Search

In the recent years, decentralized power generation using locally available renewable energy resources has been recognized as a cost effective alternative of uneconomical grid extension. The present paper deals with the size optimization of Integrated Renewable Energy System (IRES) for a cluster of villages of Uttarakhand state in India. The proposed IRES consists of locally available renewable energy resources of Micro Hydro Power (MHP), biogas, biomass, wind and solar energy in order to meet the electrical and cooking demands of the study area. A system operation strategy has been developed in the paper for size optimization of IRES. Also, the loss of power supply probability (LPSP) has been used as the reliability criteria in order to ensure the continuous supply of power without any failure problems. Further, in order to utilize renewable energy resources in different contributions, four different resource scenarios are considered for the study area. Finally, the total net present cost (NPC) of the considered scenarios has been optimized using discrete harmony search (DHS) algorithm. Among different scenarios, MHP-biogas-biomass-wind-solar-battery based IRES offers the lowest net present cost of INR 49.0309 million at the estimated LCOE of INR 5.47/kWh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents the results of the application of model (developed in part I) and simulation algorithm (developed in part II) for determining the techno-economics of battery storage type hybrid energy system intended to supply the load of a rural remote area having a cluster of nine villages (grid isolated). The hour-by-hour simulation model is intended to simulate a typical one month period of system operation. For simulation purpose, hourly solar insolation data and load data have been generated and used as an input data. Demand side management (DSM) is used in this study to smooth out the daily peaks and fill valleys in the load curve to make the most efficient use of energy sources. The economic analysis has resulted in the calculation of optimized hourly, daily, and monthly system unit cost of proposed hybrid energy system. The obtained results represent also a helpful reference for energy planners in Uttarakhand state and justify the consideration of hybrid energy systems more seriously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]