Oman rural grid extension employing renewable energy technology

Abstract

Today, the electrification of various locations is a significant challenge for governments in several countries because of many challenges, especially in desert areas far from the national grid. The paper discusses employing renewable energy sources as an alternative solution for the national grid to feed rural areas in Oman because air pollution is escalating due to the fast growth and the industrialization. The research has taken the load estimation in an Omani desert village called Yanqul, which necessitates about 40 MW. The paper has finalized that installing 12 units of the wind turbine 36 MW with 30 MW Solar Panels is feasible. The approach has included the module sizing calculations using the Power World Simulator, and HOMER Pro software for economic consideration and operational costs. The paper has encouraged using renewable energy as an alternative method over the traditional transmission system due to the technical issues connected with losses, power factor, synchronization, and pollution. The Levelized cost of renewable energy was found $1,366.56, which is cheaper than extending the national grid. This reduction has appeared on annual electricity bill per capita, which dropped to $581.3. Environmentally, the study has shown a reduction in CO 2 emissions by 22 tons, making value to air quality. The future study will discuss the reactive power compensation of the wind turbine technologies to improve power transmission.