Abstract
The absence of clean electricity in Tunisia means a large number of people who are deprived of much needed socioeconomic development. However, wind and solar radiation are two renewable energy resources that are abundantly available in Tunisia. Although, it is not feasible for these two resources separately to meet high electricity demands, hybrid applications can be the best way to get over this weakness. This paper investigated the potential operation of Hybrid Energy System (photovoltaic (PV)/wind turbine/diesel system with batteries storage in the northernmost city in Africa, city of Bizerte in Tunisia. The Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable simulation software was used to simulate and optimize the technical-economic feasibility of the system. There were several system configurations with and without battery storage elements which will be studied and analyzed. The simulations will be focused on the net present costs, levelized cost of energy, produced excess electricity and the reduction of CO2 emission for the given hybrid configurations. Moreover, the comparison between the economic viability of the stand-alone and the grid-connected HES will be discussed. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.