Optimal Power Flow of a Storage-less Pico Hydrokinetic System with Grid Interactivity

Abstract

In this study, an optimal power flow model of a 3 kW grid-interactive Pico hydrokinetic system is developed and presented. The performance of the developed model is simulated, by the means of Matlab software, using data collected from a small household situated near a water stream in South African. For the selected case study, taking into account the local prospective electricity market, the simulation results have shown that up to 87% daily operation cost reduction is achievable compared to the case where the grid is used as sole supply option.