Renewable energy hybrid system for decentralized rural electrification using Geographic Information System (GIS) | |
| Author | Urmee, Tania P. |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.ET-05-3 |
| Subject(s) | Rural electrification Geographic information systems Renewable energy sources |
| Note | A thesis submitted in pa1tial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Application of Wind-PV hybrid system (WPVHS) has great potential to meet the electricity needs of rural areas as these could provide electricity in a cost effective way. However, there are concerns about the site determination of WPVHS among the implementers and project designers as the success of a project greatly depend on the proper selection of its site. A wind-PV hybrid system design should consider energy resources, load demand, population density, etc of the site. To address this issue, a GIS based method has been developed to select technically and financially feasible sites of a given region. A GIS database with data on solar radiation, wind speed, topography has been developed and applied for assessing the technical potential of the resources (wind and solar PV). It also considers electricity demand, land use, local potential and constraints such as electricity network coverage, river, road etc and thus identifies suitable areas for installing WPVHS systems. The financial analysis based on the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) identifies the financial viability of the investment. The methodology was applied in two different areas in two different countries: Rote Tengah and Pantai Baru districts of Rote Island, Indonesia and Lao Cai province of Vietnam. One area has electricity coverage in most locations and in the other site, the areas are very remote and there is no electricity grid network. In both cases, the methodology is able to find the potential resource density. In Rote Island, five sites were found to have technical potential of installing WPVHS, whereas, in Lao Cai province no sites were found suitable. From the financial analysis the most suitable site in the two districts of Rote Island with excellent solar and wind resource potential density is Oeledo desa of Pantai Baru district, where a wind-PV system has been installed by e7. A scenario analysis was also carried out which shows that the model can consider the changes in energy policy (e.g. providing incentive for RE project, capacity development for reducing O&M cost, etc.) or demand of the region/location. As the model and the results are based on GIS, it is easy for the planners and project developers to visualize the results. It is expected that the output of this GIS model would help the project designers to select suitable sites for wind or PV system. In addition, policy makers and planners could use this method as a decision support system for estimating the load demand, technical and financial viability of these through easy visualization and could analyse either an installed project or a new project to be considered for implementation. In addition, it also shows the application of the method, clearly showing the applicability of the developed method using a suitable tool for assessing wind-PV hybrid system |
| Year | 2005 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Energy Technology (ET) |
| Chairperson(s) | Kumar, S.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Tripathi, Nitin K.;Mithulananthan, Nadarajah; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | The e7 Sustainable Energy Development Scholarship Program, Ontario Power Generation, Canada; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2005 |