Remote community energy Mix Optimization in the Arabian Peninsula

This paper presents a techno-economic study to define the best energy mix based on renewable sources to meet the pre-determined electricity demand of a remote community within the Arabian Peninsula. Thanks to the good availability of solar radiation and wind source of the site, CSP with embed-ded molten salt thermal storage, photovoltaic panels, wind turbines and elec-trochemical storage are considered in the power system. The simulation model, based on Trnsys software, incorporates the technical characteristics of each plant component, site meteorological data, investment, and operation and maintenance costs. A detailed cost analysis enables an accurate calcula-tion of the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of each considered solution. The optimization procedure selects the size of different power generation systems and the capacity of energy storages that minimize the LCOE with a minimum share from renewable energy of 75%. A renewable community with a peak load of 30 MW is considered as case study and its characteristic and behavior are presented and discussed for three different hypothetical locations, Riyadh (KSA), Abu Dhabi (UAE) and Doha (QA). Comparison of different locations shows how different availa-bility of renewable resources and different weather conditions influence the optimal sizing of energy mix components; in regions with a high level of ir-radiance, CSP-based solutions are rewarded, in contrast in seaside locations, PV accounts for more than 50 percent of installed capacity due to a lower di-rect radiation component. The energy mix, given the high level of renewable fraction, is also strongly influenced by the management strategy and thus the available storage technologies. For those solutions where it is cost-effective to install a CSP system, thermal storage is more convenient to provide flexi-bility and dispatchability to the isolated grid. The use of electrical storage, due to lower conversion efficiencies, its high cost and a rather high self-discharge rate is often limited to a few hours' use. Finally, by comparing the LCOE values of the optimized solutions with the average market price of electricity in the reference area of 0.12 USD/kWh, it can be stated that the design of an isolated or weakly interconnected grid based on a high level of penetration of selected renewables (75%) is compat-ible with the current cost of electricity.