Techno-Economic Analysis of Powering Solutions for Small Coastal Islands in China

How to supply cheap and reliable electricity for small remote islands is an emerging interesting topic in China. With the fast development of renewable technologies, microgrid solutions are becoming more feasible and cost-effective. This paper evaluates the technical and cost aspects of PV-based microgrids, together with connecting to mainland by submarine cables and the oil-based electricity generation method. With a small Chinese coastal island as an example, this study shows the photovoltaic (PV) cells and storage based microgrid solution is the cheapest and most environmental-friendly solution for the coastal islands in China.