Optimal techno-economic sizing of a solar-biomass-battery hybrid system for off-setting dependency on diesel generators for microgrid facilities

Increase in energy demand and scarcity of fossil fuels have increased concerns over rudimentary energy security. The adverse impact on the environment by fossil fuel based power generation has supervened the focus on renewable energy. To ascertain the reliability of power, diesel generator (DG-set) based backup system is predominant. DG-set based power generation has become very costly and has an adverse impact on the environment. Renewable energy (RE) based power generation (solar/wind) proves to be an effective alternative but is intermittent and variable in nature. One of the key solutions is by providing energy storage in multi-generation systems (MGS). Energy storage plays a vital role in MGS by smoothening the variations in the intermittent generation and arresting the net load variations. However, an approach for obtaining optimal asset configuration of MGS for mitigating DG-set along with operating strategy for a battery energy storage system (BESS) is the real challenge. A generic adaptable model for techno-economic optimization has been developed and presented. This paper attempts to find the optimal sizes for a battery bank with solar PV system for eliminating DG-set for microgrids. The problem has been solved using mixed integer linear programming (MILP) based optimization. The economic viability along with carbon mitigation for different microgrids have been presented. The evaluation of the optimization model is carried out with six different real case studies (Educational, micro industrial, residential, medical institutions) of India. The techno-economic analysis has been presented for different scenarios of each case study and compared with the existing solution.

Automated summary

Increased energy demand and fossil fuel scarcity have raised concerns about basic energy security, shifting focus to renewable energy. Utilizing energy storage in multi-generation systems can help smooth intermittent generation and stabilize net load variations.