Potentiality of off-grid hybrid systems for sustainable power supply at Kathmandu University campus

Electricity generation from most traditional resources has negative environmental impacts. In rural areas, especially in developing countries like Nepal, access to electricity is not enough and chronic power outages all over Nepal exacerbate the energy security for organizations and people. To improve the energy security of Kathmandu University, a model hybrid energy system to utilize the locally available renewable energy resources like solar, biomass, and human waste is developed and optimized using HOMER software. Considering the University having no existing infrastructure to set up the optimized system, it was found that with a capital investment of $148,200, there will be Total Net Present Value (TNPV) of $ 372,847, Levelized Cost of Energy of $ 0.124/kWh, and renewable fraction of 0.904. The payback period was found to be 5.16 years. Similarly, considering using the existing resources of the campus to implement the recommended model, it was found that with a capital investment of $ 73,060, TNPV of $ 339,700, Levelized Cost of Energy $0.113 / kWh, and renewable fraction of 0.888. The payback period for this scenario was found to be 3.004 years. Similar hybrid systems can be developed for many organizations to utilize local resources to generate energy for their sustainability.