Assessment of the levelized cost of electricity for a standalone power plant in Morocco: A case study

Abstract

This paper presents a detailed analysis of the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for a real photovoltaic(PV)‐wind‐battery system installed in a remote area in Morocco. Besides the evaluation of the existing autonomous system, different scenarios are discussed. A techno‐economic evaluation of a PV‐battery system is carried out. Additionally, in order to enrich the discussion, the case of possible connection to the national grid, either in a medium‐ or low‐voltage level is considered. Costs were analyzed using on‐site collected data of energy production and initial (realistic) costs of the different components of the power plant with various discount and degradation rates. In contrast to the grid‐connected mode where all the available energy could be exploited, the detailed analysis shows that the LCOE is affected by the energy management strategy (droop control) in the standalone mode where a part of the energy cannot be used. Furthermore, the degradation rate, the discount rate, and the battery lifetime affect the LCOE. The results show that the LCOE for the PV‐wind‐battery system is optimal compared to the PV‐battery system under different system designs, especially for the low voltage grid‐connection where the grid parity could be achieved.