Design and Feasibility Study of a Grid-Connected 30MW Large-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Plant

Abstract The integration of Large-Scale Solar (LSS) photovoltaic plants into Malaysia's power grid aims to lower dependency on conventional electricity generation sources, including coal and fossil fuels. The government intends to generate a total LSS capacity of 2.5 GW, providing 10% of the nation's electricity needs. Nonetheless, the complex configuration of the power grid often resulted in technical challenges during the integration of LSS, including power flow, system losses, and instability issues. Thus, the goal of this project is to design a 30 MW LSS power plant that complies with Malaysia's Grid Code Requirement. In phase 1, the optimal sizing of the photovoltaic system and inverter is calculated via SEDA's mathematical approach. In phase 2, the theoretical calculation is validated using PVSyst software, and in stage 3, load flow analysis is conducted in ETAP 19.0.1 software to evaluate the feasibility of integrating LSS into a 9-bus test system. The PVSyst simulation results indicated that the system could provide a 30 MW AC output utilizing all parameters derived from SEDA's mathematical approach. The feasibility analysis indicates that the test system, with an integrated LSS photovoltaic plant, functions within safe parameters under base conditions and complies with the Malaysian Grid Code.