An evaluation of the viability of using renewable energy sources to power a sizable hotel in Salalah, Oman

Paper examines the potential for a large-scale tourist operation in Salalah to run on renewable energy sources (RES) independently. The analysis makes use of data on electrical consumption from a hotel. The analysis uses the net present cost and the cost of energy as evaluation criteria This research compares diesel standalone generator, RES, and hybrid technologies using RES assessment software tools, HOMER (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), and found that while the standalone generator has net present cost and cost of energy of $ 2263420 and $0.4756, the renewable energy and hybrid energy systems have $1909726, $2690442 and $0.4011, $0.5762 respectively, making the renewable energy system to be most cost effective in providing energy for the hotel in Salalah. The modeling results show that RES has the potential to meet the power needs of large-scale tourist accommodation in principle. Optimal simulations show that renewable energy sources alone can meet all of the nation's electricity needs. The results of the modeling and analysis show that RES can be a practical and cost-effective alternative to the traditional fossil fuel power generator set currently used by major tourist operations.