Abstract:
Integration of remote areas with a national grid system is an unresolved dilemma for
developing economies. Additionally, a significant portion of electrical energy produced in
Pakistan is through non-renewable imported fossil fuels. Therefore, it results in an elevated
cost per kW-hr along with a huge impact on environmental degradation. To address these
issues, this study focuses on devising a novel Hybrid Energy System (HEEs) to manage
electrical energy consumption for agricultural irrigation and remote locals in the Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province having limited electrical supply. The required water volume
for the proposed irrigated land is determined by utilizing CROPWAT 8.0 and CLIMWAT
2.0 software tools. On-grid Hybrid Energy System (HES) is presented due to the
advantages of high reliability and cost-effectiveness over conventional single-source
systems. Using the Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER), the
research performs the techno-economic analysis of various HES configurations including
Hydro, Solar, Wind, and Grid. The financial feasibility of the proposed system is evaluated
using the HOMER software. The findings reveal that HES with the integration of hydro,
solar, wind, and grid has an economical Cost of Energy (COE) equal to $0.006274. In
contrast, other combinations, such as solar, wind, and grid possess COE of $0.0252, and
solar, micro hydro, and grid, which result in a COE of $0.0267 respectively.
