The Techno-Economic Feasibility Analysis of Integrating Wind Power Pumped Hydro-Storage System to the Existing Hydroelectric Power Plants in Ethiopia (Case of the Koka Hydropower Plant)
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Date
2013-02
Authors
Mebratu Adamu
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Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This thesis is intended to study the Techno-economic feasibility analysis of integrating Wind
Power Pumped Hydro-Storage system to the existing Hydroelectric Power plants in Ethiopia
specially to enhance the volume and efficiency of the Koka Hydropower Plant Station
Reservoir by pumping water from the lower reservoir to the upper reservoir in order to supply
reliable and steady water to the turbine. In the analysis five tasks are carried out these are: the
critical months that are mainly affected by evaporation and climate change are verified which
are March, April, May, June and July, the amount of the water that evaporates from the
reservoir per hour is determined by using the Evapo-transpiration calculation technique
which is the Penman-Monteith equation with heat storage and it is a method with strong
likelihood of correctly predicting ETO in a wide range of locations and climates, by using this
method the average hourly evaporation for these five critical months becomes 24,112m3/hr,
the cost of a pipeline and the various components that contribute to the economics of
pipelines for the study area is carried out including designing a fluid distribution system
which is sizing of pipes and ducts, determination of the pressure drop in the system, and the
power needed to pump required water to the upper reservoir, Wind energy and turbine
investment cost analysis using RETScreen Software, and the economic analysis which is seen
from three different perspectives that are: the integration of wind power pumped hydrosystem
from the point view of energy security of the Koka Hydropower Plant, the
profitability of the wind power used for pumping purpose from the hydroelectric power or the
grid power pumping system, and the profitability of wind power used for pumping purpose
from the diesel generator power pumping system.
Finally from the point view of energy security of the existing Hydropower plants in Ethiopia
the integration of the wind power pumped hydro-storage system is the best solution.