Modelling an off-grid integrated renewable energy system for rural electrification in India using photovoltaics and anaerobic digestion

Castellanos, J.G.; Walker, M.; Poggio, D.; Pourkashanian, M.; Nimmo, W.

Abstract

This work describes the design optimisation and techno-economic analysis of an off-grid Integrated Renewable Energy System (IRES) designed to meet the electrical demand of a rural village location in West Bengal – India with an overall electrical requirement equivalent to 22 MWh year−1. The investigation involved the modelling of seven scenarios, each containing a different combination of electricity generation (anaerobic digestion with biogas combined heat and power (CHP) and photovoltaics) and storage elements (Vanadium redox batteries, water electrolyser and hydrogen storage with fuel cell). Micro-grid modelling software HOMER, was combined with additional modelling of anaerobic digestion, to scale each component in each scenario considering the systems' ability to give a good quality electricity supply to a rural community. The integrated system which contained all of the possible elements – except hydrogen production and storage presented the lowest capital ($US 71 k) and energy cost ($US 0.289 kWh−1) compared to the scenarios with a single energy source. The biogas CHP was able to meet the electrical load peaks and variations and produced 61% of the total electricity in the optimised system, while the photovoltaics met the daytime load and allowed the charging of the battery which was subsequently used to meet base load at night.

Citation

Castellanos, J., Walker, M., Poggio, D., Pourkashanian, M., & Nimmo, W. (2015). Modelling an off-grid integrated renewable energy system for rural electrification in India using photovoltaics and anaerobic digestion. Renewable energy, 74, 390-398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2014.08.055

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 20, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Sep 7, 2014
• Publication Date: 2015-02
• Deposit Date: Mar 22, 2021
• Journal: Renewable Energy
• Print ISSN: 0960-1481
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 74
• Pages: 390-398
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2014.08.055
• Keywords: Integrated renewable energy system; Micro-grid; Photovoltaic; Anaerobic digestion; Hydrogen fuel cell; Rural electrification
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3742506
• Related Public URLs: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/86352/
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Modelling an off-grid integrated renewable energy system for rural electrification in India using photovoltaics and anaerobic digestion; Journal Title: Renewable Energy; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2014.08.055; Content Type: article; Copyright: Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.