Renewable-Energy-Based Microgrid Design and Feasibility Analysis for King Saud University Campus, Riyadh

Abstract

The world is forced to think about alternate energy sources because fossil fuel stocks are unreliable, harmful, and depleting quickly. Deployments of microgrids powered by renewable energy are some of the most economical, effective, dependable, and sustainable answers to this problem. The design of a power system with the least amount of economic and environmental impact is the main challenge because the world is currently facing climate change disasters on a scale that has never been seen before. As a result, there is an urgent need to transition to renewable energy resources to meet energy demands. This study examines the creation of a hybrid microgrid to meet the electrical load requirements of the King Saud University campus in Riyadh by utilizing the site’s solar and wind potential. A software called HOMER Pro Version 3.14.5 is used to simulate the planned microgrid system. The software can run numerous simulations while taking into account various system configurations. The ultimate objective is to choose the best combination of different power sources to create a microgrid with low energy costs, dependability, minimal GHG emissions, and a high penetration of renewable energy. The solar, wind, and battery system connected to the grid was shown to be the most advantageous choice in terms of cost of energy (COE), net present cost (NPC), operational costs, and GHG emissions after the software ran numerous simulations. The most economically advantageous way to meet the load demands of a university campus while still achieving more than 82% renewable penetration is to use an optimal system architecture. In this study, the ideal system configuration is subjected to sensitivity analysis to confirm the system’s performance. This optimal system design is used as a benchmark for examining the potential usage of renewable energy in the education sector in Saudi Arabia in particular and in any educational facility worldwide in general.