Prospect of stand-alone PV-diesel hybrid power system for rural electrification in UAE

Abstract

The aim of this study is to design and present an optimal stand-alone PV-diesel hybrid renewable power system for a rural village in Al Gharbia located in the western region of Abu Dhabi in UAE. The hybrid power system consists of three 500 kW diesel generators, 1500 kW photovoltaic arrays, 600 kW battery storages, and 1000 kW converter. The power system is capable of providing 1000 kW average load and up to 2300 kW peak load. The total electrical load which can be generated from this system is equal to 9,133,835 kWh in a year. The proposed hybrid system is evaluated using Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable (HOMER). The obtained results show that the hybrid system with 27% of photovoltaic penetration found to be the optimal system for the village under investigation (Um Azimul) with initial cost of $9,775,000 and total net present cost of $35,059,276 over 25 years. The cost of energy (COE) for PV/diesel/battery power system with 27% solar penetration was found to be 0.313$/kWh for a diesel price of 0.9$/l. The techno-economic analysis for the optimal hybrid system is presented to evaluate the decentralized generation and compare with grid extension for Um Azimul. The achieved results show that the stand-alone PV-Diesel power system is more feasible and economical than grid extension. The optimal hybrid system presented in this paper reduces CO₂ emissions by 23% compared to the conventional diesel generator power system.