Energy production potential and economic viability of gridconnected wind/PV systems at Saudi Arabian coastal areas
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Date
2017
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Abstract
This paper analyzes the electricity production potential and economic viability of
grid-connected wind/photovoltaic (PV) energy systems at two coastal cities, Yanbu
and Dhahran in Saudi Arabia. First, wind energy is assessed based on the hourly
wind speed observation data recorded over the entire year 2013 in the selected locations.
Electricity generation potential is estimated using two wind turbines: Vestas
V82 and V90 models. The results indicate that both locations have sufficient wind
resources for wind turbine operation. Strong wind resources are more common at
Dhahran than at Yanbu with wind speeds above 3.5m/s, accounting for 60.12% of
the wind data at Dhahran, which is higher than 51.2% of Yanbu. Grid-connected
hybrid systems using Vestas V90 wind turbines had the highest net present cost
(NPC) compared with other configurations. The inclusion of battery storage units
slightly increases the NPC. Surprisingly, systems with the highest NPC produced the
least electricity. In contrast, cheaper V82-based systems had the lowest NPC and levelized
cost of energy and produced the most electricity. Hence, a grid-connected
wind/PV system using V82 turbines is most economically viable. Incorporating a
small battery storage unit in the systems minimizes capacity shortages and improves
reliability at minimal extra cost. Using different wind turbines with a lower cut-in
speed of 3 m/s could increase the electricity production, as 9.1% and 10.3% of wind
observations at Yanbu and Dhahran, respectively, had a wind speed of 3m/s.
Description
Keywords
Energy production, Economic, Wind/PV systems
Citation
Ramli, M. A., Twaha, S., & Alghamdi, A. U. (2017). Energy production potential and economic viability of grid-connected wind/PV systems at Saudi Arabian coastal areas. Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, 9(6), 065910. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5005597