A study on the economic feasibility of stand-alone microgrid for carbon-free island in Korea

Abstract

The power industry is rapidly changing as demand for eco-friendly and stable power supply increases along with global greenhouse gas emission regulations. Small-capacity renewable power sources represented by photovoltaics and wind are continuously increasing as a form of microgrid to supply electric power to a community or island. As a result, microgrids based on renewable resources have come into wide usage around small areas or islands in Korea. In particular, the microgrid development policy of Korea is focused on electric power quality, as well as expansion in renewable energy supply for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. From 2009, the government began to develop independent carbon-free microgrids with photovoltaic and wind powers instead of traditional power diesel generators for small islands. The goal of this paper is to investigate a feasible economic microgrid topology for implementing the carbon-free island (CFI) under an acceptable level of reliability. First, we derive three scenarios of power systems including photovoltaics, wind, battery, and fuel cells. Next, we assess economic feasibility on top of the power supply reliability of the scenarios. Then, we perform a sensitivity test to suggest economic conditions for achieving the CFI goals. Finally, we present carbon-free-based microgrid models considering the CFI policy of Korea.