Economic Benefits of PV-Based Virtual Power Plant in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia : Submitted for Poster Session

Abstract

This paper assesses the economic feasibility of integrating small scale photovoltaic (PV) plant (30MW) as distributed generation (DG) coupled with a demand center in the form of a virtual power plant (VPP) in the western region of Saudi Arabia. The operation of the PV-based VPP was simulated in Plexos for a one-year time horizon on an hourly basis considering a typical residential demand profile as its main demand center. The simulation was performed at the premise of the characteristics of the western operational area’s (WOA) existing electrical system and the cost associated with the PV system. The results revealed a high contribution of the VPP’s PV generation to meeting the regional VPP demand under international fuel prices regime, which indicates an economic feasibility of building a PV system to meet a residential VPP.