Optimal Sizing of a Standalone Microgrid using SEIG-based Hydro Power Plant, PV, and Battery Storage System

Abstract

Electrification of far-flung locations through hybrid renewable energy sources needs efficient planning to ensure economic feasibility coupled with the reliability of the system. Whereas MHPPs with SEIGs make a sturdy baseload, they are characterized by extreme seasonality due to intermittent availability in monsoon conditions. Incorporation of PV panels and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) can overcome this problem; however, heuristic algorithms for sizing such systems normally yield a technically suboptimal and economically unfeasible design of the hybrid energy system. This paper offers a PSO algorithm for the identification of the optimal capacity of the MHPP, PV panel and BESS system based on SEIG that would minimize the TNPC of the system in 20 years. The optimization problem is posed through a bi-criteria objective function that consists of cost in INR and a penalty function LPSP. The PSO model is validated using actual hourly meteorological, hydrological and load data of a far-flung village in Bhopal, MP, India. The findings confirm that the suggested PSO solution leads to the optimal system (25.78 kW Hydro, 104.69 kW PV, 297.55 kWh Battery) having the TNPC of ₹28.12 Million and LCOE of ₹5.63/kWh. The cost is reduced by 69.7% from the heuristic EAM (Energy Autonomy Method) in question, while the reliability of the grid is enhanced due to the lowering of the LPSP from the erroneous 16.54% (EAM) to a very acceptable 2.18% (PSO). It can be concluded that it is necessary to use the inverse complementarity between the solar and hydro energy sources through optimization in off-grid microgrids.