Renewable energy configurator
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for determining a configuration for a renewable energy power plant having a power output rating and operatively connected with an electrical grid, the power plant comprising one or more generator devices and one or more energy storage devices operating according to a selected one of a plurality of operating applications, the method comprising:
- receiving, in a computer as an input, data indicative of the power output rating of the power plant;
receiving, in the computer as an input, data indicative of a location of the electrical grid;
determining, based on the received data, a plurality of distinct pairings, each pairing including one of the one or more energy storage devices and one of the plurality of operating applications, the plurality of distinct pairings collectively reflecting a plurality of possible combinations of the one or more energy storage devices with the plurality of operating applications;
upon determining that at least a first of the one or more energy storage devices has requirements that are incompatible with operating requirements for the electrical grid at the location, removing, using the computer, the first energy storage device from being included in the plurality of distinct pairings;
determining, using the computer, for each pairing of the plurality of distinct pairings, a respective profitability value indicating a profitability of operating the power plant according to the selected operating application and using the selected energy storage device; and
ranking the pairings according to the respective profitability values.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments for determining an optimal configuration for a renewable energy power plant are provided. The power plant, which may be a virtual power plant, includes one or more generator devices and one or more energy storage devices that may be operated to undertake one or more operating applications. Data indicative of the power output of the power plant and the voltage level at the energy storage system connection point is received as an input. Using this data, combinations of energy storage devices and operating applications stored on a database are processed and, for each energy storage and operating application pair, a value indicative of the profitability of undertaking the operating application is determined. These values are used to rank the combinations of energy storage devices and operating applications according to their profitability, which in turn is used to select the most efficient or profitable application/energy storage pair.
13 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for determining a configuration for a renewable energy power plant having a power output rating and operatively connected with an electrical grid, the power plant comprising one or more generator devices and one or more energy storage devices operating according to a selected one of a plurality of operating applications, the method comprising:
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receiving, in a computer as an input, data indicative of the power output rating of the power plant; receiving, in the computer as an input, data indicative of a location of the electrical grid; determining, based on the received data, a plurality of distinct pairings, each pairing including one of the one or more energy storage devices and one of the plurality of operating applications, the plurality of distinct pairings collectively reflecting a plurality of possible combinations of the one or more energy storage devices with the plurality of operating applications; upon determining that at least a first of the one or more energy storage devices has requirements that are incompatible with operating requirements for the electrical grid at the location, removing, using the computer, the first energy storage device from being included in the plurality of distinct pairings; determining, using the computer, for each pairing of the plurality of distinct pairings, a respective profitability value indicating a profitability of operating the power plant according to the selected operating application and using the selected energy storage device; and ranking the pairings according to the respective profitability values. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A computer-implemented method for comparing, using a simulator, a plurality of energy storage systems for a renewable energy power plant having a power output rating, the simulator including a calculation module simulating operation of the power plant using pairings of a selected energy storage system (ESS) model with a selected application model, the ESS model selected from a plurality of ESS models representing different types of ESS, and the application model selected from a plurality of application models and corresponding to a selected operating application by which the power plant and the selected ESS model are operated,
the method comprising: -
receiving data indicative of the power output rating of the power plant; receiving data indicative of a location of the power plant; determining, prior to performing a simulation of operation of the power plant for a plurality of distinct pairings that collectively reflect a plurality of possible combinations of the plurality of ESS models with the plurality of application models, whether the ESS types can meet the requirements of the selected application model by comparing requirements of the application model with predefined ESS parameters and removing any incompatible application models from being included in the pairings used for the simulation; for the plurality of distinct pairings; performing, using the calculation module and based on the power output rating, a simulation of operation of the power plant with the energy storage system according to the selected application model; and generating one or more simulation results indicative of the performance of the pairing; and ranking, based on the generated simulation results, the performance of the pairings. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An apparatus for determining a configuration for a renewable energy power plant having a power output rating and operatively connected with an electrical grid, the power plant comprising one or more generator devices and one or more energy storage devices and operating according to a selected one of a plurality of operating applications, the apparatus comprising:
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an input terminal receiving data indicative of the power output rating of the power plant and data indicative of a location of the electrical grid; a processor coupled with the input terminal, wherein the processor; determines, based on the received data, a plurality of distinct pairings, each pairing including one of the one or more energy storage devices and one of the plurality of operating applications, the plurality of distinct pairings collectively reflecting a plurality of possible combinations of the one or more energy storage devices with the plurality of operating applications; upon determining that at least a first of the one or more energy storage devices has requirements that are incompatible with operating requirements for the electrical grid at the location, removes the first energy storage device from being included in determination of the plurality of distinct pairings; determine determines, for each pairing of the plurality of distinct pairings, a respective profitability value indicating a profitability of operating the power plant according to the selected operating application and using the selected energy storage device; and ranks the pairings according to the respective profitability values; and a memory coupled with the processor receiving the ranking of the pairings. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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Specification