Renewable Energy-based Hybrid Microgrid for Economically Effective Coastal Electrification

Electrification of rural islands is still a major challenge for many countries due to the inadequate and inchoate distribution of fossil fuels in conventional grid system. Even if these problems are eliminated, the high electricity cost makes rural people ineligible for electricity services. In addition to tackling environmental pollution, microgrids (MG) could be the appropriate solution to reduce these economic barriers. Aiming to mitigate the impediment of rural electrification, this study proposes a hybrid microgrid consists of renewable energy sources, natural gas generator, battery storage, and electric vehicle charging station where a case study is performed with and without wind turbine as a renewable energy source. The MG is simulated for two coastal areas of Bangladesh, and sensitivity analysis has taken place by varying the load demand. MG without wind energy is found more affordable than MG with wind energy. The winning case configuration estimated the cost of energy of 0.157$ and the carbon dioxide (CO2) emission of 6666.47 kg/y, which is a betimes step in ensuring pollution-free power supply as well as electrification in powerless areas. The results lead to the conclusion that the proposed model can provide affordable alongside eco-friendly electrification.