Optimal Power Dispatch and Reliability Analysis of Hybrid CHP-PV-Wind Systems in Farming Applications

Renewable energy sources (RES) are seen as potential alternative energy sources for rural communities to meet energy demand where electricity supply is inaccessible. Wind and Photo-Voltaic (PV) power is seen as mature and sustainable alternatives for rural electrification. This paper discusses the optimal power dispatch for hybrid combined heat and power (CHP), wind, PV and battery systems with a view to determining the operation of the hybrid system for farming applications. This is accomplished by considering the basic power system probability concepts to assess the performance of the reliability indices. The proposed mathematical model seeks to minimize the system operation costs from CHP. The developed model was validated on five case studies with the same load profile, solar radiation, wind speed and CHP generating unit parameters and solved using a CPLEX solver embedded in Algebraic Modelling Language. The sensitivity analysis performed indicates that the hybrid system achieved a higher reliability as compared to other case studies. The result shows 48% of energy cost reduction is achievable when considering the proposed hybrid CHP, wind, PV and battery system as compared to energy supply via CHP.