TY - JOUR
T1 - Techno-Economic Assessment of Renewable Energy-based Microgrids in the Amazon Remote Communities in Ecuador
AU - Clairand, Jean Michel
AU - Serrano-Guerrero, Xavier
AU - González-Zumba, Andrés
AU - Escrivá-Escrivá, Guillermo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Several remote communities have limited electricity access and are mainly dependent on environmentally damaging fossil fuels. The installation of microgrid networks and green energy initiatives are currently addressing this issue. Thus, the techno-economic assessment of a microgrid that comprises photovoltaic arrays, a micro-hydro turbine, and diesel generation is proposed herein. Two scenarios are evaluated considering the inclusion or not of diesel generation. This model is performed in HOMER. The results demonstrate that the best option in economics is to invest in a PV/hydro/diesel microgrid, resulting in an net present cost of 2.33 M$, and a cost of energy of 0.194 $ kWh−1. Furthermore, to address diesel price uncertainties, a sensitivity analysis is carried out based on three different projected diesel prices.
AB - Several remote communities have limited electricity access and are mainly dependent on environmentally damaging fossil fuels. The installation of microgrid networks and green energy initiatives are currently addressing this issue. Thus, the techno-economic assessment of a microgrid that comprises photovoltaic arrays, a micro-hydro turbine, and diesel generation is proposed herein. Two scenarios are evaluated considering the inclusion or not of diesel generation. This model is performed in HOMER. The results demonstrate that the best option in economics is to invest in a PV/hydro/diesel microgrid, resulting in an net present cost of 2.33 M$, and a cost of energy of 0.194 $ kWh−1. Furthermore, to address diesel price uncertainties, a sensitivity analysis is carried out based on three different projected diesel prices.
KW - distributed energy resources
KW - hydro turbines
KW - microgrid planning
KW - renewable energy
KW - rural electrification
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85119255407&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/ente.202100746
DO - 10.1002/ente.202100746
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85119255407
SN - 2194-4288
VL - 10
JO - Energy Technology
JF - Energy Technology
IS - 2
M1 - 2100746
ER -
