ANNOUNCEMENTS
With the increasing capacity of renewable energy being installed in the country, it is necessary that the intermittency of these solar and wind resources be accounted for in keeping the grid stable. Solar PV along with battery storage can increase PV generation dispatchability, provide energy arbitrage, reduce peak tariffs, capacity firming of PV generation and enable PV energy time shifting. A common feature of island states all over the world is that they depend on diesel or other fossil fuel generation causing pollution, besides involving a lot of money for importing fuel and generators. In the utility investment model of Lakshadweep, the centralized battery storage model with discovered LCOE of ₹7.35/kWh, payback period of 2 years and 44.58% IRR is an attractive business case for the utility current procuring high cost and highly polluting diesel generation. Also, for commercial/govt. consumer owned model, LCOE of ₹8.27/kWh with payback period of 5 years and 17.63% IRR results in significant savings in their monthly electricity bill. Hilly states like Sikkim pose difficulty in power transmission and distribution of power due to the unique terrain, in addition to the constrained socio-economic conditions of its inhabitants. A utility investment model deploying behind-the-meter battery storage along with rooftop PV has been calculated to produce power at ₹6.03/kWh with 4 years payback period and 20.75% IRR. Optimal battery sizing has been done for residential, commercial and industrial consumers for increasing self-consumption and degree of self-sufficiency and to arrive at the most cost optimal battery storage solution to complement the solar PV system. The results for LCOE arrived at are highly sensitive to battery prices which are expected to fall significantly making the solar rooftop PV plus battery storage solutions even more attractive in the future.
Keywords: Lakshadweep; Sikkim; Optimal battery sizing; self-consumption; self-sufficiency
