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‹7KH,QVWLWXWLRQRI(QJLQHHUV6UL/DQND DOI: http://doi.org/10.4038/engineer.v51i4.7317

Techno-Economic Analysis of Intermittent Renewable

Energy Penetration with the Proposed India-Sri Lanka
HVDC Interconnection
Asanka S. Rodrigo and Dilini V. Fernando

Abstract: This paper presents a techno-economic analysis to identify the level of intermittent
renewable energy (RE) such as wind & solar penetration in to the Sri Lankan power system with the
proposed India-Sri Lanka HVDC interconnection. This research adopts a methodology to identify the
level of RE penetration with the HVDC link and compares with original power system planned with a
pumped storage power plant. Future power plant additions based on least cost principles were
derived using WASP software considering a staged development of the interconnection; 500MW in
2025 and 1000MW in 2028. This power plant schedule was input to long term dispatch simulation
software SDDP and short term dispatch simulation software NCP to simulate the dispatch and obtain
excess generation from renewable to calculate the RE penetration level. The economic analysis was
carried out to identify the cost impact and it was observed that the interconnection is economical for
the initial RE capacities. RE penetration can be increased with the interconnection at an additional cost
to the system. Therefore, sensitivity analyse were carried out to identify at what variable cost would
the interconnection bring economic benefits to the country.

Keywords: HVDC, Intermittent Renewable Energy

1. Introduction
Sri Lanka and India have ambitious RE
Renewable energy (RE) sources for power penetration targets. There are about 46 GW of
generation are becoming more popular coal power plants operating at low capacity
worldwide. Sri Lanka is also trying to keep up factors which may need to be retired along with
with the trend but being an island nation the the penetration of solar and wind. [3] The
system imposes constraints on the level of energy from such power plants could be
renewable energy that could be absorbed into imported to Sri Lanka. Hence the HVDC
the system. Higher intermittent renewable interconnection would bring both countries
penetration levels may lead to curtailments. benefits in terms of renewable energy
integration.
Presently, Sri Lankan Power System has a total
2. Literature Review
installed capacity of about 4000 MW which
includes Other Renewable Energy (ORE) Initial pre-feasibility study on interconnecting
namely solar, wind, biomass and mini hydro the transmission systems of India and Sri Lanka
capacity of 518 MW in addition to major hydro. was carried out in 2002[4]. The objective of such
Recorded peak demand in 2016 was 2453 MW a transmission interconnection was to promote
[1]. Sri Lanka power system is operated by bilateral power exchange between the two
Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). CEB is also the countries. This interconnection was expected to
Transmission System Operator. Energy share provide significant benefits to the economies of
from ORE in Sri Lankan power sector has the two countries through economical power
reached 10%. exchange and increased efficiency in system
operation.
Indian power system consists of 330 GW of Eng. (Dr.) Asanka S. Rodrigo, PhD(HKUST),
Installed capacity of which 82% is conventional MSc(Moratuwa), BScEng(Moratuwa), AMIE(Sri Lanka),
Senior Lecturer, Department of Electrical Engineering,
generation and 18% is renewable based University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
generation. [2] The Government of India has Email:[email protected]
established a target of 175 GW of installed RE Eng. (Ms.) Dilini V. Fernando, BScEng(Peradeniya),
capacity by 2022, including 60 GW of wind and AMIE(Sri Lanka), Postgraduate Student, Department of
Electrical Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
100 GW of solar, up from existing 29 GW wind Email:[email protected]
and 9 GW solar at the beginning of 2017.

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It has been observed that an electrical grid converter (VSC). The key outcomes of the
interconnection could be developed with minor technical feasibility study are the following.
technical challenges and with reasonable
investment since the countries are in the same The interconnection was identified to be high
region. voltage direct current (HVDC), operating at
±400 kV, connecting the Madurai 400 kV grid
Possible interconnecting locations (substations) substation in the state of Tamil Nadu, India and
in both India and Sri Lanka, different power the Anuradhapura 220 kV grid substation in the
transmission technologies and transmission North Central Province, Sri Lanka. The route of
interconnection types across the sea have been the interconnection has been identified as
considered in identifying the alternative Madurai-Panaikulam (178 km overhead),
transmission interconnections. Panaikulam-Thirukketiswaram (120 km,
submarine) and Thirukketiswaram-
Alternatives identified in the feasibility are Anuradhapura (160 km, overhead). The study
Madurai-Anuradhapura, Tuticorin-Puttalam concluded that the project must be structured
and Madurai-Puttalam interconnection using as a 1x500 MW mono-polar interconnection.
HVDC as well as Madurai-Anuradhapura
interconnection using AC with back-to-back Rodrigo WDAS et al [7] had done modeling
DC. For the alternatives using HVDC, the and transient analysis of HVDC bipolar link.
bipolar and monopolar interconnection They have studied about the dynamic behavior
configurations have been considered. of the DC link and the AC systems in time
domain. They have derived the India and Sri
The study concluded that the proposed Lanka power system in thevenin’s equivalent
transmission interconnection should be fully models. Jowsick, A.J.M.I. et al had implemented
integrated with generation and transmission this interconnection in VSC technology [8].
expansion plans of the two countries in order to They have studied the impact from transients
reap the maximum benefit for the total system. due to frequency fluctuation and country
Further it was stated that the power system blackout on the HVDC transmission line's
stability studies and reliability studies would be operations. Further the dynamic performance
required to assess the real system performance of the HVDC system has been modeled with
of these alternatives. The alternatives analyzed detailed inverter side AC network and has been
in the study did not indicate any technical studied about the impact on AC-DC interaction
obstacle to build a transmission interconnection inverter side considering CSC technology [9].
between India and Sri Lanka.
The interconnection has been mathematically
The next pre-feasibility study was conducted in modeled in PSCAD/EMTDC software and
2006 [5]. The study concluded that the cross- analysed the system under the steady state
border interconnection would benefit to both condition and perturbed conditions in the
the countries. An AC interconnection would paper “Modeling and Simulation of Current
synchronize the two electrical grids and would Source Converter for Proposed India–Sri Lanka
bring complexities in frequency control and HVDC Interconnection” [10]. This system has
reactive power control. Therefore, HVDC been modeled with the basic DC control system
bipolar connection has been identified as the and it concludes that the modeled AC-DC
best option. Considering the difficulty and cost interaction is asymptotic stable as it regains the
of laying the transmission line including the pre-fault operating state after the fault is
submarine cables the quantum of power cleared.
exchange should be significant for the project to
be economically viable. Initially 500 MW 3. Methodology
development and upgrade up to 1000 MW
depending on the demand increase has been 3.1 Power System Modelling
recommended. Initially the Sri Lankan power system in 2025
and 2028 were developed with and without the
The technical feasibility study for the Project interconnection based on the Long Term
has been completed in September 2011 [6]. The Generation Expansion Plans. [11] Wien
study has evaluated three construction options Automation System Package (WASP) software
and two technology options namely current [12] was used in optimizing the generation
source converter (CSC) and voltage source expansion plan. The 500MW interconnection
was considered in 2025 and 1000MW in 2028.

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Initial solar & wind capacity Projection Table 3 – HVDC parameters
considered as the starting point of simulation Parameter Value
was based on the LTGEP 2018-2037 and given Capacity 2 x 500 MW
in Table 1.
Capital cost 1286$/kW
Table 1 – Solar & Wind Initial Capacities Construction time 4 years
2025 2028 40 years
Plant lifetime
Solar MW 685 900
Wind MW 730 800 FOR 1%

Scheduled maintenance days 11

Based on the resource estimation, half hourly
resource profiles were obtained for five wind Typical losses 4.5%
regimes and two solar regimes. This was
Tariff (including wheeling charge) 70USD/MWh
deducted from the half hourly load profiles and
the net load was input to the system. The Source: [6]
period 2018 to 2028 was considered in the
optimization. Annual peak demand considered PSPP parameters used are given in Table 4.
for the two years of the simulation are as
follows; Table 4 –PSPP parameters
 For 500 MW HVDC system in 2025: Parameter Value
3836 MW 3 x 200MW
 For 1000 MW HVDC system in 2028: Capacity
4398 MW 1291.3 $/kW
Capital Cost
Existing power plant parameters, their 5 years
respective retirements and candidate power Construction time
plants parameters was based on draft LTGEP 50 years
2018-2037 [11]. Plant lifetime
70%
Table 2 gives the cost parameters of ORE power Cycle Efficiency
plants used in the economic evaluation. 0.83 USD/kW-month
Fixed O&M
Table 2 - Renewable Power Plant Cost Source: PSPP Feasibility [13]
Parameters
Mini After obtaining the power plant schedule, it
Wind Solar Biomass
hydro was fed into SDDP [14] to run the long term
dispatch simulation to obtain the optimum
900.0-
Capital

$/kW
Cost

1729 1525 1814.2 hydro thermal generation mix. The hydro

1400.0
thermal optimization results were then fed into
3.0% of 1.5% of 0.7% of 2.43 NCP; the short term dispatch model. The NCP
software tool provides the economic dispatch of
O&M
Fixed

capital capital capital $/kW

Cost

cost/yr cost/yr cost/yr Month power plants for systems that comprise hydro,
thermal and renewable generation sources. It
4.46 considers the operational constraints of each
O&M

- - - USCts/ type of generation resource and other system

Cost
Var.

kWh operational limitations to conduct the economic

Source: LTGEP [11] dispatch to meet the load [15]. Further when
the specified generation constraints cannot be
The interconnection was modeled in WASP as a satisfied, the NCP determines the excess
thermal power plant. HVDC parameters used amount of electricity generation from
were based on the 2011 feasibility study as renewable energy and calculates the
given in Table 3. requirement for the curtailments.

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 Figure 1 - Methodology

Hydro thermal optimization result obtained Generation into Sri Lankan Grid 2017-2028”
from the SDDP simulation which is called [16].
future cost function is one of the main inputs
for NCP in formulating the daily dispatch A. Wind
simulation. Wet and high wind periods were The report [16] has considered five main wind
taken into analysis as they are the limiting development zones for the modeling purpose,
criteria for renewable development. Thereafter namely Mannar, Puttalam, Northern, Eastern
two days per period, a weekday and a weekend and Hill Country to capture the diversity of
day were selected to represent the demand wind portfolios throughout Sri Lanka.
variations. Renewables modeled were in detail Accordingly the 2010-2015 recorded data
in the dispatch simulation software with 30 collected by Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy
minute resolution. Authority (SLSEA) have been used for
modeling the wind patterns and electricity
For each simulation representing each season production of each zone. In cases where
the half hourly generation and the excess complete data sets were not available for 12
renewable outputs were obtained. Solar & wind months continuously, correlation techniques
capacity development was increased by with the best available data from nearby sites
allowing a curtailment limit of 5% of demand has been used to estimate.
and the maximum solar and wind capacity
were obtained. The process was repeated for Wind plant modeling to estimate annual
each stage of HVDC interconnection electricity production and hourly capacity
development. To analyse the effect of two variation has been carried out using System
different technologies solar and wind, this Advisory Model (SAM 2014.1.14) developed by
process was repeated for the following National Renewable Energy Laboratory, USA.
scenarios.
x Solar Aggressive scenario Hourly wind speed data prepared for each site
x Wind Aggressive scenario location is given as an input to the SAM
x Solar &Wind Mixed scenario software and then the wind plant is modeled
specifying turbine and farm characteristics.
Methodology is depicted in Figure 1. Hub height considered for hill country is 50m
and other sites 80m. Plant availability of 90%
3.2 Resource Estimation has been considered. Turbine capacities used
Resource estimation for this research was based and the resulting plant factors for each wind
on the report “Integration of Renewable Based site are given in Table 5.

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Table 5 – Wind Power Plant Parameters & With the initial solar and wind capacities of 685
Results MW and 730 MW respectively the power
Turbine Annual system with PSPP and interconnection fixed as
Block
Location Capacity Plant given in Table 6 was simulated to obtain
Capacity
(MW) Factor renewable excess generation. The simulation
2.5MW was carried out using SDDP & NCP software as
Mannar 25MW 36.71%
x10 described in section 3.

Puttalam 20MW 2MW x10 31.37% Simulation results for the wet period in 2025
with 200 MW PSPP are shown in Figure 2 and
Hill 0.55MW Figure 3. With 685 MW of solar and 730 MW of
10.45MW 19.06%
Country x19 wind, curtailments could be observed in wind
during off peak hours in the range up to 75
Northern 20MW 2MW x10 34.07% MW. Curtailments of solar were seen during
day time of weekend.
Eastern 20MW 2MWx10 37.32%
Table 6 – Optimized power plant capacity

B. Solar

simulation
According to the report “Integration of

Year for
Renewable Based Generation into Sri Lankan 2025 2028
Grid 2017-2028” [16] following methodology
has been carried out in estimating solar
resource profiles.

with PSPP

with PSPP

1000MW
Original

Original
500MW
System

System
HVDC

HVDC
With

With
Solar irradiance measurements have been
obtained from the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy
Authority (SLSEA) in two locations namely,
Hambantota and Kilinochchi. Global Major
1578 1578 1578 1578
Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) and Diffuse hydro
Horizontal Irradiance (DHI) measurements Mini
424 424 454 454
were available with ten minute time step. hydro
Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) has been Biomass 23.5 23.5 23.5 23.5
estimated with the available GHI and DHI
Wind 730 730 800 800
using solar zenith angle.
Solar 685 685 900 900
Hourly inputs of solar irradiance Thermal 2344 2074 2344 2074
measurements (W/m2) has been constructed
PSPP 200 0 600 0
for a complete year as input to SAM and it was
used with site location inputs (latitude, HVDC 0 500 0 1000
longitude), elevation, and hourly temperature Total
profile of the site. Availability of the plant has Installed 5985 6015 6700 6830
been assumed as 90% and typical commercial Capacity
PV module and inverter characteristics in built Total
in SAM has been used. Resulted plant factors Installed
for the two locations are 16.3% in Hambanthota Capacity 4146 4176 4546 4676
and 15.6% in Killinochchi. [16] without
int. RE*
4. Simulation Results Demand 3836 3836 4398 4398
*Solar, wind and mini hydro are Intermittent renewable
4.1 Optimized Capacity Additions
For the phase development of interconnection In the simulation results for 2025 power system
and PSPP the optimized capacity additions (wet period) with HVDC interconnection for
were obtained from WASP for the year 2025 the same initial renewable capacities there were
and 2028 as shown in Table 6. no curtailments observed. Dispatch of power
plants for weekday and weekend are shown in
4.2 System Comparison with PSPP and Figure 4 & Figure 5. The interconnection causes
interconnection for 500 MW HVDC energy imports during day time & night peak

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on weekdays and during day peak & night
peak in weekends.

Simulation results for high wind period in 2025

power system with PSPP were also obtained
similarly. With 685 MW solar and 730 MW
wind capacities, curtailments could be observed
but much lesser compared with wet period
curtailments.

Simulation results for high wind period in the Figure 3 (b): Curtailments of Renewable
2025 power system too did not give rise to Generation with 200MW PSPP in 2025 wet
curtailments similar to the wet period period weekend day.
simulation with interconnection. There are
energy imports mainly during night peak time.

Figure 4: Power plant dispatch with 500MW

HVDC in 2025 wet period weekday
Figure 2 (a): Power plant dispatch with 200 MW
PSPP in 2025 wet period weekday (For Figure 5 onwards same legend as Figure 4 applies)

Figure 2 (b): Curtailments of Renewable

Generation with 200MW PSPP in 2025 wet
period weekday Figure 5: Power plant dispatch with 500 MW
HVDC in 2025 wet period weekend

4.3 Renewable Penetration with

Development of 500 MW HVDC in 2025

Since there were no curtailments in the system

with interconnection, solar aggressive, wind
aggressive and solar & wind mix scenarios
were separately simulated by increasing
renewables.

A. Solar Aggressive Scenario

Figure 3 (a): Power plant dispatch with 200MW In the solar aggressive scenario the original
PSPP in 2025 wet period weekend day wind capacity of 730 MW was unchanged and
(Figure 2 (a) legend applies) the solar capacity was increased until the
curtailment limits are reached.

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Simulation results for the wet period are as
follows. Solar power capacity could be
increased up to 875 MW (addition of 190 MW)
with 500 MW HVDC in the system. The
resulting dispatch and curtailment results are
shown in Figure 6 and Figure 7.

Figure 7 (b): Curtailments with maximum solar

penetration with 500 MW HVDC in wet period
weekend day

When considering Figure 6(b) and 7(b), the

highest curtailments were observed during day
time of a weekend. Therefore solar capacity was
increased until weekend day time curtailments
are limited to less than 5% of consumer
Figure 6 (a): Power plant dispatch with demand. Final solar capacity was obtained as
maximum solar penetration with 500 MW 875 MW considering the wet period.
HVDC in wet period weekday
Simulation was repeated for high wind period
and the final solar capacity was obtained as 885
MW considering the high wind period. It
indicates that the annual capacity addition is
limited by the dispatch constraints in the wet
period.

B. Wind Aggressive Scenario

In the wind aggressive scenario the original
solar capacity of 685 MW was unchanged and
the wind capacity was increased until the
Figure 6 (b): Curtailments with maximum solar curtailment limits are reached.
penetration with 500MW HVDC in wet period
weekday Simulations were carried out for the wet period
and the wind capacity could be increased up to
810 MW (addition of 80 MW). The resulting
dispatch and curtailment results are shown in
Figure 8 & Figure 9.

Figure 7 (a): Power plant dispatch with

maximum solar penetration with 500MW
HVDC in wet period weekend day

Figure 8 (a): Power plant dispatch with

maximum wind penetration with 500MW
HVDC in wet period weekday

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 Simulations were repeated for the high wind
period and the cumulative wind capacity was
815 MW which is an addition of 85 MW to the
initial capacity. Therefore the final annual
capacity was considered as 810 MW
considering the limitations in the wet period.

C. Solar & Wind Mix Scenario

Similarly, the simulations were carried out for
wet and high wind periods for solar and wind
Figure 8 (b): Curtailments with maximum mixed development scenario. Final capacities
wind penetration with 500MW HVDC in wet obtained were as 795 MW of solar and 780 MW
period weekday of wind considering the wet period to limit
curtailments.

4.4 System Comparison with PSPP and

interconnection for 1000MW HVDC

With the initial solar and wind capacities of 900

MW and 800 MW respectively the power
system with PSPP and interconnection was
simulated to obtain the excess generation from
renewable energy.

Similar to with 500 MW HVDC, there were no

curtailments observed with 1000 MW HVDC in
2028, although there were curtailments with the
PSPP in the original system.
Figure 9 (a): Power plant dispatch with
4.5 Renewable Penetration with
maximum wind penetration with 500MW
Development of 1000 MW HVDC in 2028
HVDC in wet period weekend day
Solar aggressive, wind aggressive and solar &
wind mix scenarios were separately simulated
by increasing renewables. Results are given in
Table 7.

Table 7 – Solar & wind capacities with

1000MW HVDC
Wind MW Solar MW
Initial 800 900
Aggressive solar 800 910
Aggressive wind 830 900
Figure 9 (b): Curtailments with maximum wind Mixed 850 905
penetration with 500MW HVDC in wet period
weekend day 4.6 Summary of Results

When considering Figure 8 (b) & Figure 9 (b) it Figure 10 shows the composition of each solar
could be observed that the highest curtailments and wind capacities for the three scenarios with
in the wind aggressive scenario occur during interconnection development.
off peak time. Therefore the wind capacity was
increased and dispatch simulations carried out It could be observed that with 1000 MW HVDC
until off peak curtailments are not exceeded 5% in 2028, a significant capacity could not be
limit. Considering the wet period the final wind increased from the originally planned
capacity was obtained as 810MW. compared with 500 MW HVDC in 2025.
Therefore the second phase of HVDC would
not bring many benefits in terms of increasing
renewable energy development.

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In Figure 10, ‘New wind’ and ‘New solar’ are Depending on the solar and wind capacity mix,
the additions with the interconnection the power system with 500 MW interconnection
development. When comparing with the solar in 2025 could absorb a cumulative solar & wind
aggressive and wind aggressive scenarios in the capacity of approximately 1500 MW to 1600
2025 power system it can be seen that the wind MW. This could be increased up to 1750 MW
aggressive scenario has lesser cumulative with the 1000 MW interconnection in 2028.
capacity of solar and wind comparatively.

(a) Solar aggressive (b) Wind aggressive (c) Solar and wind mix
Figure 10 – Summary of renewable capacities

5. Economic Analysis renewable additions the same PV cost was

analysed (Scenario 3, 4 & 5). PV of annual costs
Economic evaluation aims at measuring the up to 2025 for each scenario is given in Table 8.
economic impact brought about to a country by
implementing a project from a viewpoint of the Scenario 1 - PSPP development scenario with
national economy. A comparison of costs the initial renewable capacity
expressed in terms of economic costs was used Scenario 2 - Interconnection development
and the Discounted Cash Flow Method was scenario with the initial renewable capacity
used. Evaluation index obtained was the Scenario 3 - Interconnection and solar
Present Value (PV) of costs of implementing aggressive development
each one of the scenarios. Phase 1-500MW Scenario 4 - Interconnection and wind
HVDC development was considered for the aggressive development
economic analysis. Scenario 5 - Interconnection and solar & wind
mixed development
Firstly, a comparison was carried out for the
system with the initial solar and wind When comparing scenarios 1 & 2, it could be
capacities of 685MW and 730MW for the PSPP observed that for the initial renewable capacity,
and interconnection development in 2025 the PV cost of the interconnection development
(Scenario 1 & 2). Then for the scenarios with scenario is less compared to PSPP development
scenario.

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Table 8 – PV Cost of the scenarios in USD million
Scenario 1 2 3 4 5
PV cost of total investment and 1,407.20 1,407.20 1489.00 1465.70 1486.30
operation of renewable power
plants
PV cost of total investment and 6,531.34 6,520.71 6512.48 6514.10 6511.72
operation of other power plants
Total PV Cost 7,938.54 7,927.91 8001.48 7979.80 7998.02

When renewable energy is integrated along It could be observed that the interconnection
with the interconnection, PV cost increases scenario with the same solar and wind
compared with PSPP. The cost difference is capacities (685MW solar 730MW wind) as PSPP
given in Table 9. scenario was economical at 70 USD/MWh. It
could be increased up to 74 USD/MWh (11.0
Table 9 - Cost Difference of Scenarios LKR/kWh) to breakeven with the PSPP
development scenario.
Total PV cost PV Cost
USD million Difference
It could be observed from Figure 11 that the
USD million
breakeven for the solar aggressive scenario
Scenario 1 7,938.54 - (875MW solar and 730MW wind) occurs at 45
USD/MWh (7.0 LKR/kWh) and for wind
Scenario 2 7,927.91 (10.63)
aggressive scenario (685MW solar and 810MW)
Scenario 3 8001.48 62.93 at 54 USD/MWh (8.0 LKR/kWh).
Scenario 4 7979.80 41.26
In the solar and Wind Mixed Scenario with
Scenario 5 7998.02 59.48 795MW solar and 780MW wind, breaks even at
47 USD/MWh (7.2 LKR/kWh)

There is a 10.63 USD million reduction of PV

6. Discussion
cost in the interconnection scenario compared
with PSPP. The wind aggressive scenario has
The objective of this research was to assess the
the lowest incremental cost.
possible level of incremental penetration of
wind and solar power in Sri Lanka with the
A sensitivity analysis was carried out by
proposed India-Sri Lanka HVDC
varying the unit cost of HVDC for each scenario
interconnection and compare with other
and the PV cost comparison carried out against
options.
the PV cost of PSPP scenario.
When observing the system with PSPP and
Figure 11 shows the cost of each scenario for
without PSPP or HVDC interconnection there
different variable costs of HVDC.
were curtailments of renewable energy with the
initial solar and wind capacities given in Table
1.

The system with interconnection did not give

rise to any curtailments since the total thermal
power capacity is lower in this scenario
compared with PSPP scenario as shown in
Table 6. Hence it was observed that the
intermittent renewable capacity could be
increased further.

Therefore, the simulation process was repeated

while renewable capacity was increased
limiting the curtailments to 5% of demand for
Figure 11 - Variation of PV cost of scenarios different scenarios (solar aggressive, wind
with HVDC variable cost aggressive and solar & wind mix) and for

ENGINEER 10
different stages of HVDC development. To simulation was carried out to obtain the solar
represent seasonal variation wet hydro and and wind capacity limit.
high wind periods were considered and to
represent the demand variation, weekdays and With the solar aggressive the solar capacity was
weekends were considered as samples. increased until 910MW which is only 10MW
addition to the initial solar capacity and in the
It was observed that in all scenarios, wind aggressive scenario the wind capacity
considering the annual capacity addition, the was increased to 830MW which is a 30MW
wet period has become the limiting criteria. addition. In both scenarios the total renewable
Due to higher availability of hydro resource the energy share could be increased to 51% of
excess generation from renewable energy is which solar and wind share was 26% in solar
higher in the wet period. aggressive scenario and 27% in wind aggressive
scenario.
When considering the solar aggressive scenario,
the wind capacity was fixed at the initial 730 It was observed that irrespective of the scenario
MW and solar capacity was increased until 875 of aggressive solar or wind or mix, the energy
MW which is a 190 MW addition to the initial share from renewable cannot be increased
solar capacity during wet period. During the significantly. Therefore, to achieve a growth in
high wind period, it could be increased up to renewable energy share it is wiser to develop a
885 MW which is a 200 MW addition. wind aggressive scenario.
Therefore, in the solar aggressive scenario with
500 MW HVDC, the solar capacity will be It could be observed that the increase in
limited to 875 MW. renewable capacity additions with
interconnection compared with PSPP is not
Similarly considering the wind aggressive very significant with the second phase.
scenario the solar capacity was fixed at the Therefore the economic analysis was carried
initial 685 MW and the wind capacity was out for 500 MW HVDC development and
increased. Within the allowable curtailment compared with the system with PSPP as
limits wind capacity could be increased to 810 described in section 5.
MW (80 MW addition to initial capacity) during
wet period and up to 815 MW (85 MW addition It was observed that there is a 10.63 USD
to initial capacity) during the high wind period. million reduction of PV cost in the scenario
Therefore, in the wind aggressive scenario with with interconnecion compared with PSPP at a
500 MW HVDC, the wind capacity will be 10% discount rate. Table 8 indicates that wind
limited to 810 MW during 2025. aggressive scenario has the minimum
incremental cost and hence becomes the most
When considering the above two scenarios; economical.
solar aggressive with 875MW solar and 730MW
wind (total of 1605MW) and wind aggressive When considering the reserve requirement of
scenario with 685MW solar and 810MW wind the power system, the higher penetration of
(total of 1495MW), the total renewable energy variable renewable energy such as solar and
share including major hydro is 54%. The share wind brings issues to power system operation
of wind and solar energy in solar aggressive which needs to be addressed by providing
scenario is 25% and in the wind aggressive additional spinning reserve. Developed
scenario 26%. Even though the total renewable countries use the statistics based on the forecast
capacity is lesser in the wind aggressive error of the intermittent renewable, but Sri
scenario the energy share is slightly higher than Lanka does not yet have such forecasting
the solar aggressive scenario due to higher systems. Therefore, the spinning reserve was
plant factor of the wind resource compared to kept at 10% of intermittent capacity for each
solar. scenario in addition to 5% to account for
demand fluctuations [17].
In the mixed scenario solar and wind capacities
were increased up to 795MW solar (addition of 7. Conclusion
110MW to the initial capacity) and 780MW
wind (addition of 50MW). According to the research findings, the
following conclusions and recommendations
Further for the second phase of HVDC can be made.
development in 2028, only the wet period

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x Solar and wind penetration can be x It is recommended to implement planned
increased with the introduction of HVDC, network strengthening project as
but at an additional cost to the system scheduled, to facilitate RE integration.
based on a variable cost of 70 USD/MWh
for imports from India. x Sri Lanka has a vision of achieving 100%
energy self-sufficiency. In view of that, it is
x Summary of solar and wind beneficial for the interconnection through
capacities(MW) that can be absorbed to the HVDC in order to enable the export of any
Sri Lankan power system with the excess electricity generation.
introduction of HVDC interconnection and
the comparison with the system with PSPP References
are given in Table 10.
1. CEB statistical digest, 2016
Table 10: Renewable capacities (MW) 2. http://powermin.nic.in/en/content/overview
Year 2025 2028 3. Greening the Grid: Pathways to Integrate 175
Without

Gigawatts of RenewableEnergy into India’s

PSPP or
HVDC

Wind 649 719 Electric Grid, Vol. I—National Study, A Joint

Initiative by USAID and Ministry of Power, India
Solar 635 850
4. USAID SARI/Energy)/Nexant/PowerGrid,
730 800
PSPP

Wind “Viability of Developing a Transmission System

With

Interconnection between India and Sri Lanka -

Solar 685 900 Technical Options and Investment
Wind(AS, 730, 800, Requirements”, February 2002.
HVDC

AW,Mix) 810,780 830,850

With

5. USAID (SARI/Energy)/Nexant/PowerGrid,
Solar(AS, 875, 910, “Power Transmission Interconnection Pre-
AW,Mix) 685,795 900,905 feasibility study,” 2006.
AS-Aggressive Solar, AW-Aggressive Wind, 6. Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka in
Mix- Solar & Wind Mix association with Resource Management
x From the sensitivity analysis it was found Associates(Pvt) Ltd and Tiruchelvam Associates,
that interconnection is economical for each “Supplementary Studies for the Feasibility Study
scenario for variable cost of HVDC as given on India-Sri Lanka Grid Interconnection Project,”
below. December 2011.
ƒ Original Scenario 74 USD/MWh (11.0 7. Rodrigo, W. D. A. S. et al, “Modeling and
LKR/kWh) transient analysis of HVDC bipolar link,”
ƒ Solar Aggressive Scenario 45 Department of Electrical Engineering, University
USD/MWh (7.0 LKR/kWh) of Moratuwa, unpublished
ƒ Wind Aggressive Scenario 54 8. Jowsick, A. J. M. I. et al, “HVDC transmission line
USD/MWh (8.0 LKR/kWh) for interconnecting power grids in India and Sri
ƒ Mix Scenario 47 USD/MWh (7.2 Lanka,” Dept. of Electr. & Electron. Eng., Univ. of
LKR/kWh) Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, Dec. 2009.
(Exchange Rate used 148 LKR/USD) 9. Rodrigo, W. A. D. S. and Perera, A. G. C. U.
“Dynamic performance of India –Sri Lanka
This sensitivity analysis could be used HVDC interconnection: System modeling and
when renegotiating the transfer prices simulation,” IESL Annual Sessions, Sri Lanka,
during the preparation of financial October 2015.
agreements with India. 10. Rodrigo, W. A. D. S. and Perera, A. G. C. U.
“Modeling and Simulation of Current Source
x To achieve higher RE share at a Converter for Proposed India–Sri Lanka HVDC
comparatively economical cost the wind Interconnection,” IEEE, 2015.
aggressive scenario is recommended to be
11. CEB, Long Term Generation Expansion Plan
implemented. (LTGEP) 2015-2034, 2015 & LTGEP 2018-2037,
2018.
x It is recommended to introduce day ahead
12. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),
and hourly forecasting system as the level Wien Automatic System Planning (WASP)
of RE penetration increase, to relax the Package IV, IAEA, 2001.
reserve requirement of 10% of intermittent
renewable capacity.

ENGINEER 12
13. Japan International Cooperation Agency, Ceylon
Electricity Board, Electric Power Development
Co., Ltd., “Development Planning on Optimal
Power Generation for Peak Demand in Sri
Lanka” September 2014.
14. PSR, SDDP User Manual, Version 14.0, February
2016.
15. PSR, NCP Model User Manual, Version 5.16,
April 2016.
16. Integration of Renewable Based Generation into
Sri Lankan Grid 2017-2028, CEB.
17. Midwest Independent Transmission System
Operator (Midwest ISO), ISO/RTO Metrics
report, United States, 2010.

Abbreviations

HVDC - High Voltage Direct Current

ORE - Other Renewable Energy
PSPP - Pumped Storage Power Plant
SDDP - Stochastic Dual Dynamic
Program
Solar_H - Solar Hambanthota
Solar_K - Solar Kilinochchi
Wind_E - Wind Eastern
Wind_H - Wind Hill country
Wind_M - Wind Mannar
Wind_N - Wind Northern
Wind_P - Wind Puttalam

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