Techno-Economic Feasibility Analysis of a Hybrid Renewable Energy Supply Options.

What is it about?

This study presents a detailed feasibility analysis of technical and financial assessment for grid-connected Hybrid Renewable Energy System (HRES) configurations by including grid-only, HRES-only and grid-HRES at four different provinces in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), namely; (Al Baha University, University of Jeddah, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, and Tabuk University). The objective of this paper is to search the possibility of supplying the load demand with the optimum system that has the lowest net present cost (NPC) and greenhouse emission CO2. The simulation results show that NPC of a proposed grid/PV system, at the current grid’s tariff, is more sufficient than other configurations with a result in a renewable fraction of more than 50%, a payback time of 17 years, and 54.3% reduction in CO2. The results also show that the integration of 62 kW PV array with the main grid is the best configuration that leads to the minimum cost of energy (COE) of 0.0688 $/kWh and the sell back energy of 9.16% of total energy consumption at Al Baha University. Besides, optimization modeling addresses that HRES-only system can supply the full load demand with- out power shortage (<0.1%) with a major contribution from solar PV by 78.5%, wind energy shares 11.3% of load de- mand, and 10.2% from battery banks. The developed anal- ysis concludes that the objective function is feasible for the selected locations.

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Photo by Jessica Knowlden on Unsplash

Photo by Jessica Knowlden on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The potential of power generation from renewable energy and the conventional grid is investigated at different uni- versities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The meteoro- logical data are analyzed by considering solar radiation, wind speed, and temperature in various regions in Saudi Arabia. The mathematical and economic equations for the proposed system are also presented in this study. Five different configurations have been examined at autonomous and grid-connected modes using computer-aided HOMER Software. The studied systems include conventional grid, PV array, wind turbines, battery storage, or a combination of hybrid configurations. Five examined systems are simulated for each selected university to cover most of the solar and wind renewable energy potentials in Saudi Arabia. The desired universities are Al Baha University (southern province), Sattam Uni- versity (eastern province), University of Jeddah (western province), and Tabuk University (northern province). The simulation results present that the proposed Grid/PV con- figurations generate a lower cost of energy (COE) for all se- lected locations comparing with other configurations. It is addressed in this study that the southern region of Saudi Arabia has higher renewable resources potential which is reflected in the COE at Al Baha University with 0.0688 $/kWh. In the simulation results, the Grid/PV configura- tion provides more than 50% from renewable resources at all selected locations which leads to lower CO2. The en- vironmental analysis shows that the percentage of RF im- pact on the harmful emissions from fossil fuels. Sensitivity analysis showed that Grid/PV systems will become more competitive with increasing electricity tar- iff and cost. At the present 2020 tariff of electricity, the proposed Grid/PV configuration has a lower COE than the Grid-only system for all selected universities. For a 25- year project period, Grid/PV system at Al Baha University provides a payback time of 16 years at the current tariff while it decreases dramatically when the cost of electric- ity is increased. The proposed Grid/PV system can achieve the load demand at different load variation. Overall, the findings reveal that harvesting energy from renewable re- sources become competitive with fossil fuel’s energy due to financial and environmental advantages. The solar en- ergy provides a promising potential for educational build- ings, or even residential sectors, at current and future en- ergy consumption of KSA. The developed approach can be used for other university buildings in Saudi Arabia or around the world where meteorological and load data ex- ist.

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