There is a growing need to include renewable energy sources into power generation in
order to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Land scarcity and the mismatch
between demand and generating capacity are stifling full use of solar PV energy
producing potential. A land-use-constrained PV based generation model is suggested in
this study to uncover natural pathways for energy flows within a politically administered
territory in order to create a sustainable link between electricity generation and
consumption in a decentralised power generation scenario. The concept envisions
district-level coordination of power distribution on solar PV-based power generated on
barren rocky waste land, as well as state-level coordination of distribution. The
application of the model to five South Indian states, individually and collectively, reveals
how it may account for intra- and inter-state inequalities in energy demand and solar
electricity generation capacity. Two of these states may become entirely renewable by
utilising all accessible barren rocky territory for electricity generation. The solar PV
generation potential is such that practically all of the day time electrical energy
consumption of all states may be satisfied by harvesting solar energy on barren rocky
waste land alone.
Renewable energy sources have a very particular predominance, both locally and
temporally, and their utility-scale use for round-the-clock power supply raises the issue
of matching power generating capacity with power demand at all times. Through
transmission and storage loss models, an energy exchange model is proposed that
combines, on a minute-by-minute basis, scattered and varied power sources with
geographically dispersed power consumption centres and distributed and diversified
electrical energy storage systems. The model computes, for a regional electricity grid, the
minute-by-minute power demand from and generation in all districts over a given day,
extracts matching power from a hierarchy of power sources to minimise transmission
and storage losses, and stores/draws excess power in/from a variety of power storage
options.
The application of the Generation-Transmission-Storage-Distribution (GTSD) model to
the South Indian Power Grid (which serves approximately 285 million people in South
India) shows that around 240 GWh of additional electrical storage is necessary for round-
the-clock power supply from non-GHG power sources for this entire region. The model
results show this can be done using an an optimal combination of battery and reversible
fuel cell based storage system. Assuming an overall round-trip energy efficiency of 80%,
this would require an energy storage capacity of 300 GWh distributed over the region.
It is concluded that it is possible to achieve 100% carbon neutral power generation in the
southern peninsula of India in a manner that is both cost-effective (giving a competitive
value of the LCOE) and technically feasible.