Optimized Design of Renewable Energy, Firm Capacity and Stable Operation Power Plant for Serving Off-grid Commercial Load in Indonesia

Typically, Diesel Power Plant system or Hybrid PV/Diesel/Battery Power Plants serve off-grid commercial loads in Indonesia. Diesel Power Plants contribute strongly to high cost whereas Hybrid PV/Diesel/Battery Power Plants still have rather uneconomic cost, intermittent power supply and capacity shortage. To overcome this issue, the concept of renewable energy power plant with firm capacity and stable operation or abbreviated as Refirmable Power Plant comes to handle through three-specific features: diesel-free, firm capacity, and stable operation. The redundant operation of solar photovoltaic, battery energy storage system and fuel cell power plant may serve load demand for economical cost without any interruptions. HOMER software simulations for three peak load scenarios: 150 kW, 1000 kW and 2000 kW show that Refirmable Power Plant can serve load demand without any capacity shortage on Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) about USD 13,4 cents-19,5 cents. This result may drive renewable energy development in Indonesia to shift from Conventional Hybrid Power Plant to Refirmable Power Plant for serving off-grid commercial load.