Economic feasibility of large-scale hydro–solar hybrid power including long distance transmission

Solar PV is expected to become the most cost-competitive renewable energy owing to the rapidly decreasing cost of the system. On the other hand, hydropower is a high-quality and reliable regulating power source that can be bundled with solar PV to improve the economic feasibility of long-distance transmitted power. In this paper, a quantification model is established taking into account the regulating capacity of the reservoir, the characteristics of solar generation, and cost of hydro and solar PV with long-distance transmission based on the installed capacity ratio of hydro–solar hybrid power. Results indicate that for hydropower stations with high regulating capacity and generation factor of approximately 0.5, a hydro–solar installed capacity ratio of 1:1 will yield overall optimal economic performance, whereas for hydropower stations with daily regulating capacity reservoir and capacity factor of approximately 0.65, the optimal hydro–solar installed capacity ratio is approximately 1:0.3. In addition, the accuracy of the approach used in this study is verified through operation simulation of a hydro–solar hybrid system including ultra high-voltage direct current(UHVDC) transmission using two case studies in Africa.