Techno-economic feasibility analysis of hybrid energy system for energy efficient building of remote educational institution in Pakistan

The increasing trends of disruptions in power supply and its higher cost across Pakistan is causing problems for the household consumers, industries and the educational institutions. Though different strategies are being proposed to cope with this issue, nevertheless, still it persists posing a need for a viable and efficient resolution. A number of steps have been taken by the power division at the ministerial level like enhancing the capacity of power generation, improving its transmission system and to some extent addressing line losses issues. To propose a sustainable solution for addressing the power requirement of educational institutes by efficiently utilising local resources, the current investigative study gives insights into a technical and economic feasibility of Hybrid Renewable Energy system (HRES) of the library building. Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable (HOMER) software, developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) USA, is employed as a tool to select the optimal system based on Net Present Cost (NPC) and Cost of Energy (COE). While keeping into view the connected load and available natural potentials three different configurations (A) PV/battery, (B) PV/Wind/battery and (C) Wind/battery were analysed. The sensitivity analysis option of HOMER software was utilized to determine the optimum system configuration. The NPC and COE are calculated as ($73,254 & $0.175/kWh), ($75,310 & $0.179) and ($451,465 & $1.08 NPC) for A, B and C respectively. After a thorough analysis, the PV/battery system was found to be the most favourable solution for subject application both technically and economically. Moreover, the proposed system is expected to provide 10.1 MWh/year (44.8%) excessive electricity.