 kW), solar-PV- and hydrokinetic-power is made. The electricity-demand scales with the number of inhabitants and agricultural-consumers. The wind-power-potential differs with the location of the village. The solar-radiation is assumed to be the equal over the country, due to the small size of approximately 80 by 50 km. The hydrokinetic turbines complete the supply where a village is located close to a river. The minimum cost of the specific village power-supply is the result of the optimization. The installation- and maintenance-cost of each renewable technology are considered. The whole number of a rural Luxembourgish model villages private households is considered and their electricity contribution to the system is estimated for different renewable energy supply scenarios, namely from 20% to 100% renewable-energy-scenarios. For each scenario the power exchanged from the village to the grid is calculated in 15-min-steps for 9-years, the amount differs widely with the number of applied generation technologies. Due to the high share of imported electricity of about 80% in the recent years, every consideration of national power generation does not harm the supply security. Luxembourg is a good model country to analyse the high share of distributed, renewable generators, due to its structure of rural and civic regions and their effects on a central European region with a high electricity-consumption. [less ▲]

Hydrokinetic Micro-Power Generation in Small Rivers - a New Approach

in Renewable Energy and Power Quality Journal (2015)

The so called German electrical “Energiewende” is mainly based on the installation of solar photovoltaic and wind energy converters as the main new renewable European generation resources. The third ... [more ▼]

The so called German electrical “Energiewende” is mainly based on the installation of solar photovoltaic and wind energy converters as the main new renewable European generation resources. The third renewable energy resource, the hydropower has been already developed within the last decades and grew not significantly in the last years. Since some years the development of smaller hydrokinetic turbines increased. The smaller size of some hydrokinetic turbines enables new, unused sites to be harnessed in smaller rivers. The paper deals with the key specifications of hydrokinetic turbines and their influence on a villages’ energy supply. It introduces the concept of a turbine with variable immersion depths to exploit also locations with a varying water level. Based on historical hydrological data a propeller and oscillating hydrofoil type of hydrokinetic turbine are compared, it was found that the variable immersion depths increases the energy harvest. Furthermore, it is shown that in a generation portfolio of hydrokinetic and solar power plants an average Luxembourgish household theoretically renewable supplied has to exchange less energy with the power grid, the higher its share of hydrokinetic generation is. [less ▲]

11,8-100% Rural Renewable Energy and Power Supply and its Influence on the Luxembourgish Power System

Poster (2015, March 10)

Introduction; Currently, the majority of countries tries to reduce their dependency on fossil fuels by the introduction of renewable resources in their energy systems. In the following the relatively ... [more ▼]

Introduction; Currently, the majority of countries tries to reduce their dependency on fossil fuels by the introduction of renewable resources in their energy systems. In the following the relatively small Luxembourgish electricity system is analysed (0.55 Mio Inhabitants). Current power-system-models mainly focus on larger systems, due to the unavailability of specific consumption-data. Prices and effects on the Luxembourgish power system of different supply scenarios for rural-private households are analysed. Methodology; A linear optimisation for the minimum-cost of the power-supply of all villages with the following renewable energy resources: wind- (max.100kW), solar-PV- and hydrokinetic-power is made. The electricity-demand scales with the number of inhabitants and agricultural-consumers. The wind-power-potential differs with the location of the village. The solar-radiation is assumed to be the equal over the country, due to the small size of approximately 80 by 50 km. The hydrokinetic turbines complete the supply where a village is located close to a river. Results; The minimum cost of the specific village power-supply is the result of the optimization. The installation- and maintenance-cost of each renewable technology are considered. The whole number of rural Luxembourgish private households is considered and their power contribution to the system is estimated for different renewable energy supply scenarios, namely from 11,8% to 100% renewable-energy-scenarios. For each scenario the power exchanged from the village to the grid is calculated in 15-min-steps for 9-years, the amount differs widely with the amount of applied technologies. Discussion; Due to the high share of imported electricity of about 80% in the recent years, every consideration of national power generation does not harm the supply security. Conclusion; Luxembourg is a good model country to analyse the high share of distributed, renewable generators, due to its structure of rural and civic regions and their effects on a central European region with a high electricity consumption. [less ▲]

Using Polyurethane to Reduce the Production Cost of Hydrokinetic Turbine Foils

in Proceedings International Conference on Hydropower for Sustainable Development (2015, February 05)

Polyurethane made profiles can be used for hydrokinetic oscillating foil micro turbines to reduce their production cost. For this purpose, a NACA 0015 profile is designed with a computer aided design ... [more ▼]

Polyurethane made profiles can be used for hydrokinetic oscillating foil micro turbines to reduce their production cost. For this purpose, a NACA 0015 profile is designed with a computer aided design software and milled from aluminium. From this sample a negative mould of silicone is produced. This negative was used to produce finally polyurethane foils. Holes and grooves can be simply implemented in the negative by placing corresponding shapes made of metal within the silicone form. A massive reduction of the production cost of about 1600 Euro for a polyurethane (PUR) foil of 1000 mm length compared to an aluminium foil of the same shape is accomplished. [less ▲]

Analysis of local grid stability by Hydrokinetic Turbines around a Hydropower Plant in India

Poster (2014, September 08)

Indian proverb, “the utmost darkness is under the oil lamp”, is indeed true in relation to present scenario in places under local distribution grids in India, situated around the Hydropower plants. These ... [more ▼]

Indian proverb, “the utmost darkness is under the oil lamp”, is indeed true in relation to present scenario in places under local distribution grids in India, situated around the Hydropower plants. These conventional hydropower plants use hydrostatic energy for power generation with a conversion efficiency of 85-95%, whereas the energy possessed by available body of moving water around the plant, known as “Hydrokinetic energy”, is difficult to extract due to low flow rates. This poster, prepared in collaboration with Smart Hydro Power GmbH, Germany presents the impact of “ Combined Cycle Hydroelectric Power System”- a combination of hydropower plant and hydrokinetic turbines, to provide additional power to the local grid situated around an existing hydropower plant. It intends to show that, for water rich areas, hydrokinetic turbines are an inexpensive option and offer a viable solution for securing reliable power and stabilizing the local grid situated around a hydropower plant. [less ▲]

Hydrokinetic and Solar Energy Contribution to a Reliable Energy Supply

Poster (2013, November 18)