Hybrid compressed air energy storage system and control strategy for a partially floating photovoltaic plant
Ameen M. Bassam, Nabil A.S. Elminshawy, Erkan Oterkus, Islam Amin
Abstract
For more efficient, reliable, and stable energy provision, energy storage plays a key role in the transition towards renewable energy sources. Compressed air energy storage (CAES) has been recognized as one of the most promising technology due to its high energy capacity, flexibility, scalability, long lifespan, maintainability, economical, and environmental viability. These potentials can be further improved by hybridizing CAES systems with thermal energy storage system. However, to realize the potentials of hybrid CAES systems, a control strategy is essential to manage the energy flow between the system components. Therefore, in this work, a novel energy management strategy is proposed to control a hybrid CAES system for a prototype of a partially floating photovoltaic plant (PFPV). The proposed control strategy is based on the rule-based approach and a mathematical model is presented to evaluate the system performance. The results indicate that, for an average hourly profile of the 5 kW PFPV platform through the year, a system round-trip efficiency of 34.1% can be obtained while the cycle and exergy efficiencies are 37.7% and 41%, respectively. Higher efficiency can be obtained by controlling the compressors operational range and rated power. Therefore, future work includes experimental work for results validation and optimization. • A novel rule-based energy management strategy for hybrid CAES system is proposed. • Energy and exergy analyses are performed to understand the system characteristics. • Power distribution ratio of hybrid CAES systems is crucial to the performance. • Operating range of variable speed compressors alters the performance significantly.