Abstract
Electricity supply is inconsistent and unreliable in many remote areas of India, where depending solely on a single renewable energy source is impractical. In this context, this study investigates the potential of off-grid hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) to meet the energy needs of a village community in India. Techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment have been employed to compare eleven HRES combinations which combine photovoltaic (PV), wind turbine (WT), battery (BAT), diesel generator (DG), biogas generator (BG), converter (CONV), and electrolyser (ELEC). By optimising the size and capacity of each component in HRES, this study aims to identify the combination with the lowest levelised cost of energy (LCOE). This research aligns with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal No. 7 to seek “Affordable and Clean Energy”. The findings highlight that HRES comprising PV/WT/BAT/CONV/DG exhibits the lowest LCOE (0.319 $/kWh) and net present cost (6.81 M$) among all combinations. In systems with partial reliance on diesel, integrating both PV and WT could reduce diesel consumption and increase the renewable fraction to 86.7 %. For HRES involving PV, a significant contribution to greenhouse gas emissions occurs during the construction stage. The WT/DG combination, with its high diesel dependency, has the largest global warming potential. The efforts from this study provide valuable insights into determining the optimal HRES for remote communities by considering their economic and environmental factors.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 100793 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | Energy Conversion and Management: X |
| Volume | 24 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 10 Nov 2024 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Funding
This research work was funded by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council under the Zero-Carbon Emission Integrated Cooling, Heating and Power (ICHP) Networks (EP/T022949/1), A network for hydrogen-fuelled transportation (Network-H2) (EP/S032134/1), and United Kingdom CCS Research Centre (UKCCSRC) grant (EP/W002841/1).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council | EP/T022949/1, EP/S032134/1, EP/W002841/1 |
Keywords
- Techno-economic analysis
- Levelised cost of energy
- Hybrid renewable energy systems
- Life cycle assessment
- Hydrogen
