Optimization of the Design and Operation of Hybrid CSP-PV-Wind Plants

This work investigates potential benefits deriving from the integration of CSP plants with other renewable technologies, such as PV and Wind. An optimization tool, based on mixed-integer linear programming, is used to derive the optimal design of a hybrid plant located in the south of Italy (Sicily) with the objective of satisfying a fraction of the national-shaped, hourly variable, electrical load. A sensitivity analysis is performed to explore the Pareto front of solutions satisfying different dispatchability requirements in terms of demand coverage. As expected, increasingly oversized and expensive plant designs, characterized by high Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE), are necessary to satisfy larger fractions of the imposed load. Subsequently, the benefits of hybrid plants with respect to conventional standalone or partially integrated solutions are investigated: in particular, the results of this analysis clearly demonstrated that integrated CSP+PV+Wind configurations can reach the same or higher dispatchability level (i.e. 80%) at a much lower electricity cost with respect to (i) separate production (stand-alone PV, Wind and CSP) and (ii) configurations characterized by a lower level of integration (36% and 12% reduction of LCOE with respect to CSP+PV and CSP+Wind, respectively).