High Appin - Conclusion
According to our estimations, with the head and design flow for this system, the power output should be 4.4 kW. Considering a maximum design power output of 4 kW will represent a conservative design, which is appropriate for increasing the capacity factor of the system.
Under design conditions, the energy supply will be more than the demand, leaving a surplus for feeding into the grid.
During dry periods (with lower flow rates) the energy produced will be lower, but this coincides with a lower demand. However, at certain periods the supply may not meet the demand, requiring the use of electricity from the grid. For solving this, it may be possible to reduce the demand so that electricity doesn’t need to be imported from the grid (considering that the flow rate is over the environmental flow, which in this case is 15 l/s).
| MSc: Renewable Energy Systems and the Environment | © University of Strathclyde 2010 |