The Potential Role of Hybrid Renewable Energy System for Grid Intermittency Problem: A Techno-Economic Optimisation and Comparative Analysis

Muhammad Paend Bakht, Zainal Salam (), Mehr Gul, Waqas Anjum, Mohamad Anuar Kamaruddin (), Nuzhat Khan and Abba Lawan Bukar
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Muhammad Paend Bakht: Centre of Electrical Energy Systems, School of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor Bahru 81310, Malaysia
Zainal Salam: Centre of Electrical Energy Systems, School of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor Bahru 81310, Malaysia
Mehr Gul: Department of Electrical Engineering, Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences (BUITMS), Quetta 87300, Pakistan
Waqas Anjum: Department of Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan
Mohamad Anuar Kamaruddin: School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Gelugor 11800, Malaysia
Nuzhat Khan: School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Gelugor 11800, Malaysia
Abba Lawan Bukar: Centre of Electrical Energy Systems, School of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor Bahru 81310, Malaysia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 21, 1-29

Abstract: The renewed interest for power generation using renewables due to global trends provides an opportunity to rethink the approach to address the old yet existing load shedding problem. In the literature, limited studies are available that address the load shedding problem using a hybrid renewable energy system. This paper aims to fill this gap by proposing a techno-economic optimisation of a hybrid renewable energy system to mitigate the effect of load shedding at the distribution level. The proposed system in this work is configured using a photovoltaic array, wind turbines, an energy storage unit (of batteries), and a diesel generator system. The proposed system is equipped with a rule-based energy management scheme to ensure efficient utilisation and scheduling of the sources. The sizes of the photovoltaic array, wind turbine unit, and the batteries are optimised via the grasshopper optimisation algorithm based on the multi-criterion decision that includes loss of power supply probability, levelised cost of electricity, and payback period. The results for the actual case study in Quetta, Pakistan, show that the optimum sizes of the photovoltaic array, wind turbines, and the batteries are 35.75 kW, 10 kW, and 28.8 kWh, respectively. The sizes are based on the minimum values of levelised cost of electricity (6.64 cents/kWh), loss of power supply probability (0.0092), and payback period (7.4 years). These results are compared with conventional methods (generators, uninterruptible power supply, and a combined system of generator and uninterruptible power supply system) commonly used to deal with the load shedding problem. The results show that the renewable based hybrid system is a reliable and cost-effective option to address grid intermittency problem.

Keywords: grasshopper optimisation algorithm; load shedding; optimal sizing; photovoltaic; wind turbine; rule-based; payback period; levelised cost of electricity; loss of power supply probability; multi-objective (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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