Reduction in cost with limited emission at hybrid power plant in presence of renewable power

Proper operation schedule at hybrid power plants helps to utilize conventional and renewable energy resources in an optimal manner. The optimal utilization of these resources is essential to minimize the lifecycle cost and environmental impacts of generation units. MATLAB simulations to minimize the overall generation cost with restricted amount of pollution from a hybrid power system (HPP) that contains thermal and renewable power plants with storage facilities are discussed in this paper. The generation cost of thermal, renewable, storage based power plants along with the costs paid for health and environmental damage caused by emissions from the thermal plants are considered in the analysis. Analysis shows that cost of electricity from renewable energy resources (RES) based plants is smaller than the conventional fuels based plants provided the cost associated with health and environmental damages caused by the pollutants emissions from the thermal plants is taken into considerations.