Determination of Optimal Capacity of Pumped
Storage Plant by Efficient Management of
Renewable Energy Sources
*Anuj Banshwar, Naveen Kumar Sharma, Yog Raj Sood, Rajnish Srivastava
National Institute of Technology (N.I.T.) Hamirpur-177005, H.P., India
Abstract— An efficient management of renewable energy
sources (RES) is one of the major issues in present power
sector which can satisfy the energy requirements of particular
area in proper and sustainable manner. The efficient
utilization of RES along with pumped storage power plant will
help to reduce the total cost of generation. The main objective
of the present work is to determine the optimal capacity of
pumped storage plant by efficient management of different
modes of RES like hydro power, wind energy, PV (solar)
energy with conventional units to meet the current energy
requirements.
Index Terms—Ancillary services, Pumped storage system,
Renewable energy.
I. INTRODUCTION
M any developing countries are facing energy crisis due
to increase in industrialization for various
development programs. If this increase in demand is
supplied from coal based thermal power plants, it will cause
environment pollution and high cost of generation. So the
best solution is to develop renewable based power
generation plants. In non interconnected power systems
there are always issues about the RES penetration. The
significant penetration of the renewable energy sources is
one of the most important fields of investigation [1].
In present scenario with increasing load demand and with
large interconnection of various networks it is essential to
operate generating stations optimally within its constraints.
Otherwise the price for the cost of generation increases. So
it is very much essential to reduce the cost of generation.
The cost of generation mainly includes running cost of
generation i.e. fuel cost with respect to thermal & nuclear
power stations. Isolated systems have felt these pressures
even more strongly since they often face exaggerated fuel
costs due to extra costs of shipment and overall system size.
Hence the integration of renewable sources with
conventional units can play a vital role in decreasing the
cost of generation. At the present time, it is the only clean
energy source that can be commercially developed on a
large as well as small scale. Recently, renewable are
considered as most readily available, clean sources of
energy [2].
However, the use of these renewable sources, such as
wind and solar, is often limited by dynamic security
concerns. These penetration problems arise when the load is
maintained at low levels and served by few thermal units,
and at the same time the high renewable potential is
sufficient enough to produce rated power. In this case, the
*Anuj Banshwar is Ph.d scholar in Deptt. Of Electrical
system’s operator has to discard a percentage of the
Engineering at National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur,
produced
HP, Indiarenewable power for Mob.
(Email: naujbanshwar, grid stability issues. In this
+91-8882582858)
way the grid is protected from collapsing in case of an
978-1-4673-8597-8/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE
abrupt reduction of the stochastic output from renewable [3].
Similar problem would appear if the thermal generators
were not active, or the active ones were not capable of
covering the lost power quickly enough. For that reason
penetration limits regarding the wind power are imposed [4].
Furthermore, the “technical minimum” of the thermal
stations is one of the most crucial parameters regarding the
rejection of renewable power.
To tackle all the above mentioned issues many ways of
energy storage were developed. Energy storage used in
conjunction with renewable energy has been suggested as a
means to increase the use of renewable energy while
maintaining a high quality of service reliability. The uses of
storage devices can help offset the effects of the inclusion of
renewable energy sources and allow them to gain a larger
penetration in the electrical energy supply. Storage may also
be used to transfer energy from low-use periods to peak-use
periods, allowing the system to operate at a more constant
level and reducing energy supply costs. Since electrical
energy as such cannot be stored in large quantities, there is a
method to store it in the form of potential energy. This
method is the pumped storage scheme.
The use of hybrid schemes (supply system of Wind, Solar
and Pumped Storage) for power production in islands or
other interconnected regions, as an energy storage way,
appears to be the best solution in order to overcome the
problems of renewable energy storage and penetration to the
grid. For small islands with low installed power the pumped
storage method seems to be the most promising way to
exploit the available renewable potential at a high
penetration degree [5]. In larger islands such a power plant
could substitute one or more base thermal units, making thus
the investment even more profitable.
In a vertically integrated market, this hydrothermal
coordination is used to conduct peak load shaving. Thereby,
a pumped storage hydro plant in its function as a power
storage facility generates additional electricity during (high
fuel-cost) peak load periods and pumps the water at (low
fuel-cost) off-peak load. The peak shaving operation is
undertaken until the marginal pumping cost exceeds the
marginal savings in thermal costs.
It is necessary and economical to install some certain
amount of available capacity of pumped-storage hydro
power plant (PS) to keep the isolated grid running stably and
safely, and increase the quality of power supply and the
economic efficiency [6]. A characteristic feature of the
pumped storage hydro power plant is ability of extremely
quick start of the mode of power generation and a rapid
control of power output over a wide range, which can appear
to be the best solution in order to overcome the problem of
wind energy storage and penetration to the grid, which are
investigated in several papers [7].
An additional advantage of a pumped storage unit is the
possibility of using the water stored in the reservoirs for
consumption or irrigation purposes, as also for protection
against fires. A typical pumping station consists of a number
of identical pumps working in parallel mode and raising
water from a lower to an upper reservoir.
In the present work, pumped storage method is applied
with renewable and conventional units. The developed
model included a hybrid pumped storage unit connected to a
bus where a renewables are connected as well. The main
purpose was to shave the peaks in load demand and to
provide guaranteed power. The solution algorithm was
based on finding the optimal capacity of pumped storage
hydro power plant in conjunction with renewable. The
determination of right sizing was crucial for the long term
benefits that arise from the unit’s operation.
With increasing penetration and dependence on
renewable resources have come heightened these sources as
an ancillary services. Ancillary services, such as operating
reserves, imbalance energy, and frequency regulation, are
necessary to support renewable energy integration,
particularly the integration of intermittent resources like
wind and solar energy. However, both wind and solar
energies are greatly influenced by uncontrollable factors like
weather condition and their stochastic nature, which makes
wind and solar energy be intermittent power source and
unable to regulate the output power in response to the
change in demand.
II. OPERATION OF HYBRID PUMPED STORAGE (HPS) UNIT
In conventional electrical energy production systems the
generating plants have to cover fluctuations in demand, with
peak periods possibly representing a high percentage of
actual consumption, while still trying to maintain minimum
costs. The pumped hydro storage systems use excess
electricity production, in periods of low demand, to pump
water to a deposit situated at a certain height, recovering it
at a later time through a turbine when it is required to cover
peak load periods. Nowadays pumped hydro storage
systems are considered by engineers and planners to be an
attractive alternative for the expansion of power systems, as
a considerable amount of energy can be stored with this
technique, the generating equipment is highly reliable and
the power output can be extensively regulated maintaining a
practically constant efficiency within the generated power
range.
Another reason is the use of renewable energy sources to
generate electricity. When one of the power subsystems
involved in electricity generation produces energy with a
high random component, as is the case of a wind or PV farm
where the energy output depends on the wind speed and
solar intensity respectively, there exists uncertainty as to the
availability of sufficient energy at any one instant to cover
demand. As wind and solar power has the strong
intermittence and the weak stability, and the capability of its
storage in battery is mostly limited, the only feasible means
of storing large quantities of electrical energy from wind and
solar at the present time is using pumped storage systems.
The pumped-storage unit absorbs the rejected wind power to
lift water from the reference level of a lower reservoir and
pump it to an upper reservoir when demand is low and
generate the power when demand is either not satisfied by
individual source or demand is high.
However, hydro storage systems may present a number of
problems such as, for example, the environmental damage
caused by reservoirs and the difficulty of finding
topographically suitable sites with sufficient water capacity
to make the installation of such systems profitable [8-10].
The two main purposes of a pumped storage unit are as
follows [11]:
1. Shaving of peak loads. Economical operation of the
system is achieved by providing guaranteed power from
the hybrid unit by avoiding the use of expensive peak
units.
2. Higher penetration of stochastic RES production,
such as wind parks, in non interconnected power
systems. In that way the efficient and uninterrupted
operation of wind parks is possible. This results in an
important decrease in fuels consumption for
conventional thermal units.
III. OPERATION ALGORITHM
There must be some previous known value of capacity of
pumped storage plant required so that it (pumped storage)
can fulfill all demand conditions in addition with other RES
and conventional units [12-14].
The proposed policy is concluded as following:
1. The HPS submits an energy offer for the next 24 hours.
This includes an amount of guaranteed energy if grid
pumping is allowed. The capacity payments to a HPS
are based on its “guaranteed power”, i.e. the firm
capacity provided to the system via the hydro and
thermal turbines. Guaranteed peak capacity is creditable
only when the associated peak energy is also
guaranteed, regardless of the prevailing renewable
conditions.
2. It is considered that the reservoir is empty at the starting
of operation.
3. The energy generated by the RES or surplus power is
stored via pumping action. Hence, the power dispatched
by the pumped storage adds up with the power
generated by the base units (hydro and thermal in
present case) and/or other RES to dispatch load.
4. As grid pumping is allowed, it must be determined
when this happens in order to ensure that upper
reservoir contains enough water to provide the
guaranteed power (grid pumping usually happens
during the night and it is called “valley filling”).
The generated (or available) power from pumped
storage plant is given by the following relation [15]:
P =η ∗P (1)
where
η = Efficiency of pumped storage plant (typical value
is about 67%)
P = Power due to generating action
P = Power due to pumping action
5. The maximum energy stored in the reservoir after
satisfying all demand in a time span of 24 hours can be
considered as the optimal capacity of pumped storage
plant.
6. It is assumed that 20% of the storage capacity is kept as
reserve for black start and other emergencies.
The objective of a scheduling problem considering
renewable energy systems is to determine the optimal
capacity of pumped storage plant by efficient management
180
of energy generated from different units of hydro, thermal, Wind PV
wind and solar systems over one period of one day (i.e. 24 160
hours) so that the total thermal unit fuel cost is minimized. 140
The management of utilization is based on the criterion that 120

Power (MW)
the energy source which is less costly and available during
100
the period under study is employed first.
From grid point of view, they (hybrid wind-PV-pumped 80
storage system) behave like one conventional power plant 60
(like thermal, gas, or nuclear) and can hence participate in 40
similar market places (e.g. ancillary services).
20
IV. CASE STUDY AND AVAILABLE DATA 0
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
A simplified generation system considering RES in power
system is shown in Fig. 1 [13]. It comprises of thermal Hours
system (with one unit as base unit (T1) of 300 MW and two Fig. 3. Hourly Wind and Solar availability
normal units T2 & T3 of 250 MW and 200 MW
The total energy obtained from renewables (combined
respectively), one hydro power plant (as a base unit of 400
output of hydro, wind farm and PV system) and energy
MW), wind power plant, PV system and pumped storage
obtained from all units on hourly basis is shown in Fig. 4.
plant.

Hourly Demand Renewable Energy Thermal Energy

1600
1400
1200
Demand (MW)

1000
800
600
400
200

Fig. 1. Simplified generation system considering renewable sources [16] 0

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
The forecast of daily demand curve based on the available Hour
load data is shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 4. Hourly availability of energy from different sources

1600 There are many cases where energy from renewable and
1400
Power Demand (MW)

thermal units doesn’t able to satisfy the demand. If sufficient

1200 generation capacity is to be provided to meet the maximum
1000 peak load, more number of thermal units is required; hence
it will increase a heavy expenditure on the generating
800
company.
600 Hence to avoid such circumstances it is required to store
400 large quantity of energy available in the form of reserves
200 through pumped storage scheme. The available energy
stored in pumped storage plant can be further used.
0
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Hours
The results obtained by the proposed work shows the
Fig. 2. Load demand for one day efficient utilization of renewable energy sources in power
system comprising of hydro plant and conventional units as
In case of an electric power system, the total load on the base units. In order to meet hourly demand each energy
system will generally be higher during the daytime and early resource is efficiently dispatched on the basis of their
evening when industrial loads are high, lights are on, and so availability and cost of production.
forth, and lower during the late evening and early morning
when most of the population is asleep.
The output power of the wind farm and output power curve
of the PV system is shown in Fig. 3.
 1600 300
PS PV WG T3 T2 T1 H
250 Pumped Power
1400
200 Generated Power
1200
150
Power (MW)

1000

Power (MW)
100
800
50
600 0
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
400 -50

200 -100
-150
0
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 -200
Hours
Hours
Fig. 6. Status of Pumped storage plant
Fig. 5.Hourly status of energy sources satisfying demand
The status of hourly stored and available energy is shown in
Efficient management of various energy sources and Fig. 8.
schedule of each unit satisfying demand hourly is shown in Energy Status in Pumped Storage
Fig. 4 and Table I respectively. 1200

Pumped Storage Energy (MWh)

TABLE I 1000 Stored Energy
STATUS OF RES FOR OPTIMAL CAPACITY OF PUMPED-STORAGE SYSTEM
Available Energy
800
Status of RESs dispatching
Base Status of Load 600
Units Thermal Pumped-
Hour Status Units Storage
WG PV Mode 400
H T1 T2 T3 P G
200
Hour 1 √ √ × × × 0 √ ×
Hour 2 √ √ × × √ 0 √ × 0
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
Hour 3 √ √ × × √ 0 × √
Hours
Hour 4 √ √ √ × × 0 √ ×
Fig. 7. Energy status in Pumped storage plant
Hour 5 √ √ √ × √ 0 √ ×
Hour 6 √ √ √ × √ 0 √ × The optimal capacity of Pumped storage plant can be
Hour 7 √ √ √ × √ √ × √ obtained from maximum value of the energy stored in it.
Hour 8 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ ×
Hour 9 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ × VI. PUMPED STORAGE PLANT AS ANCILLARY SERVICE
Hour 10 √ √ √ √ √ √ × √ PROVIDER
Hour 11 √ √ √ √ √ √ × √ As an ancillary service provider, renewable sources are
Hour 12 √ √ √ √ √ √ × √ participating in the electricity markets, in spite of their non-
Hour 13 √ √ √ √ √ √ × √ dispatchable nature. Allowing renewable to participate in
the markets can be economical and environment friendly
Hour 14 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ ×
[17].
Hour 15 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ × The surplus power after dispatching demand will be used
Hour 16 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ × with pumped storage power plant to pump water. It is seen
Hour 17 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ × that in some hours, RES (i.e. wind and solar) will not take
Hour 18 √ √ √ √ √ √ √ × part in dispatching any load [18-19]. During this period
Hour 19 √ √ √ √ √ 0 √ × these sources directly fed to pump-storage and energy is
Hour 20 √ √ √ √ √ 0 × √ available in pumped-storage system. This stored power in
the form of pumped-storage energy participates in the
Hour 21 √ √ √ √ √ 0 × √
market as an Ancillary service. Hence RES producers
Hour 22 √ √ √ × √ 0 × √
submit bids, saying how much power they want to sell and
Hour 23 √ √ × × √ 0 × √ its price and acts as an Ancillary services to support the
Hour 24 √ √ × × √ 0 × √ system [20].
P – Pumping Action It is also seen that at the end of the day, still there is
G – Generating Action certain energy stored in the pumped-storage plant which can
be used further in the next day. Also the stored energy in
pumped-storage plant can bid into the market as ordinary
service or as ancillary service.
 VII. CONCLUSION
RES is playing an important role in competitive power
market. It has been increasing significantly in recent years
due to growing energy demand with minimum
environmental impact. RES can provide sustainable energy
services, based on the use of routinely available, indigenous
resources and provide best solutions to longstanding energy
problems being faced by the energy sector. In this paper,
efficient utilization of RESs (i.e. hydro, wind and PV) along
with pumped storage system in power system is presented in
order to have optimal capacity of pumped storage plant.
This work has been carried out with an objective of
achieving efficient resource planning of the RES in a power
system comprising of conventional units.
In this present case the optimal capacity of pumped
storage required for efficient functioning of the electrical
system is 3530 MWh. In this paper, not only the efficient
utilization of the proposed hybrid RES system when needed
in order to reduce the cost of generation mainly due to
conventional units is shown but also stresses is also given on
environmental profit.
[15]. P. Kanakasabapathy, K. Shanti Swarup, “Optimal Bidding Strategy
for Multi-Unit Pumped Storage Plant in Pool-Based Electricity
Market using Evolutionary Tristate PSO”, IEEE International
Conference on Sustainable Energy Technologies, pp. 95-100, 2008.
[16]. A. Beguin, C. Nicolet, B. Kawkabani, “Virtual Power Plant with
Pumped Storage Power Plant for Renewable Energy Integration”,
IEEE Conf., pp. 1736-1742, 2014.
[17]. N. K. Sharma, P. K. Tiwari, Y. R. Sood, “Current status, policies and
future perspectives of Indian Power Sector Moving towards
Deregulation”, IEEE Students’ Conference on Electrical, Electronics
and Computer Science, 2012.
[18]. S.A. Kazarlis, A.G. Bakirtzis, V Petridis, “A Genetic Algorithm
Solution to the Unit Commitment Problem”, IEEE Transactions on
Power Systems, Vol. 11, Issue 1, pp. 83 – 92, 1996.
[19]. S. V. Papaefthymiou, E. G. Karamanou, S. A. Papathanassiou, M. P.
Papadopoulos, “A Wind-Hydro-Pumped Storage Station Leading to
High RES Penetration in the Autonomous Island System of Ikaria”,
IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, Vol. 1, No. 3, 2010.
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