Energy storage system design for large-scale solar PV in Malaysia: technical and environmental assessments

The Paris agreement, signed in 2015, is a commitment by the nations to set targets to reduce greenhouse gases emissions. In line with that, Malaysia is committed to lower its greenhouse gases emissions by 45% by 2030. This target is supported by the massive projects of Large-Scale Solar PV, of which 1 GW will be operating by 2020. However, the peak generation of this huge capacity, which occurs at noon, will not meet the peak electricity demand which occurs in the morning and in the evening, and this issue, in such scale, has not been addressed yet. Besides the direct use of solar generated electricity, storing electricity at the peak generation time and delivering it at the desired time may be the best usage of such intermittent energy. This project aims to design the optimal large-scale storage system for the Malaysian scenario. A comprehensive power system is simulated through HOMER Pro, including various storage technologies in different locations, selected according to the planned Large-Scale Solar capacity, the solar irradiation and the electricity demand. The power system has been sized according to two approaches. In the first approach, the storage is sized to satisfy the night peak demand, which occurs between 8pm and 10pm. In the second approach, the daily average demand is determined, and the storage is sized to satisfy all the demand above this average. The proposed power system is feasible only in five locations under the first approach, and not feasible in all the locations under the second approach. Based on HOMER Pro simulation outcomes, the best energy storage type is the 1 MWh Zinc Bromide flow battery.