Optimal design of hybrid renewable energy system for electrification of isolated grids

This paper presents an algorithm for optimal design of hybrid renewable energy system consisting of wind turbines, photovoltaic modules, micro-hydro and biomass units. In this approach, unit cost of energy ($/kWh) is used to compare different renewable projects. For each renewable generating unit, energy cost is computed using the unit's levelized cost and annual energy production. An objective function with aim to minimize the average cost of electricity by reducing the energy purchased from existing diesel generators is designed. The developed algorithm selects the least cost combination of generators from a list of commercially available renewable units taking into account hourly demand, hourly renewable resources input and market availability of each renewable unit. To examine the proposed methodology, a computer program is developed and the simulation results are presented.