Abstract
•Highlighting the local potential of Renewable energy resources.•Proposing an algorithm for optimal sizing of renewable energy power systems.•Optimal sizing of proposed PHS-integrated hybrid PV/Wind power system.•Introducing an economic analysis for estimation of levelised cost of energy.
The intermittent nature of variable renewable energy resources in conjunction with the fluctuating energy demand of load require using an efficient long-term energy storage means. Pumped Hydroelectric Storage (PHS) has proved its commercial viability as electricity storage technology and eligibility to be coupled with the Renewable Energy Systems (RESs). This paper proposes a simple and efficient procedure for optimal sizing of PHS-integrated hybrid PV/Wind power system for providing sustainable supply of electricity to an urban community in Brack city (27°32'N,14°17'E), Libya. The sizing procedure is considered as a constrained optimization problem. The constraints are developed to consider the operating conditions and the output uncertainty of RESs. The sizing algorithm and optimization procedure are explicitly described. Different operating scenarios were considered to identify the optimal size of the hybrid PV/Wind energy system and PHS. Using the measured date of climate conditions and load consumption, the energy production for different sizes of solar PV arrays and wind turbine farms were estimated by System Advisory Model (SAM) software. Based on the Levelized Cost Of Energy (LCOE), the optimum power capacity ratio of PV array to wind turbines farm was 1:5. For the system of optimal size, PHS contribute with a share of 15 % in covering the annual load energy. The obtained results revealed that coupling the hybrid RESs with PHS is cost competitive and reliable alternative for providing sustainable energy supply to urban areas of suitable topographical conditions and high potential of renewable energy resources.