Hybrid solar photovoltaic and battery design optimization (different projects)
World region: South America
Sector: Renewable energy project developer
Year: 2020 – 2021
Impact: € 9 Mn vs initial design
Summary
A large global renewable energy developer was willing to increase the value of the projects they develop. The client believed they could improve the value of their plants without compromising capital expenditure. We developed a framework and applied it together with their internal team on a real project, which delivered a net present value € 9 Mn above the previous design.
A large global renewable energy developer was willing to internally develop capacity to be able to increase the value of the projects they develop. This is very competitive, so everything counts when optimizing the cost and value of projects.
The client believed they could improve the design of their plants to balance the yield of the solar field, the costs of connection, as well as the capacity of the battery storage, without compromising capital expenditure.
We developed a framework and applied it together with their internal team that on the one hand was conceptually solid and on the other hand could be presented to corporate leadership and investors to justify the new dimensioning in easy to understand terms. Compared to the approach they were applying before and to the recommendations they were receiving from other consultants, our approach was able to better capture the value of electricity price and solar power volatility, which was essential for assessing the real market value of battery storage. This alone delivered a net present value € 7.5 Mn higher, while additional € 1.5 Mn were captured from optimizing the ratio between solar field and grid connection capacity.
System dispatch – Sept. 2022 – MW
Levelized Cost of Electricity, $/MWh
NPV / CAPEX – Medium price scenario, M$
