Applied Energy 97 (2012) 38–48

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Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Introduction of a wind powered pumped storage system in the isolated

insular power system of Karpathos–Kasos
Dimitris Al. Katsaprakakis a,⇑, Dimitris G. Christakis a,1, Kosmas Pavlopoylos b,2, Sofia Stamataki c,3,
Irene Dimitrelou c,3, Ioannis Stefanakis d,4, Petros Spanos d,4
a
Wind Energy and Power Plants Synthesis Laboratory, Technological Educational Institute of Crete, Estavromenos, 710 04 Heraklion, Crete, Greece
b
Harokopeio University of Greece, Department of Geography, El. Venizelou Str 70, Athens 176 71, Greece
c
Laboratory of Applied Geophysics, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechniou 9, Zografou Campus, Athens 157 73, Greece
d
ENET S.A., Christou Lada 1, Karitsi Square, Athens 10561, Greece

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper presents a power production system for the isolated insular power system of the islands
Received 12 July 2011 Karpathos and Kasos. Karpathos and Kasos are two small islands, located in the South-East Aegean Sea
Received in revised form 25 October 2011 (Dodecanese complex) that are not connected to the main power distribution network. Energy produc-
Accepted 25 November 2011
tion is based exclusively on an autonomous thermal power plant and a small wind park, installed on
Available online 24 December 2011
the island of Karpathos. The maximum annual power demand has been estimated to exceed 12 MW
by 2014. The mean specific annual energy production cost from the existing system has been calculated
Keywords:
at 0.249 €/kW h in 2008.
Wind turbine
Wind park
The proposed system aims at the maximisation of wind energy penetration and the minimisation of
Pumped storage imported fossil fuel use for the production of electricity.
Renewable energy The proposed system consists of a wind park and a pumped storage system (PSS). The introduced
Hybrid power systems power system aims to guarantee power production for certain hours per day. A thorough sitting of the
Isolated non-interconnected insular systems system is accomplished. Three different sites for the PSS installation are examined before the optimum
is selected. The available wind potential of the islands was evaluated using a wind mast installed within
the frame of the examined project’s feasibility study. The annual mean wind velocity at the wind park’s
installation site was measured to be higher than 11.5 m/s.
The introduced system’s set-up, and operation & maintenance cost parameters have been estimated.
The dimensioning of the system aims mainly at optimising the project’s economic indexes, following
the existing legislative framework. The annual guaranteed energy production has also been maximised.
An economic sensitivity analysis is performed. It is estimated that the proposed project can exhibit
attractive economic indexes, regardless of the availability of a subsidy, on the condition that the selling
price of energy should be configured at 0.3552 €/kW h and the selling price of guaranteed power should
be 127 €/kW year.
Under the above mentioned prerequisites, the project payback period is estimated at 5–6 years.
The present paper proves the economic feasibility of small scale wind powered pumped storage sys-
tems, not taking into account the undoubted environmental benefits.
Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction since 2006. In this legislation framework, the WP-PSS, defined as

The wind powered pumped storage systems (WP-PSS) have
been introduced in the Greek legislation through a number of laws,
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +30 2810 379220; fax: +30 2810 319478.
E-mail addresses: dkatsap@wel.gr (D.Al. Katsaprakakis), dimitris@wel.gr
(D.G. Christakis), kpavlop@hua.gr (K. Pavlopoylos), stamat@metal.ntua.gr
(S. Stamataki), dimitrel@metal.ntua.gr (I. Dimitrelou), stefanakisi@enetsa.gr
(I. Stefanakis), spanosp@enetsa.gr (P. Spanos).
1
Tel.: +30 2810 256191; fax: +30 2810 319478.
2
Tel: +30 210 9549160; fax: +30 210 9514759.
3
Tel.: +30 210 772 2202; fax: +30 210 772 2203.
4
Tel.: +30 210 650 9150; fax: +30 210 654 0802.
hybrid power stations, are introduced as guaranteed power pro-
duction plants in existing electricity systems. The scope of these
hybrid stations is to provide the electricity production system with
pre-defined guaranteed power for certain time periods during a
day. These time periods must include the daily time periods of
peak power demand. Consequently, the ultimate scope of a hybrid
station introduced in a power system is to substitute the existing
expensive power production from thermal generators during peak
power demand time periods. The price of guaranteed energy
produced from WP-PSS is configured in terms of the annually aver-
aged specific production cost of the existing electricity production
system during peak power demand periods.

0306-2619/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.11.069
 D.Al. Katsaprakakis et al. / Applied Energy 97 (2012) 38–48
Since 2006, several investors have been applied to the Regula-
tory Authority of Energy (RAE) for the installation of WP-PSS
mainly in the Greek non-interconnected islands. A small number
of these applications have already been approved. Consequently,
during the next years, the first WP-PSS will be constructed and
set in operation. The construction and the operation of WP-PSS
in Greece constitutes the successful integration of the hard effort
and time put in by a number of scientists and engineers [1–13]
to prove to the Greek political and social community that these
systems are of the most promising solutions for the electrification
of the country, based on Renewable Energy Sources (RES).
A large number of former studies investigate the issue of
introducing hybrid power systems based on Renewable Energy
Sources for the electrification of non-interconnected insular sys-
tems. Except WP-PSS, other proposed technologies are wind-diesel
systems or wind-photovoltaic-batteries systems [14–16] and wind
compressed air systems (WCAS) [17,18]. The wind-photovoltaic
systems are usually proposed for small or medium size decentra-
lised production (e.g. small settlements [14–16]). The introduction
of WCAS is mainly examined and proposed in places with low-
price fossil fuels (e.g. Canada [17], Australia [18]). In such cases
they exhibit quite attractive economic features. The conventional
lead batteries is generally not proposed for large sized systems
(power demand higher than 1 MW), taking into account the short
life period and the important environmental impacts of their
disposal.
The WP-PSS features as the most economically and technically
competitive technology in different geographical areas [19–22]. A
major advantage of the WP-PSS is the improvement of the dynamic
security of non-interconnected power systems, through the intro-
duction of the hydro turbines [23].
In this work, the feasibility study for the introduction of a WP-
PSS in the non-interconnected islands of Karpathos and Kasos is
presented. Karpathos and Kasos are two small islands located in
South-East Aegean Sea (Dodecanese complex) (Fig. 1). These is-
lands are electrically connected to each other. In total, they consti-
tute a non-interconnected electricity system.
The ultimate scope of the proposed system is:
Fig. 1. The map of the islands of Karpathos and Kasos and their position in the South East Aegean Sea.
39
 The maximisation of wind power penetration in the electricity
production sector.
 The minimisation of imported fossil fuel consumption for elec-
tricity production.
These targets are approached through the pre-defined guaran-
teed power production during the daily time periods of peak power
demand, substituting the existing expensive power production
from thermal generators.
2. The existing electricity production system
The electricity production at the examined islands is based on a
small thermal power plant and a small wind park, both of them in-
stalled on the island of Karpathos. The synthesis of the electricity
production system is presented in Table 1 [24].
Table 2 presents the electricity production and demand per
month in the examined system for the year 2008. As seen in
Table 2, the electricity demand exhibits intensive seasonal varia-
tion. These are imposed mainly by the tourist sector, which con-
siderably increases power demand during the summer months.
In Table 3 the estimated electricity annual demand and maxi-
mum power demand is presented for the examined system until
2014.
The insular non-interconnected power system in Karpathos and
Kasos encounters the well-known operational problems, com-
monly met in similar isolated systems of small size [25–28].
System instability and dynamic security contingencies (e.g. power
production loss) are usually met in the examined power system.
These contingencies can cause several malfunctions to the normal
operation of the utility network, from power quality disturbances
(voltage drops, transients, etc) to total system black-outs. The wind
power penetration is also restricted, for reasons regarding the
system’s security.
The examined system’s dynamic security is improved with the
thermal generators’ spinning reserve. However, the thermal gener-
ators’ spinning reserve and the low wind power penetration, lead
to significant increases in the electricity production cost. This cost
40 D.Al. Katsaprakakis et al. / Applied Energy 97 (2012) 38–48

Table 1 power will be produced only by the hydro turbines, exploiting

The existing electricity production system on the islands of Karpathos–Kasos. the water stored volume in the PSS upper reservoir. The hydro tur-
Generator type Number of Maximum Minimum Fuel bines will be connected with the PSS upper reservoir with a sepa-
generators power output power output rated penstock, exclusively used for water fall.
(MW) (MW) The required power for the water storage in the PSS upper res-
Diesel engine 2 1.800 1.100 Diesel ervoir will be provided either:
Daihatsu oil
8DV-26
Diesel engine 1 0.600 0.400 Diesel
 By the hybrid station’s wind park, whenever wind power is
USSR G72 oil available. A separated penstock will be used exclusively for
Wartsila W 2 5.327 2.660 Diesel pumping water to the upper reservoir. The power produced
12V32 oil by the wind park will not be provided directly to the PSS pumps.
Wind park – 1.225 – –
On the contrary, the wind park produced power will penetrate
TOTAL 16.079 7.920
the utility network. At the same time, the PSS pumps motors
will consume power from the utility network, equal to the wind
power production. In this way, both the stability of the network
Table 2 and the normal power provision to the PSS pumps are ensured.
The monthly electricity production and demand on the islands of Karpathos–Kasos in  By the thermal generators, only during night time periods (low
2008.
power demand periods), in case there is a shortage of stored
Month Total net electricity Wind park electricity Net electricity water in the PSS upper reservoir and null wind power
production (MW h) production (MW h) demand production.
(MW h)
January 2583.052 183.215 2766.267 According to the Greek legislation, the annual energy from
February 2608.520 298.478 2906.998
existing thermal generators used for supplementing the upper
March 2090.510 214.632 2305.142
April 2167.604 154.927 2322.531 reservoir cannot exceed the 30% of the total annual energy storage
May 2390.270 213.659 2603.929 in the PSS upper reservoir.
June 2985.748 274.196 3259.944 The operation of the WP-PSS is presented graphically in Fig. 2.
July 3522.836 464.650 3987.486 From the above figure it is clear that the hybrid station’s wind
August 3876.378 478.530 4354.908
September 2935.600 532.122 3467.722
park is used only for energy storage. The produced wind power
October 2111.292 277.521 2388.813 cannot penetrate to the utility network either as a percentage of
November 2040.400 154.230 2194.630 the total guaranteed power production from the hybrid station,
December 2491.826 183.750 2675.576 nor as an independent non-guaranteed power production unit.
Total 31804.036 3429.910 35,233.946
The guaranteed power will be produced exclusively by the hydro
turbines.
In practice, the existing legislation does not prohibit the direct
Table 3 penetration of a hybrid station’s wind park as a non-guaranteed
Estimation for the annual electricity and maximum power demand on Karpathos–
power production unit, in case the utility network is able to absorb
Kasos until 2014.
the wind power production. However, the ability of the network to
Year Annual electricity demand Maximum annual power demand absorb the wind power production from the hybrid station’s wind
(MW h) (MW)
park is not easily predicted, since it depends on the wind power
2010 39,171 10.50 production of the already existing wind parks in the non-intercon-
2011 40,696 11.00 nected system. The calculation of the wind power production from
2012 42,199 11.50
2013 43,674 12.00
the existing wind parks requires the availability of annual wind
2014 45,114 12.50 velocity time-series measured on their installation sites. The lack
of this data can lead to inaccurate results that, in turn, may intro-
duce a considerable error in the investment’s economic evaluation.
The construction of two penstocks, one exclusively for water fall
is further increased by the expensive diesel oil, consumed by the and one exclusively for pumping water, enables the PSS flexible
installed thermal generators in the autonomous thermal power operation and maximises its contribution to the system’s stability
plant. The annual average specific electricity production cost is and dynamic security. This is achieved with either the hydro tur-
estimated equal to 0.249 €/kW h in 2008, taking into account the bines contribution to the system’s frequency regulation or the
fuel cost only. pumps loads cut in case of a sudden power production loss.
Finally, another major problem of the examined power system
is that the island of Kasos has no power production units of its
own but depends totally on the units installed in Karpathos. As 4. Sitting of the pumped storage system
such, Kasos is far more vulnerable to the system’s security prob-
lems and power quality disturbances. Power supply interruptions The PSS has been selected to be installed in the island of Kasos,
constitute a common problem for the citizens in Kasos. The most mainly to establish a power production balance between the two
extreme situation that the island of Kasos faced during the last dec- islands that will improve the system’s stability and security. As
ade was the total loss of power supply for 1 week, when the con- the required quantities of drinking water for the PSS operation in
nection cable between the two islands was cut by a trail net. Kasos cannot be met, seawater must be used. In this case, the
PSS lower reservoir will be the sea [29]. Consequently, the sitting
3. The introduced WP-PSS operation of the PSS focuses on the selection of the position for the construc-
tion of the upper reservoir and the design of the penstocks’ route.
According to Greek legislation, the introduced WP-PSS aims to The appropriate sitting of a pumped storage system is a multi-
guarantee power production during pre-defined hours every day, parameter procedure that requires the collaboration of engineers
including the peak power demand time periods. The guaranteed and scientists from different scientific fields (mechanical and civil
 D.Al. Katsaprakakis et al. / Applied Energy 97 (2012) 38–48
Fig. 2. The operation of the examined wind powered pumped storage system.
engineers, mining engineers and metallurgists, geologists, hydro-
geologists, etc). Moreover, the sitting of a PSS cannot be integrated
properly without visiting the candidate sites. The research team of
the presented project visited the island of Kasos and examined
three different positions before settling on the chosen site for the
PSS installation. The evaluation of the examined sites was per-
formed in terms of the following parameters:
 The geologic – geomorphologic features of the area.
 The available place for the PSS upper reservoir and the existence
of physical cavities that help the reservoir construction, reduc-
ing the required digging works and consequently reducing the
construction cost.
 The available head height.
 The total penstock length from the upper reservoir to the sea.
 The terrain morphology and the available routes for the pen-
stock installation.
 The accessibility of the area by land and by sea.
Taking into account the above mentioned parameters, the re-
search team evaluated the visited sites and selected the optimum
one, presented in Fig. 3.
The site presented in Fig. 3 is located at the mountain
‘‘Kapsalos’’, close to the north coast of the island. The characteristic
features of this site and the results of its evaluation are presented
in the following sub-sections.
4.1. Geologic – geomorphologic features
The limestone formations are tectonically strain with joint and
fissures systems, karstified at places, making the excavation in the
upper area of the artificial reservoir relatively easy, through the use
of hammer and/or/ explosives.
41
Important geotechnical problems related to the stabilities of
rocky masses and wedge slip are located in the route of the pipe-
line to the sea, as well as with their cohesion at the phase of exca-
vations. The most important problem deals with the intense relief
slopes and in dips and dips direction of the thin-bedded lime-
stones, which are of similar inclination with dip slopes. For this
reason a thorough geotechnical study is required.
The coast in the potential place where the pipeline reaches the
sea is steep, exposed to the erosive marine processes of waves and
sea water impregnation, so that they are more susceptible to col-
lapses and slip of rocky masses.
4.2. Technical features
The basin of the artificial reservoir is shaped between the con-
tours of 480 m and 465 m (Fig. 3), with excavations that lend form
of inverted truncated cone and with dip of conical surface 45°.
A synopsis for the reservoir’s basic technical features is pre-
sented in Table 4.
The penstock route follows the mountain’s incline to the north
coast of the island. The penstock length is estimated to 1450 m.
Taking into account the available minimum head height (approxi-
mately 455 m including the water flow losses), the ratio of the
available head height over the penstock length is calculated Dh/
L  1/3. This value is quite satisfactory, positively affecting several
parameters regarding the penstock construction and the PSS oper-
ation, such as the required pipelines diameter and width, the water
flow linear losses, the PSS total efficiency and finally the penstock
set-up cost and hence the economic indexes of the investment.
The sectional view of the penstocks’ route from the upper reser-
voir to the sea is presented in Fig. 4. In this figure it is seen that the
penstock follows an underground route for approximately the first
260 m from the upper reservoir position. Excluding that part, the
42 D.Al. Katsaprakakis et al. / Applied Energy 97 (2012) 38–48
Fig. 3. The sitting of the pumped storage system at the mountain ‘‘Kapsalos’’ in the north coast of the island of Kasos.
rest of the penstock is installed on the surface of the mountain’s in-
cline. Special digging works and techniques (e.g. cut and cover) are
required in cases of abrupt changes of mountain slopes, as well as
close to the corrosive coastal area, aiming at a secure penstock pas-
sage and grounding and the penstocks’ protection against the cor-
rosive conditions caused by the seawater combined with the wind.
5. Calculation data
5.1. Data regarding the PSS installation site
The calculation data regarding the PSS installation site are sum-
marised in Table 5.
5.2. Wind potential
A 22.5 m height meteorological mast, installed at the wind
park’s installation site, is used for the estimation of the available
wind potential at the specific position. The recorded wind potential
measurements are presented in figs. 5 and 6. These results consti-
tute the data for the dimensioning and the sitting of the wind park,
as well as for the calculation of the annual electricity production
from the wind park.
The wind potential characteristics of the recorded measure-
ments are presented in Table 6.
Table 4
Technical features of the PSS upper reservoir.
Reservoir effective capacity (m3) 465,062
Reservoir’s upper surface area (m2) 36,654
Reservoir’s maximum depth (m) 15
Reservoir’s incline dip (o): 45
Minimum absolute altitude of the reservoir’s bottom (m) 465
The high wind potential available in the island of Kasos is de-
picted in the wind potential measurements presented in Table 6.
It is worthy of mentioning that more than 150 wind measurement
masts have been installed in Greece by the Wind Energy Labora-
tory and their measurements have been processed by the authors
of the present article. Comparing the measurements of the data
set from Kasos with that from other sites, it is revealed that the
wind potential found in Kasos has not been met anywhere else un-
til today. Consequently, according to the wind potential data base
of Wind Energy Laboratory, perhaps the largest wind potential data
base in Greece, Kasos appears to be the windiest island in the Ae-
gean Sea.
5.3. Hydrodynamic machines efficiencies
For the simulation of the PSS operation, the operational power –
total efficiency curves, presented in Figs. 7 and 8, for the selected
hydro turbine and pump models are introduced.
 D.Al. Katsaprakakis et al. / Applied Energy 97 (2012) 38–48 43

Fig. 4. Sectional view of the penstock route.

Table 5
Calculation data for the PSS installation site.

Upper reservoir effective capacity (m3) 465,062

Minimum head height (m) 455
Penstock length (m) 1450

6. WP-PSS dimensioning

6.1. The dimensioning procedure

The WP-PSS dimensioning is performed with a software tool

developed by the Wind Energy and Power Plants Synthesis Labora-
tory. The following tasks are performed with this software:

 The simulation of the existing power production system opera-

tion at the examined islands.
 Introduction of the WP-PSS in the existing system and simula-
tion of its operation.
Fig. 5. Wind rose based on the wind potential measurements at the wind park’s
 Economic evaluation of the investment. installation site.
 Taking into account the PSS available head height and the upper
reservoir’s effective capacity, the software’s dimensioning aims
at:
 The maximisation of the guaranteed power produced by the
WP-PSS.
 The minimisation of the required wind park’s and pumps’ nom-
inal power, leading to minimisation of the project’s set-up cost.
 The maximisation of the daily time period of guaranteed power
production, leading to maximisation of the guaranteed energy
production by the WP-PSS.

The optimisation criterion for the WP-PSS dimensioning is the

optimisation of the investment’s economic indexes (payback peri-
od, internal rate of return, etc).

6.2. Main dimensioning results

The results from the dimensioning optimisation procedure are

presented in Table 7.
The wind park’s capacity factor, presented in Table 7, is defined
as the ratio of the calculated annual electricity production from the
wind park over the maximum theoretical annual electricity
production from the wind park (the product of the wind park’s
nominal power with the total time period of 1 year).
The annual energy production and energy storage from the
examined WP-PSS are presented in Table 8. Taking into account
the presented data in Table 3, the annual guaranteed energy
production from the WP-PSS, as presented in Table 8, corresponds
to the 23.36% of the estimated annual electricity consumption in
Karpathos–Kasos in 2014.
Fig. 6. Wind velocity probability density Weibull distribution, based on the wind
potential measurements at the wind park’s installation site.
The mean annual PSS efficiency is defined as the ratio of the
annual guaranteed energy production by the hydro turbines over
the total annual energy storage by the pumps.
The rejected wind energy is the energy not exploited by the PSS
because either the upper reservoir is full or the wind power
production is higher than the pumps nominal power.
44 D.Al. Katsaprakakis et al. / Applied Energy 97 (2012) 38–48

Table 6 Table 8
Wind potential characteristic features, based on the wind potential measurements at Annual energy production and storage from the WP-PSS.
the wind park’s installation site.
Wind park’s annual energy production (MW h) 21,617
Wind velocity mean annual value (m/s) 11.61 Annual guaranteed energy production from hydro turbines (MW h) 10,486
Weibull C parameter (m/s) 13.20 Annual energy storage from wind park (MW h) 16,840
Weibull k parameter 2.85 Annual energy storage from thermal generators (MW h) 0
Wind power density (W/m2) 1447 Annual total energy storage (MW h) 16,840
Measurements time period 14/5/2010–13/5/2011 Wind park’s annual energy rejection (MW h) 4777
12 months Annual energy storage from thermal generators percentage over 0.00
total annual energy storage (%)
Wind park’s annual energy rejection percentage over total annual 22.10
wind park’s energy production (%)
Mean annual PSS efficiency (%) 62.27

from the WP-PSS for certain time periods during a day is presented,
substituting thermal generators’ power production.

6.3. Hydrodynamic machines

For the PSS operation, a Pelton hydro turbine and a multi-staged

pump model are selected. The Pelton model is selected because it
exhibits constant and high efficiency for the 90% of the output
power range, low cost, robust construction and it is capable to in-
Fig. 7. Efficiency variation in terms of the normalised power production of the crease the power production within a few seconds. The last feature
selected hydro turbine model. is very important regarding the power system’s stability and dy-
namic security.
The multi-staged pump model was the only techno-economic
feasible solution for the operation with the available head height.
The pump’s power regulation will be performed with a cyclo-
converter.
Two horizontal axis Pelton hydro turbine units of nominal
2 MW each will be installed, giving a total hydro power of 4 MW.
Taking into account that the guaranteed power produced by the
hydro turbines is set at 3 MW, there will always be a hydro power
surplus of 1 MW. This power surplus can be exploited as power
production spinning reserve, contributing to the system’s fre-
quency regulation and to the improvement of the dynamic
security.
The required pumping water flow at the available head height
can be provided with a combination of eight pump units of
Fig. 8. Efficiency variation in terms of the normalised power consumption of the 560 kW nominal power each. The selected pump model is a five-
selected pump model.
stage pump with horizontal axis.
The above mentioned regarding the PSS hydrodynamic ma-
chines are summarised in Table 9. The characteristic curves of
Table 7 the selected pump models with the nominal operational point
Dimensioning of the examined WP-PSS. are presented in Fig. 10.
Guaranteed power production of the hybrid station 3.00
(MW)
Wind park nominal power (MW) 4.50 6.4. Penstocks
Hydro turbines total nominal power (MW) 4.15
Pumps total nominal power (MW) 4.48 The penstocks’ diameters are selected in order to reduce the
Penstock inner diameter for water fall (mm) 800
water flow losses. In Fig. 11, the water flow losses variations in
Penstock inner diameter for water pumping (mm) 800
Wind turbine selected model Enercon E-44/ terms of the penstocks’ diameter are presented. In Table 10 the
900 kW maximum flow losses for the penstocks’ selected diameter, exhib-
Wind park capacity factor (%) 52.76 iting for the nominal water flows, are presented.
Hydro turbines total nominal flow (m3/s) 0.74 Apart from the penstocks’ diameter, the construction material
Pumps total nominal flow (m3/s) 0.72
Daily time period of guaranteed power production 8:00–22:00
must be defined and the required widths must also be calculated.
Total daily hours of guaranteed power production 14 The required penstocks’ widths are calculated in terms of the max-
imum exhibiting pressure, configured by the hydrostatic pressure
and the maximum water hammer pressure.
The penstock will be constructed from Glass Reinforced Polyes-
The results presented in Table 8 have been calculated assuming ter (GRP) for nominal pressures lower than 32 bar as GRP is an
3% electricity transportation losses. excellent material for the transportation of seawater. Taking into
In Fig. 9, the power production synthesis is presented after the account that the maximum physical head height is 480 m, this im-
introduction of the WP-PSS, from 1 to 15 of August (high season plies the penstocks will be constructed with GRP tubes for altitudes
power demand). In this figure the guaranteed power production between 160 m and 480 m.
 D.Al. Katsaprakakis et al. / Applied Energy 97 (2012) 38–48
Fig. 9. Power production synthesis after the introduction of the WP-PSS from 1 to 15 of August (high power demand season).
Table 9
Hydro turbines and pumps model and units numbers in the examined PSS.
Machine type
Hydro turbines Pelton
Pumps Multi-stagedPower regulation with cyclo-converters
Fig. 10. The selected pump model curves with the nominal operational point.
For altitudes between 0 m and 160 m the penstock will be
constructed from St52, exhibiting a yield point of 330 MPa. In order
to prevent the steel tubes from seawater corrosion, a thick film of
mixed phenol and epoxy resins, without dissolver, will be applied
in the inner surface of the tubes.
The construction of the penstock is designed as presented in
Table 11.
45
Unit nominal power (kW) Units number Total installed power (kW)
2075 2 4150
560 8 4480
7. Economic evaluation
The proposed WP-PSS economic evaluation is based on previous
statistical data from similar implemented projects [1–3,6,7,11,13,
29,30] and on the available quotation regarding the project’s main
equipment, provided by the corresponding construction compa-
nies. A relevant bibliography and market research concerning the
WP-PSS set-up and operational cost was also accomplished. The se-
lected information was used to develop a data base for the economic
evaluation of the examined power system. A computational model
was developed based on this data base. Some basic features of the
developed model and the results of the accomplished economic
evaluation are presented in the following sub-sections.
7.1. Set-up cost
The WP-PSS set-up cost is calculated taking into account the
following values, arising from the system’s dimensioning and
sitting:
 Wind park nominal installed power: 4.5 MW.
 Hydro turbines nominal installed power: 4.00 MW.
 Pumps nominal installed power: 4.48 MW.
 Total digging volume for the penstock installation 30% higher
than the total penstock outer volume: (1703 m3  1.30 =
2214 m3).
 Tunnel length: 260 m.
 Total digging volume for the upper reservoir construction:
200,000 m3.
 Upper reservoir bottom’s total surface: 40,000 m2.
 New roads total length: 6.5 km.
 New utility network length: 16 km.
The lower penstock’s intake must be protected against high sea
waves with a precast concrete block breakwater. The upper reser-
voir’s bottom should be configured and insulated properly in order
to prevent seawater leakage [29].
46 D.Al. Katsaprakakis et al. / Applied Energy 97 (2012) 38–48

Table 12
WP-PSS set-up cost calculation.

No Set-up cost component Cost (€)

1 Wind park 4800,000
2 Hydro turbines and generators (hydro power plant) 2800,000
3 Pumps and motors (pumps station) 4240,000
4 Penstocks 2400,000
5 Upper reservoir 4300,000
6 New roads construction 600,000
7 New utility network 800,000
8 Several infrastructure works 900,000
9 Buildings 500,000
10 Secondary electromechanical equipment - SCADA 2200,000
11 Consultants fees 300,000
12 Several other costs 500,000
Total PSS set-up cost 17,540,000
Total hybrid station set-up cost 22,340,000

Fig. 11. Maximum water flow losses variations in terms of the penstocks’
diameters, for nominal water flows.
Table 13
Investment’s funding scheme.

Percentage (%) Amount (€)

Table 10
Maximum flow losses in penstocks, for maximum water flows. Equities 50.00 11,170,000
Long term loan 50.00 11,170,000
Water fall Water Subsidy (state contribution) 0.00 0
penstock pumping Total 100.00 22,340,000
penstock
Selected penstock inner diameter (m) 0.80 0.80
Maximum flow losses (m) 18.98 20.32
Maximum flow losses percentage over 4.17 4.47
Table 14
available minimum head height (%)
Investment’s total annual revenues.
Maximum water velocity in penstocks (m/s) 1.42 1.47
Revenues (€)
From guaranteed energy vending 3724,555
From guaranteed power vending 380,880
Table 11 Total 4105,435
The analysis of the construction of the PSS penstocks.

Absolute altitude Material Nominal pressure Length

(m) (bar) (m) Following the relevant legislation, the investment’s annual
480–420 GRP 6 379.83 revenues are calculated with the following sale price of energy
420–380 GRP 10 139.40 and power:
380–320 GRP 16 207.14
320–280 GRP 20 73.01
280–230 GRP 25 89.17
 Guaranteed energy price: 0.3552 €/kW h.
230–160 GRP 32 144.19  Guaranteed power price: 127 €/kW year.
160–100 Steel S355J2G4 (ST 38 119.40
52) Taking into account the total annual guaranteed energy produc-
100–30 Steel S355J2G4 (ST 45 235.18
tion (10486 MW h, presented in Table 8) and the guaranteed
52)
30 to 2 Steel S355J2G4 (ST 52 62.49 power production (3 MW, presented in Table 7), the total invest-
52) ment’s revenues are calculated and presented in Table 14.
Total GRP penstock length (m) 1032.74
Total steel penstock length (m) 417.07 7.4. Annual costs – net profit
Total length (m) 1449.81

The project’s operational and maintenance costs are calculated

The results for the WP-PSS set-up cost calculation are summa- following the Greek legislation and the statistical data base config-
rised in Table 12. ured from existing similar projects worldwide. The project’s annual
costs are analysed in the following:
7.2. Funding scheme
 Municipal taxation rate equal to 3% of the investment’s total
The project’s funding scheme is configured as presented in Ta- annual revenues.
ble 13.  Wind turbines’ annual maintenance cost equal to 0.012 €/kW h
The loan payback period and rate are set equal to 15 years and of produced electricity from the wind park.
6.5% respectively.  Pumped storage system’s annual maintenance cost equal to
100,000 €.
7.3. Revenues  Annual Loan payment.
 Cost of energy purchased from the system. The price of the
The investment’s revenues are based on: purchased energy is set in terms of the mean annual specific
cost of electricity production during night time period, in the
 the sale of guaranteed energy produced existing power production system. This cost is estimated to
 the sale of guaranteed power production 0.2842 €/kW h.
 D.Al. Katsaprakakis et al. / Applied Energy 97 (2012) 38–48
Table 15
Economic indexes calculated over the investment’s equity.
Net present value – NPV (€)
Internal rate of return – IRR (%)
Payback period (years)
Discounted payback period (years)
Return on equity – ROE (%)
Return on investment – ROI (%)
Annual mean energy production specific cost (€/kW h)
Fig. 12. I.R.R. sensitivity analysis graph, in terms of characteristic economic
parameters.
 Total annual salaries: 100,000 €.
 Equipment insurance: 4‰ of the project’s set-up cost.
 Other annual costs: 50,000 €.
 Constant depreciation over 14 years.
 State taxation rate: 25%.
 Project’s life period: 20 years.
 Discount rate: 8.0%.
Following the above presented assumptions, the project’s an-
nual cash flows are calculated for a time period of 20 years. The
sum of the net profits over the total project’s life period is calcu-
lated equal to 42,521,060 €.
7.5. Economic indexes
The investment’s economic indexes, calculated over the equi-
ties, are presented in Table 15.
Two sensitivity analysis graphs, for the investment equities’
I.R.R. and payback period, in terms of characteristic economic
parameters, are presented in Figs. 12 and 13 respectively.
From the graphs presenting the sensitivity analysis, the follow-
ing conclusions can be made:
 The investment equities’ indexes are significantly improved
with increasing the selling price of energy and the subsidy.
 The effect of increasing the selling price of guaranteed power on
the economic indexes is not so intensive.
 Minor improvement on the economic indexes can be seen by a
reduction in the loan rate.
47
9102,945
17.58
5.46
7.55
233.67
116.83
0.1355
Fig. 13. Payback period sensitivity analysis graph, in terms of characteristic
economic parameters.
8. Conclusions
A wind powered pumped storage system for the non-intercon-
nected islands of Karpathos and Kasos is investigated in this paper.
The proposed PSS is designed to utilise seawater while the sea is
used as the PSS lower reservoir in order to:
 Maximise the available head height.
 Ensure the availability of the PSS working mean in an area (east-
ern Mediterranean) with relatively low annual rainfall level.
The dimensioning, the sitting and the economic evaluation of
the proposed system lead to the following conclusions:
 The wind potential measured with the installed meteorological
mast proved that the island of Kasos exhibits the highest wind
potential ever met in an Aegean Sea island. The installation site
of the proposed wind park exhibits a capacity factor of higher
than 52%.
 The proposed power production system may appear attractive
financial ratios following the defined in the relevant legislation.
 The guaranteed electricity production by the WP-PSS can
exceed 23% of the annual electricity consumption in Karpa-
thos–Kasos in 2014.
 The proposed system was thoroughly planned and the required
works were studied with accuracy. This enabled the analytical
and accurate calculation of the required infrastructure works
and the system’s set-up cost.
 The environmental benefits from the restriction of the fossil
fuels consumption and the national economies enforcement,
not taken into account in the present study, will raise the attrac-
tiveness of the proposed power system.
In the majority of isolated power production systems world-
wide, the electricity production is based on imported fossil fuels.
The peculiarities met in these systems result in expensive and
unstable electricity production. Increasing fossil fuel prices
recorded during the last years raises the cost of electricity produc-
tion and negatively affects the local economies. Moreover, the
48 D.Al. Katsaprakakis et al. / Applied Energy 97 (2012) 38–48
sensitive ecosystems, frequently met in these areas, are negatively
influenced by the operation of thermal power plants.
The proposed wind powered PSS in this paper, may represent
highly promising solutions for an alternative, environmentally
friendly electrification of isolated power production systems,
contributing in minimising consumption of imported fossil fuels.
The proposed system, although its small size, proved to be
technically and economically feasible. Finally, the exploitation of
renewable, environmentally friendly energy sources may provide
one more chance for a sustainable, viable worldwide development.
Acknowledgement
Special thanks to construction company ENET S.A. for funding
the presented work.
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