Grid Absorption Study Seychelles

The government of Seychelles, an island state in the Indian Ocean, has set itself the goal of covering 5% of its electrical load with renewables by 2020 and 15% by 2030. In 2014 Energynautics was commissioned by the World Bank and the Government of the Seychelles, along with our project partners Meister Consultants Group, to investigate the technical and economic barriers to reaching higher renewables penetration. While Meister Consultants prepared draft Feed-In Tariffs and Power Purchase Agreements for the Seychelles, Energynautics performed a Grid Absorption Study and a Grid Code for the integration of renewables. The Grid Absorption Study determined the technical limits for reaching these penetration targets and identified measures that could be used to increase the penetration even further (such as Demand-Side Management, Storage and increased diesel generator flexibility). Since the potentials for wind, biomass, hydroelectricity and waste-to-energy on the islands are limited, the study focused mainly on how much photovoltaic (PV) generation the grid can absorb. After detailed investigations, the primary bottleneck for further PV integration was found to be the maintenance of spinning reserves to compensate for fast down-ramping of PV production; shorter-term frequency stability and overvoltage or overloading problems in the network were of only secondary importance for the Seychelles power system. To support the data collection phase of the study and gain a picture of current system stability, Energynautics installed Phasor Measurement Units on representative feeders.

The Grid Code for the Seychelles set out the technical requirements for the connection of renewables to the power system, in order to guarantee stable and safe behaviour given the high shares of renewables planned by 2030. The Grid Code covered steady state and dynamic performance requirements, communication and control protocols, simulation models and certification.

Article on the Seychelles Project in a special edition of “FACTS Reports”

Clients:
World Bank/Utility Seychelles

Project Duration:
2014