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The measures needed to limit global warming pose a particular challenge to current fossil fuel exporters, who must not only decarbonise their local energy systems, but also compensate for the expected decline in fossil fuel revenues. One possibility is seen in the export of green hydrogen. Using Algeria as a case study, this paper analyses how different levels of ambition in hydrogen exports, energy efficiency and fuel switching affect the cost-optimal expansion of the power sector for a given overall emissions reduction path. Despite falling costs for photovoltaics and wind turbines, the results indicate that in countries with very low natural gas prices, such as Algeria, a fully renewable electricity system by 2050 is unlikely without appropriate policy measures. The expansion of renewable energy should therefore start early, given the high annual growth rates required, which will be reinforced by additional green hydrogen exports. In parallel, energy efficiency is a key factor as it directly mitigates CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and reduces domestic electricity demand, which could instead be used for hydrogen production. Integrating electrolysers into the power system could potentially help to reduce specific costs through load shifting. Overall, it seems advisable to analyse hydrogen exports together with local decarbonisation in order to better understand their interactions and to reduce emissions as efficiently as possible. These results and the methodology could be transferred to other countries that want to become green hydrogen exporters in the future and are therefore a useful addition for researchers and policy makers. • The required strong capacity expansion for PV and wind is challenging, but feasible. • "Energy efficiency first" benefits both the local energy transition and H2 exports. • Fully renewable power systems require a suitable political framework. • Higher hydrogen exports might help to reduce the specific power system cost. • Fossil capacity expansion must be stopped to avoid lock-ins and higher future costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A detailed assessment analysis of 2.5 kWp photovoltaic (PV) system located in southern Algeria (Latitude 27.88 °N, Longitude −0.27 °E, Altitude 262 m) has been carried out in this paper in order to support the growth of grid-tied photovoltaic power plant implementation in the Saharan environment. The achievement of this analysis has been done by performing an accurate evaluation of the different impacts of the environment parameters on the operating performance of the grid-tied PV system. The data set covers 12 operating months and has been collected by our team from the Research Unit on Renewable Energy (URER-MS). The collected experimental data reveal that the environmental parameters variation has direct effect on the performance of both energy conversion efficiency and system losses. The grid was supplied with a power of 4322.65 kWh during the year 2015, where the annual average temperature was 28.30 °C. An important variation in performance parameters have been observed for different months. The yield values of max/min monthly average daily reference, array and final were; 7.68/5.7 kW h/kWp/day, 6.07/4.24 kW h/kWp/day and 5.75/3.98 kW h/kWp/day, respectively. The PV module, inverter and overall system efficiency reached; 14.19/11.10%, 95.34/93.94% and 13.53/10.50%, respectively. The experimental results indicate that the performance ratio (PR) varies from 66.66% to 85.93% and the annual average capacity factor was 7.91%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The newly adopted version of the National Renewable Energy Program of Algeria offers the country the possibility to integrate 27% of renewable energy in the national energy mix. Preservation of fossil resources, diversification of electricity production and contribution to sustainable development are among challenges that face the country nowadays. The objective of this paper is to propose a methodology and outline a procedure to determine the best configuration and the optimum design of future solar thermal power plants with minimum levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) and maximum annual power generation as objectives. Our study is based on a Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plant of capacity of 50 MW to be erected in Hassi R'mel City, in the south of Algeria. In this methodology, the size of the solar field, the fossil fill fraction of backup system and full load hours of storage are optimized for the minimum LCOE using the concept of solar multiple. Moreover, different models, technologies and scenarios for parabolic trough and central tower receiver power plant are presented. LCOE presents a basis of comparison for weighted average costs of different power generation technologies. It is clearly shown that the solar power plant based on central receiver tower technology with 48% of backup system and 8 h of storage is the most attractive and optimum plant. It was also found from financial analysis that the LCOE can decreases by 13% with less interest rate and tax deductions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The yield produced from conventional hemispherical solar still (CHSS) is limited. Modified hemispherical solar still (MHSS) using rubber and wick materials at the basin of the HSS are examined in this research paper. To experimentally studied the effect of rubber materials at different thicknesses (2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 mm) and wick materials at a different thicknesses (1.5, 3, 4.5, and 6 mm), under the same operating conditions, three equal HSS units are designed and constructed. The experiments were conducted in four days, under the climatic conditions of the city of El Oued-Algeria. The experimental results showed that a rubber material at a different thickness (2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 mm) improves the yield by 14.29, 26.53, 35.71, and 46.94%, respectively as compared to the CHSS. Also, using wick materials at different thicknesses (1.5, 3, 4.5, and 6 mm) improves the yield by 12.24, 22.45, 30.61, and 40.81%, respectively, as compared to the CHSS. This modification is very efficient and inexpensive because rubber and wick materials are available at a cheap price. After comparing the yield of HSS according to the thickness of the rubber and wick materials used, we found that the more thickness of the materials (rubber and wick), the better the yield. Therefore, we recommend using thicker materials. • Two solar stills (hemispherical solar still with and without energy storage material) were fabricated. • Research was conducted at Renewable Energy Laboratory of University of El Oued, Algeria. • The output of solar still was improved by using low-cost energy storage materials. • Productivity was improved by 14.29–46.94% by using rubber material as compared to the conventional hemispherical solar still. • Productivity was improved by 12.24–40.81% by using wick material as compared to the conventional hemispherical solar still. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An optimal design of an off-grid hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) is suggested. • Techno-economic feasibility study of the hybrid PV-wind-battery-diesel energy system. • The effects of demand-side management on the energy demand–supply is investigated. • Test the impact of battery technology on the design of HRES through a sensitivity analysis. • Comparison between particle swarm optimization and HOMER software is made. The growing research interest in hybrid renewable energy systems (HRESs) has been regarded as a natural and yet critical response to address the challenge of rural electrification. Based on a Bibliometric analysis performed by authors, it was concluded that most studies simply adopted supply-side management techniques to perform the design optimization of such a renewable energy system. To further advance those studies, this paper presents a novel approach by integrating demand–supply management (DSM) with particle swarm optimization and applying it to optimally design an off-grid hybrid PV-solar-diesel-battery system for the electrification of residential buildings in arid environments, using a typical dwelling in Adrar, Algeria, as a case study. The proposed HRES is first modelled by an in-house MATLAB code based on a multi-agent system concept and then optimized by minimizing the total net present cost (TNPC), subject to reliability level and renewable energy penetration. After validation against the HOMER software, further techno-economic analyses including sensitivity study are undertaken, considering different battery technologies. By integrating the proposed DSM, the results have shown the following improvements: with RF = 100%, the energy demand and TNPC are reduced by 7% and 18%, respectively, compared to the case of using solely supply-side management. It is found that PV-Li-ion represents the best configuration, with TNPC of $23,427 and cost of energy (COE) of 0.23 $/kWh. However, with lower RF values, the following reductions are achieved: energy consumption (19%) and fuel consumption or CO 2 emission (57%), respectively. In contrast, the RF is raised from 15% (without DSM) to 63% (with DSM). It is clear that the optimal configuration consists of wind-diesel, with COE of 0.21 $/kWh, smaller than that obtained with a stand-alone diesel generator system. The outcomes of this work can provide valuable insights into the successful design and deployment of HRES in Algeria and surrounding regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]