Techno Economic Evaluation of Hybrid Energy Isolated Micro-Grids for Rural Areas in Four Zones of Egypt

In this paper, Rural electrifications and optimum sizing of isolated hybrid micro-grids improve the quality of the life in rural areas by using the optimization technique. A software homer optimization technique has been used to model isolated micro-grid performance during a time of one year, considering hourly variations in both the availability of renewable resources and variations in load demands. The optimum solution is obtained considering the minimization of the levelized costs of energy (LCOEs) over a project lifetime of 25 years. The simulations concentrated on the net present costs (NPCs), LCOEs, and a renewable fraction (RFs) of the given hybrid isolated micro-grids for all four zones. The gotten analyses show that SPV/wind/diesel/battery storage hybrid isolated micro-grids configuration is found as optimal solutions for 1.3 $/l of diesel fuel consumption. This paper studied the feasibility of different isolated micro-grid configurations comprising SPV, WT, and diesel in different areas of Egypt. Four rural isolated micro-grids have been randomly chosen for the four areas in Egypt with the intention that the obtained results of this study could be replaced in other rural locations of the selected areas with similar terrains. HOMER simulation was used to calculate the economic feasibility of the isolated micro-grids. The simulations focused on the LCOEs and RFs of the given hybrid component for all four regions. The analyses showed that SPV/wind/diesel/battery hybrid isolated micro-grids configuration is found as the best architecture for all rural areas. It also presented a good performance in fuel consumption and CO2 reduction.