Analysis of the Technical Feasibility of Powering the South-West Interconnected System (SWIS) on 100% Renewable Energy ________________________________________________________________ By William Daniel Gardiner BSc A dissertation submitted in partial requirement for the degree of Master of Science in Renewable Energy School of Energy & Engineering May 2013 Declaration I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person nor material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of the University or other institute of higher learning, except where due acknowledgment has been made in the text. William Daniel Gardiner May 2013 Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to the School of Energy & Engineering for giving me the opportunity to study renewable energy at Murdoch University. I would also like to thank the lecturers from this and my previous degree for passing on their knowledge. Thanks also to Dr Trevor Pryor, the coordinator of PEC 624, Renewable Energy Dissertation. His administrative assistance and motivational support has been appreciated. Special thanks are due to my supervisor, Dr Chris Creagh, for being so generous with her time, patience and valuable opinion. Not only has she offered technical advice during the writing of this dissertation, she has provided moral support during this and my previous undergraduate degree. As someone dealing with the pressures of full- ii time work, family and off-campus study, this has been invaluable and is very much appreciated. Finally, to my wife Dawn, and children Zayne and Lucas. Words cannot express the love and gratitude I have towards you for the support you have shown me throughout the past 10 years and in particular the past 12 months of this dissertation. I could not have been completed this work without your love, support and patience. It is yours as much as mine. iii “We need to base our energy around renewable sources. They will be around for another four billion years. We can supply our entire energy supply on biomass, solar, geothermal, hydro and wind.” Professor Olav Hohmeyer Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) iv Abstract Fuelled by a growing economy and increasing population, energy demand in the South West Interconnected System (SWIS) has risen by 10.04% in the past 5 years and is projected to rise by a possible 56% in the next 11 years (Independent Market Operator 2012). This dissertation focuses on the utilisation of renewable energy within the SWIS network in order to combat climate change. Summaries of renewable energy technologies (RETs) are provided and an analysis of resource availability given. Finally an examination of energy efficiency is undertaken to determine what its potential benefit to the SWIS network could be. A number of research projects and papers dedicated to the issue of integrating 100% renewable energy into national and/or local electrical grid networks were reviewed as part of this dissertation. The dissertation finds that there is ample renewable energy resource to power the SWIS for the foreseeable future. While a fully renewable energy based generation system will come at significant cost, it can be expected to bring with it decreased energy wastage. This is due to the removal of thermal baseload power stations that produce energy around the clock, including in periods of low demand. Moreover, a renewable energy, distributed generation system will better be able to match supply to demand. v Finally, increased uptake of energy efficiency will have a major role to play in Western Australia‟s future electricity generation mix as it will decrease the amount of additional generation capacity required. vi Table of Contents Declaration ..................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ ii Abstract .......................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ......................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ................................................................................................................ x List of Tables ............................................................................................................... xii List of Acronyms ....................................................................................................... xiii Ch.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Project Aims and Objectives ............................................................................. 1 1.2 Why Change is Required .................................................................................. 2 1.3 What is Required to Bring about Change? ....................................................... 3 1.4 Structure of the Dissertation ............................................................................. 4 1.5 Dissertation Limitations .................................................................................... 5 Ch. 2 An Historical Precedent for Including Large Amounts of Renewable Energy in the Energy Mix for the Electricity Grid ..................................................................... 6 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Albania ............................................................................................................ 6 2.3 Bhutan ............................................................................................................. 8 2.4 Iceland ........................................................................................................... 10 2.5 Norway .......................................................................................................... 14 2.6 Paraguay ........................................................................................................ 15 2.7 100% RE Projects & Studies ........................................................................ 16 2.8 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 19 Ch. 3 Outline of the SWIS Network ....................................................................... 21 3.1 Introduction to the South-West Interconnected System (SWIS) .................. 21 3.2 Primary Energy Sources within SWIS .......................................................... 22 3.3 History of Energy Consumption in the SWIS............................................... 27 3.4 Projections for Future Growth ...................................................................... 30 3.5 Conclusions ................................................................................................... 34 Ch.4 Solar .............................................................................................................. 35 4.1 Introduction to Solar Energy ......................................................................... 35 4.2 Solar Power in the SWIS .............................................................................. 42 4.3 Analysis of Solar Resource in the SWIS ....................................................... 45 4.4 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 52 Ch.5 Wind Energy ................................................................................................. 54 5.1 Introduction to Wind Energy Technology .................................................... 54 5.2 Wind Energy Integration into Grid Networks .............................................. 55 5.3 Wind Energy in the SWIS ............................................................................. 58 5.4 Wind Energy Resource in the SWIS ............................................................. 60 5.5 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 62 vii Ch.6 Wave Energy ................................................................................................. 63 6.1 Wave Energy Introduction ............................................................................ 63 6.2 CETO Wave Energy ..................................................................................... 63 6.3 Measurement of SWIS Wave Resource ........................................................ 66 6.4 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 71 Ch.7 Biomass ......................................................................................................... 72 7.1 Introduction to Biomass ................................................................................ 72 7.2 Biomass Projects in WA ............................................................................... 73 7.3 Biomass Resource in SWIS .......................................................................... 75 7.4 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 78 Ch. 8 Renewable Energy Technologies other than Solar,