Potential Techno-Economic Feasibility of Hybrid Energy Systems for Electrifying Various Consumers in Yemen

Saif Mubaarak,Meicheng Li,Yongcong Chen,Yan Zhang,Longze Wang,Jing Wu,Jinxin Liu,Sayed A Zaki,Delong Zhang,Rongfang Yuan

doi:10.3390/su13010228

Abstract

Global warming and climate change are becoming a global concern. In this regard, international agreements and initiatives have been launched to accelerate the use of renewable energy and to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Yemen is one of the countries signed on these agreements. However, Yemen is facing the problem that the structure of the power grid is fragile and the power shortage is serious. Accordingly, this paper aims to study the potential for renewable energy in Yemen and assess the technical and economic feasibility of hybrid energy systems. Firstly, this paper introduces the status and challenges of Yemen’s electricity sector, the status of renewable energy, and the status of GHG emission. Secondly, this study proposes the method of optimizing different configurations of off-grid hybrid (solar/wind/diesel engine) energy systems for electrifying various consumers in Taiz province, Yemen under three scenarios of energy strategies. The objective function is to seek the most optimal hybrid energy system that achieves the least cost and most advantageous technical performance, while instigating the best economic scenario of energy strategies. Finally, Homer pro software is used for simulation, optimization, and sensitivity analysis of the designed energy systems. The results found the best economically feasible scenario, the hybrid PV/wind/diesel energy system, among the other scenarios. A photovoltaic (PV)/wind energy system achieved the best technical performances of 100% CO2 reduction, with a 54.82% reduction in the net present cost (NPC) and cost of energy (COE); while the hybrid energy system (PV/wind/diesel engine) achieved the best economic cost of 61.95% reduction in NPC and COE, with a 97.44% reduction of CO2 emission.

Highlights

Introduction affiliationsA recent statistics review of world energy 2020 reported that 84% of global energy is still supplied by fossil fuel, while renewable energy merely supplies 11% of global primary energy consumption
This paper proves that renewable energy has the potential to restore the energy sector in Yemen, and suggests a series of procedures that should be started from a decentralized aspect to a centralized aspect
It can be seen that for the system in Case III, the replacement cost is dominated by a large part of net present cost (NPC) with approxenergy system in case I, the NPC in scenario (1) reduces 36.6%, 44.12% compared with imately 43–45% in the energy scenarios (1, 3) due to the lifecycle of all components of the scenarios (2) and (3), respectively

Summary

Introduction

A recent statistics review of world energy 2020 reported that 84% of global energy is still supplied by fossil fuel, while renewable energy merely supplies 11% of global primary energy consumption. Burning fossil fuels for energy production results in a major amount of GHG emission that harms the environment and causes global warming, while renewable energy sources have less GHG emission [1,2]. In this context, accelerating the development of renewable energy has become an essential concern of many countries and organizations around the world. The International Energy Agency (IEG) Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS) has stated that to attain long-term climate license

Objectives

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion