Feasibility Study of Photovoltaic Microgrids and Their Application in Powering Remote Onshore Oil and Gas Surface instrumentation

Abstract

A new remote onshore well site development requires electrical energy to power instrumentation, cathodic protection and communications equipment. Although this equipment is generally not power intensive, it is still a common practice to deploy transmission lines to connect the well site to the electrical grid, no matter how far away it can be. This procedure is usually expensive and time consuming. In this study, we propose a distributed energy generation scheme using a solar photovoltaic (PV) microgrid which can be rapidly deployed and can power one or several well sites. For this purpose, we utilized the microgrid modeling software HOMER (Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources), which allowed us to develop a techno-economical evaluation as well as an environmental impact study of the initiative. Furthermore, we present the conceptual design of the system, which can be easily scaled to the power requirements of any number of well sites. Using this approach, we show the feasibility of a remote area renewable energy microgrid along with its levelized cost of energy (LCOE). In addition, we show that this method can significantly reduce the reliance on conventional sources of energy, while maintaining the reliability of the system. In summary, this proposal depicts how onshore surface equipment power requirements can be reliably met by using distributed energy generation. The use of renewable energies provides an alternative path which enables energy efficiency optimization while providing a reduction in CO2 emissions through a clean environmental solution.

State-of-Charge Effects on Standalone Solar-Storage Systems in Hot Climates: A Case Study in Saudi Arabia

“…In other words, we note the compromise that must be exercised between the battery bank size (and hence cost), and ensuring the state-of-health of the batteries continues to be high for a longer period of time. A MSOC of 50 percent is the most commonly recommended value to use [14,15]. Several battery manufacturers have introduced deep-cycle batteries, sold at a premium, which allow for low MSOC levels to be reached without permanently damaging the battery terminals.…”