Multi Criteria Framework for Sustainable Agriculture Infrastructure : A Techno-economic and Environmental Assessment of Renewable Powered Irrigation System in Pakistan /

Abstract

Water is an essential requirement for agriculture productivity. In the agriculture sector electricity generated by conventional sources contributes to a substantial amount of carbon footprints for pumping water through tube wells. Over the past few decades, a transitional shift towards renewable resources has increased leading in decarbonizing the environment and is considered as a viable solution for electricity production. This study proposes a techno-economic and environmental analysis of irrigation systems by carrying comparative analysis of both standalone and grid-connected systems based on four independent sites of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). PV-G system enabled with both purchase and sale, proved to be the most optimal configuration with COE of $0.056/kWh, $0.059/kWh, $0.061/kWh, and $0.068/kWh, while having NPC of $7,908, $20,186, $25,826, and $34,487 for Peshawar, Khyber agency, Mardan and Charsadda respectively. Furthermore, sensitivity analyses have been carried out for Charsadda district based on uncertain variables such as Grid power purchase (GPP) and average solar radiation (GHI) to check the optimality behavior of the system. Results for environmental analyses revealed that renewable hybrid-based system (PVG(P+S)) has a relatively low carbon impact as compared with the conventional sources. This study provides a policy framework insight for the entities for future optimization.