Pumping station design for a pumped-storage wind-hydro power plant

This work presents a numerical study of the optimum sizing and design of a pumping station unit in a hybrid wind-hydro plant. The standard design that consists of a number of identical pumps operating in parallel is examined in comparison with two other configurations, using one variable-speed pump or an additional set of smaller jockey pumps. The aim is to reduce the amount of the wind generated energy that cannot be transformed to hydraulic energy due to power operation limits of the pumps and the resulting step-wise operation of the pumping station. The plant operation for a period of one year is simulated by a comprehensive evaluation algorithm, which also performs a detailed economic analysis of the plant using dynamic evaluation methods. A preliminary study of the entire plant sizing is carried out at first using an optimization tool based on evolutionary algorithms. The performance of the three examined pumping station units is then computed and analyzed in a comparative study. The results reveal that the use of a variable-speed pump constitutes the most effective and profitable solution, and its superiority is more pronounced for less dispersed wind power potential. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.