Economic Feasibility Assessment of a Rural Hybrid Microgrid for Renala Khurd in Pakistan

Abstract

Reliable access to electric power in rural communities is challenging for the transmission and distribution system of Pakistan. The extension of the existing power system is a challenge due to huge investment cost. One solution is to involve microgrid technology for access of electric power in such communities. Thus, the integration of renewable energy resources at the currently installed power plants is a feasible economic option for Pakistan. Moreover, for reliable operation, these microgrids are supported with battery storage. However, battery storage increases the overall capital and operational cost which in case of rural communities of developing countries are at time unaffordable and practically unsustainable. Pakistan is a country that encompasses a large canal system across the country. Besides, its prime utilization in irrigation, these canals can be beneficial for small-scale hydro power generation. For additional power generation, other renewable sources, such as solar PV with grid backup can be applied. Furthermore, while adding hydro resources, the impact on project performance parameters such as Net Present Cost (NPC), Grid unit purchased, Capital cost and Cost of Energy (COE) also need quantitative assessment with the variation in the system sizing. In this study, a canal hydro source at Renala Khurd Pakistan is used as a case study to measure the quantitative impact on sizing and performance parameters with multiple combinations of the resources. HOMER Pro software has been used to assess sizing and associated economic performance parameters. Meanwhile, for the comparison of HOMER Pro software, Genetic Algorithm (GA) based Objective Function has been developed, keeping in view the required constraints. Results show that, the inclusion of small-scale hydel power as an assisting source with solar and grid combination significantly reduces the sizing of solar PV from 4.7 MW to 0.88 MW and grid unit purchased was reduced to 47% compared to 59%. Key Words: Small-scale hydel (SSH), solar PV (SPV), Genetic Algorithm (GA), Battery storage (BATT), Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER)