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Hybrid Energy Systems—Strategy for Decarbonization
Published in Yatish T. Shah, Hybrid Energy Systems, 2021
Around the world, thousands of communities and industrial sites are however not powered by the utility grid. The traditional means of electrification in such locations is diesel generation since it is a more conventional technology and more people are trained in operation and maintenance. Wind turbines and solar panels are better known renewable energy devices used in hybrid power systems. Hybrid systems usually include energy storage (see Figure 1.2), so they can deliver a certain amount of energy on demand. These systems provide a high degree of energy security through the mix of generation methods and can often incorporate a storage system (battery and/or fuel cell) or to ensure maximum supply reliability and security, a small fueled generator (nonrenewable). Hybrid power systems exhibit higher reliability and lower cost of generation than those that use only one source of energy. Some studies have been conducted concerning the techno-economic assessment of an autonomous hybrid PV/diesel hybrid power system installed in a bungalow complex in Elounda, Crete. In remote areas which are far from the grids, electricity is supplied either by diesel generators or small hydroelectric plants. Under such circumstances, the supply of fuel becomes so expensive that hybrid diesel/photovoltaic generation becomes competitive with diesel-only generation. Many of these studies are reviewed in my previous book [3]. When solar-wind hybrid system is injected in the utility grid, as pointed out in my previous book, additional storage (battery) is required to stabilize grid. Solar-wind hybrid systems can also be effectively used with the microgrids.
Energy and Environmental Development in Maldives
Published in Asif Muhammad, Energy and Environmental Outlook for South Asia, 2020
Energy insecurity will continue to exist in the Maldives as long as the Maldives depends on fossil fuel for energy. Therefore, a long-term commitment to improving resource efficiency in the energy sector is important to overcome existing barriers. Also, climate change and sea-level rise will have a dramatic impact on coastal communities such as the Maldives. Though the government of the Maldives is investing in renewable energy technologies, it is worthy to mention that, without foreign support, it will not be easy for the government to transform the current conventional energy systems to modern renewable energy systems due to high costs involved in such projects. For a country such as the Maldives where resources are limited, financial and technical assistance will be needed to implement expensive projects effectively. Installing renewable energy systems comes with complications. Even so, successful installation of renewable energy systems will result in a cleaner, safer and cheaper energy opportunities for the Maldivians, while at the same time protecting the Maldivian economy from fluctuating oil prices in the international oil market, which is essential to safeguard the Maldivian economy in the long run. The Maldives has an abundance of sunshine, and investing in solar PV is highly sensible from the perspective of energy security. However, the lack of a vast area of land availability in the Maldives will be challenging when it comes to installing solar PVs. On the other hand, hybrid power systems are economically attractive and environmentally appealing. Even so, a transition from conventional energy systems to hybrid systems will be slow to take place in the Maldives. However, as the Maldives seek alternative energy resources to become less dependent on fossil fuel, a transition will be inevitable in the future of the Maldives.
Renewable Energy Environmental Impacts
Published in Radian Belu, Energy Storage, Grid Integration, Energy Economics, and the Environment, 2019
Because operational environmental burdens are typically small for RE technologies, LCA is recognized as the most appropriate analytical tool for determining their environmental impacts of these technologies. Wind and solar energy generate electricity from the kinetic energy of the wind, and converting solar energy, respectively. Various types of wind turbines and PV systems are commercially available. Wind and solar energy are site specific energy sources. The capital cost of wind energy systems for generating electricity, for example varies from about $1.4 to $3.5/W, with larger-scale technologies being more cost effective. The generation cost of wind energy facilities varies between $0.058 to 0.24 per kWh, depending on capital cost and capacity factor. Fuel cells are electrochemical power generators with high overall and part load efficiency, operating quite with minimal polluting systems, viewed as a possible solution of the main disadvantage of wind and solar energy highly fluctuating electricity generation, due to the wind and solar radiation nature. The wind and solar energy conversion systems are used to produce hydrogen for later use in fuel cells, when the electricity is needed. However, there are significant challenges to this approach. Many hybrid power systems consist of combinations of wind turbine generator, PV arrays and energy storage devices, such as batteries and/or fuel cells. Wind power and PV array are interesting renewable energy systems with regard to development in production technologies, and thus with important updates for the inventory analysis. An integrated hybrid power system, having a 800 kW capacity is designed to deliver electricity to a local network or to a larger grid. All inflows and outflows (i.e., the materials, the energy resources, emissions and waste) were allocated to the overall amount of kWh electricity produced over the lifetime. Usually, the chosen functional unit is 1 kWh electricity output from the integrated system. The LCA main focus is to identify and quantify the emissions associated with the integrated system components (wind turbine, PV array, electrolyzer and fuel cell). The end of life of every system component, i.e., recycling, landfill and disposal are included. Notice that the fuel cell and hydrogen generation technologies are still under research and therefore it is difficult to predict the lifetime. However, most power systems are evaluated for about 20 years. The LCA steps are carried out for the entire system. LCI data are adopted for different sources, as found in the literature. LCA databanks were consulted for data regarding the environmental burden of key materials and potential recycle. When data were not available, the following assumptions can be made: (a) indirect pollutant emissions were only considered for the construction, maintenance and system disposal, and (b) the industrial, economic and energetic context is different for different components produced in different countries.
Optimal energy scheduling of a standalone rural microgrid for reliable power generation using renewable energy resources
Published in Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects, 2023
Md Mustafa Kamal, Imtiaz Asharaf, Eugene Fernandez
Storage is widely utilized with renewable energy sources to stabilize the power supply. Using a diesel generator is a typical technique for electrifying far-off settlements. However, RR integration is becoming more common because of the expensive cost of producing electricity from a diesel engine and the pollutants produced by burning diesel fuel (Papatsounis et al. 2022). The most promising RRs are wind power and SPV. They are considering that these RRs are easily accessible everywhere. The significant barriers to the widespread adoption of RR are higher initial capital costs and lower efficiency (Wang et al. 2020). This system is a reliable source of energy, especially in rural regions, due to developments in the technology of renewable energy integration and potential hybridization with conventional energy producers for more frequently available and consistent energy sources (Kumar et al. 2021). For a steady supply, HES combine RR with storage. The main benefits of hybrid power systems are that they increase the reliability of renewable power systems while dropping dependence on conventional resources (Tian et al. 2021). These systems are usually more advantageous than employing a single energy source or prime mover for standalone power.
Decarbonization of remote mine electricity supply and vehicle fleets
Published in CIM Journal, 2021
J. E. Zuliani, J. Guilbaud, M. Carreau
Hybrid power is defined as integration of renewable generation (wind and solar) with energy storage and diesel or natural gas generators. Remote mines are typically powered by diesel generators or occasionally natural gas generators. This technology represents a key opportunity to make a significant reduction in emissions since it directly eliminates the generation of electricity with fossil fuels. The key components of a hybrid power system are shown in Figure 1. The most common and cost-effective renewable generation technologies are wind generation and solar PV generation. The costs of wind turbines and solar PV installations have been continually declining and the technology has been continually improving over the past decade. Further details on solar PV and wind generation trends are discussed in the next section. However, a key challenge with these generation sources is their intermittency.
Fuzzy logic-based energy management system of stand-alone renewable energy system for a remote area power system
Published in Australian Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, 2019
Hybrid power systems are suitable for supplying load demand in the remote areas, villages and hill stations. Fuzzy logic-based power management system can control a hybrid power system to provide uninterrupted power, can minimise the use of diesel generator, can effectively utilise the sources and increase the battery life. By reducing the use of diesel these systems can reduce the emission of harm gasses and reduce pollution.