Modeling & Optimization of a Renewable Energy Supply Chain with a Focus on Energy Storage

Abstract

The demand for energy has grown and will continue to grow due to factors such as climate change and population growth. As climate change fuels the need for higher energy usage, this demand for energy will be met, in part, with fossil fuels, which would continue the cycle. In order to both meet energy demands and mitigate the effects of climate change, renewable energy technologies must be used to generate a greater amount of energy. Unfortunately, wind and solar energy, in particular, are intermittent sources of energy, and they are not able to provide energy when the sun is not shining, or when the wind is not blowing. Moreover, these renewable energy sources risk the possibility of over-generation when they are available, so other sources of energy must be cut during this time, resulting in the Duck Curve. To address both problems, energy storage can be used to store energy from renewable energy sources when there is excess energy to use later when these sources of renewable energy are no longer available. This paper examines a renewable energy system with the intent to integrate an energy storage system using available energy storage technologies. The goal is to design and optimize an energy storage system for the renewable energy storage system with the focus on cost and environmental impact minimization.