A techno-economic investigation of grid integrated hybrid renewable energy systems

The present work investigates the techno-economic-environmental feasibility analysis of a grid-connected hybrid system as a microgrid in the western Himalayan region, using local renewable resources such as solar, wind, biomass (pine needles). A total of 5 distinct configurations are examined based on available resources in the presence and absence of a storage unit. The grid-connected biomass gasifier/photovoltaic hybrid system is found to be most cost-effective, with an energy generation cost of $0.099/kWh. The optimal system is estimated to save 27.8 Mt CO2/year (w.r.t diesel-only system). Finally, sensitivity is carried out to ascertain the impact of changes in different input parameters like solar radiation, fuel price, biomass gasifier life, real interest rate, and capacity shortage on system outputs for critical sensitive parameters identification. The optimal system is found to be more sensitive towards variations in solar radiation, real interest rate, biomass gasifier lifetime, and annual capacity shortage mainly. The study findings would help renewable system planers, analysts and policymakers in terms of identifying latest design constraints and formulating appropriate strategies for biomass-based hybrid systems.