Discrete harmony search based size optimization of Integrated Renewable Energy System for remote rural areas of Uttarakhand state in India

In the recent years, decentralized power generation using locally available renewable energy resources has been recognized as a cost effective alternative of uneconomical grid extension. The present paper deals with the size optimization of Integrated Renewable Energy System (IRES) for a cluster of villages of Uttarakhand state in India. The proposed IRES consists of locally available renewable energy resources of Micro Hydro Power (MHP), biogas, biomass, wind and solar energy in order to meet the electrical and cooking demands of the study area. A system operation strategy has been developed in the paper for size optimization of IRES. Also, the loss of power supply probability (LPSP) has been used as the reliability criteria in order to ensure the continuous supply of power without any failure problems. Further, in order to utilize renewable energy resources in different contributions, four different resource scenarios are considered for the study area. Finally, the total net present cost (NPC) of the considered scenarios has been optimized using discrete harmony search (DHS) algorithm. Among different scenarios, MHP-biogas-biomass-wind-solar-battery based IRES offers the lowest net present cost of INR 49.0309 million at the estimated LCOE of INR 5.47/kWh. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.