Techno-economic analysis of optimal hybrid renewable energy systems – A case study for a campus microgrid

Abstract

People are becoming more aware of the benefits of renewable energy. In recent years, a lot of research deals with the use of energy systems during on-grid or off-grid conditions, however, grid-connected systems may cause a power crisis to the grid. With the addition of renewable components, it is hard for the grid to keep balance. In hybrid systems, contradiction between net present cost (NPC) and excess electricity, unmet load, and capacity shortage always appears. Excess electricity, unmet load, and capacity shortage appear when the demand and supply are unbalanced, indicating the underutilization of energy. In this paper, we aim to overcome the aforementioned contradiction by conducting a case study for the first time on the implementation of a Hybrid Renewable Energy System (HRES) for a university campus in Selangor, Malaysia. Four different designs of HRES are proposed and compared. They are the Wind-Biogas-Battery System (Design A), Wind-Biogas-PV-Battery System (Design B), Wind-Biogas-Hydrogen Module-Battery System (Design C), Wind-Biogas-Diesel Generator-Battery System (Design D). The most optimal system will be selected based on the evaluation of three main criteria, i.e., cost analysis, electricity production analysis, and gas emission analysis.

Keywords

• Hybrid renewable energy systems
• Optimization
• Techno-economic analysis
• Net present cost
• Greenhouse gas emission