Optimal design of off-grid hybrid renewable energy system for electrification of One Fathom Bank Malaysia

Abstract

This paper analyzes the effect of varied energy storage technologies on a hybrid renewable energy system for electrification to meet the electrical needs of One Fathom Bank Lighthouse in Malaysia. Renewable energy resources assessed from solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind turbine (WT) are hybridized with diesel generator (DG) and energy storage. Four types of energy storage used are Lithium-ion (Li), Lead-acid (LA), vanadium redox flow (VRB) and a supercapacitor (SC). The analysis is mainly depending on parameters such as Net Present Cost (NPC), Cost of Energy (COE), unmet load, fuel consumption and CO2 emission. HOMER software has been utilized in this study to certify the influence of each storage system and to provide the best combination to supply electricity for the lighthouse. It was found that Li battery has the lowest COE in comparison to the other storage systems. The optimal system of a PV-WT-DG-battery is proposed with COE and NPC of $0.545 per kWh and $28944.70 respectively.