Evaluation of Energy Storage Solutions in Microgrids: A Comparison in Terms of Flexibility and Economics

The environmental damage caused by traditional energy sources such as coal, oil and natural gas, the dependence on foreign energy and the depletion of these traditional sources have increased the interest in renewable energy sources. However, renewable sources present challenges related to seasonal and geographical constraints in energy production. In response, hybrid energy systems are being developed to increase the efficiency of the use of renewable sources. Economical and reliable microgrid systems that can meet sudden load changes are required. The Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable Energy (HOMER) software facilitates hybrid optimization of various energy sources to determine the most efficient sizing. HOMER evaluates the net costs associated with various system configurations and ranks the feasible combinations. This study uses HOMER for computational simulations focusing on the pumped storage system and lithium-ion battery components for 3 MW load profiles in a proposed hybrid system. As a result, the cost, payback period and return on investment of a pumped storage system with a 3 MW load profile are much better than lithium-ion. This shows us that it is more advantageous to use pumped storage systems in large capacity systems.