Contribution of large scale PV plants to electric power during winter peak times in Jeju Island

The introduction of the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS) system to the electricity market in 2012 and reduction of the cost of constructing photovoltaic (PV) power plants has resulted in an increased number of MW PV plants in South Korea. Jeju Island is located near South Korea, China, and Japan and its provincial government declared that the island will be a clean region, in which greenhouse gas emissions will be zero by 2030. In addition, the Jeju provincial government is doing its best to promote PV plants and wind farms. Electricity cannot always be generated reliably by renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, because they change greatly according to the weather conditions. Therefore, knowledge of how much electricity can be generated by PV plants during the electric power peak times is important. This study examined the contribution of MW PV plants to the power of the electric grid during the winter peak times in Jeju Island. Mt. Halla, the highest mountain in the South Korea, is located in the center of Jeju Island. The island was divided into 4 regions and a total of 24 PV plants were analyzed. The average contribution of the PV plants in the respective region to the electric power during the winter peak times was investigated and compared with those of other regions. The highest contribution during the 30% maximum load period was obtained in the PV plants of the northern region and was 8.40% of the electric power capacity of the plants in the last 3 years.