Design and Optimization of a Hybrid Renewable Energy System for Weizhou Island

The increasing population of remote islands has led to a surge in the demand for power generation, prompting researchers to explore solutions such as hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES). By integrating renewable sources with existing conventional generators, HRES can reduce the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and minimize greenhouse gas emissions. However, limited research exists on optimizing economic configurations and evaluating system stability, particularly for peak load demand. This paper focuses on the design, optimization, and evaluation of a large HRES for Weizhou Island in Guangxi, China-a densely populated island. The findings demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of implementing HRES on this island, meeting a saturated load demand of 120 MW at a LCOE of $0.122/kWh. The proposed system utilizes wind, solar, natural gas, diesel, and storage batteries as energy resources. Power flow simulations, based on configuration optimization results from HOMER, reveal favorable system performance in power quality, supply-demand balance, and stability.