Hydro–Connected Floating PV Renewable Energy System and Onshore Wind Potential in Zambia

Abstract

The adoption of a diversification strategy of the energy mix to include low-water consumption technologies, such as floating photovoltaics (FPV) and onshore wind turbines, would improve the resilience of the Zambian hydro-dependent power system, thereby addressing the consequences of climate change and variability. Four major droughts that were experienced in the past fifteen years in the country exacerbated the problems in load management strategies in the recent past. Against this background, a site appraisal methodology was devised for the potential of linking future and existing hydropower sites with wind and FPV. This appraisal was then applied in Zambia to all the thirteen existing hydropower sites, of which three were screened off, and the remaining ten were scored and ranked according to attribute suitability. A design-scoping methodology was then created that aimed to assess the technical parameters of the national electricity grid, hourly generation profiles of existing scenarios, and the potential of variable renewable energy generation. The results at the case study site revealed that the wind and FPV integration reduced the network’s real power losses by 5% and improved the magnitude profile of the voltage at nearby network buses. The onshore wind, along with FPV, also added 341 GWh/year to the national energy generation capacity to meet the 4.93 TWh annual energy demand, in the presence of 4.59 TWh of hydro with a virtual battery storage potential of approximately 7.4% of annual hydropower generation. This was achieved at a competitive levelized cost of electricity of GBP 0.055/kWh. Moreover, floating PV is not being presented as a competitor to ground-mounted systems, but rather as a complementary technology in specific applications (i.e., retrofitting on hydro reservoirs). This study should be extended to all viable water bodies, and grid technical studies should be conducted to provide guidelines for large-scale variable renewable energy source (VRES) integration, ultimately contributing to shaping a resilient and sustainable energy transition.

The Zambian Energy Transition (ZET): A Case Study for OsemOSYS and FlexTool

“…The remaining sectors account for 16% (2,144 GWh). In 2018, 34% of the Zambian population had access to electricity, 69% of which were in urban areas and 8% in rural areas (Energy, 2022a;ERB, 2021;Nyoni et al, 2021).…”

System Studies to Assess Preparedness of the Zambian Electrical Grid for the Energy Transition through Integration of Large-Scale Variable Renewable Energy Sources

“…The speci c aims of this study are: (1) Mapping of VRES plants (2) to carry out Renewable Energy penetration studies for the Zambian integrated power system (IPS) for the year 2025 and 2030; (3) To determine Grid Code requirements for asynchronous generators connecting to the grid; (4) To determine the optimal Variable Renewable Energy Source that can be integrated on each major substation in the Zambian IPS. This will be achieved through:…”

“…Zambia is endowed with outstanding and diversi ed renewable energy sources, namely hydro, wind and solar. Though, for many decades, the development of the electricity sector was based on the exploitation of hydro resources that made the electric power system dependent on water and particularly exposed to the climate change [1,2]. Therefore, an adoption of a diversi cation strategy of the energy mix to include low water consumption technologies such as oating photovoltaics (FPV), ground based photovoltaics (PV) and onshore wind would improve the resilience of the Zambian hydro-dependent power system, thereby, addressing the consequences of climate change and variability.…”

“…This exacerbated the load management strategies in the recent past (2019 through to 2020). A recent study by Nyoni et al, [2] hybridized the hydropower with a mix of FPV and onshore wind in the Zambian context. Scholarly analyses revealed the potential of PV and concentrated solar power in serving mining demand in Zimbabwe [3].…”

Feasibility of Low Carbon Renewable Energy City Integrated with Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems

“…Zubair et al [24] analyzed the applicability of PV and wind power generation systems for realizing a net-zero energy building. Nyoni et al [25] analyzed the applicability of floating photovoltaic and on-shore wind turbines to the Zambian region. Shah et al [26] researched a combination of PV, batteries, and CHP as a U.S. hybrid distributed energy system.…”