Study of grid integrated biomass-based hybrid renewable energy systems for Himalayan territory

Unutilized pine needles are not only a significant issue of environmental hazards like recurrent forest fires and greenhouse gas emission but also a wastage of resources. The pine needles can be used efficiently for electricity generation. In the present study, simulation research on a grid-connected biomass-based hybrid energy system was conceived to examine the feasibility in the western Himalayan territory. The locally available abundant pine needle was used as a biomass gasifier fuel with solar and wind resources. The Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources software was used to model three distinct configurations of hybrid systems, Photovoltaic/Biomass gasifier/Grid (Case1), Photovoltaic/Biomass gasifier/Wind/Grid (Case 2), and only Grid (Case 3) for feeding electricity to selected educational building loads currently run by state grid. Lowest energy costs, total net present cost, and CO2 emission were considered as parameters for electing feasible system configuration. The Photovoltaic/Biomass gasifier/Grid was found to be optimal hybrid energy system with the lowest cost of energy 0.102 $/kWh (29% and 7% lower than Case 2 and Case 3 respectively) and total net present cost $42081 at 83% renewable fraction without any power shortage. The biomass gasifier contributes most (61%) of the overall power output, led by PV (22%) and grid (17%) in the optimal configuration of the hybrid power system. The CO2 emission analysis shows that the proposed system will save 27.8 Mt CO2/year (equated to the diesel-only system). The outcomes are found to be very pertinent to policymakers, hybrid system designers, and investors in the field of biomass-based hybrid renewable energy systems. © 2020, Aalborg University press. All rights reserved.