Techno-economic feasibility study on an off-grid renewable energy microgrid for an isolated greenhouse in Romania

In the last decade small scale hybrid renewable energy microgrids have been considered a suitable option for energy access in isolated areas where grid extension is economically unfeasible. A techno-economic feasibility study on an off-grid renewable energy microgrid for a greenhouse in Oradea, Romania, is carried out in this paper in order to meet the electricity demand in a reliable, sustainable and cost-effective manner. The microgrid consists of a geothermal energy generator, a biomass generator, a photovoltaic generator and battery storage to supply a vegetable greenhouse. The microgrid works islanded. The capacity of each generator is optimized with regard to the needs of the load and the minimum net present cost of the microgrid. Finally, sensitivity analysis is performed to determine the dependency of the energy costs due to the variable price of the biomass resource, the increase in the load demand and the energy management dispatch strategy.