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Feasibility investigation and economic analysis of photovoltaic, wind and biomass hybrid systems for rural electrification in Afghanistan

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Abstract

This paper compares the design feasibility and economic advantage of photovoltaic (PV)-diesel generator (DG)-battery, PV-wind-battery, and PV-biogas (BG)-battery hybrid systems. The objective of this study is to investigate the performance of the three hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) for sustainable electricity supply in remote areas of Afghanistan. Hybrid optimization model for multiple energy resources (HOMER) software was utilized to perform modeling, optimization, economic, sensitivity, and multi-year analysis of the hybrid systems. The findings indicates that the PV-biomass-battery hybrid system with $175,938 net present cost (NPC) and $0.29/kWh cost of energy (COE) is the most appropriate approach than the PV-DG-battery, PV-wind-battery and diesel-only system. However, the COE in optimal HRES is higher than the COE supplied by Afghanistan’s national grid to the household resident in large cities, but COE in the hybrid system is about 37% lower than the cost of energy in the study area and some provinces of Afghanistan. The multi-year analysis was performed on the PV-biogas-battery hybrid system with considering a 0.8% yearly degradation of PV panels and a 2% load increase annually. The results show about an 11.2% increase in NPC and a 6.2% decrease in COE compare to the system without multi-year consideration. Moreover, the outputs from HOMER were evaluated using the Simplex algorithm. The results indicate that there were no significant variations in the results from HOMER and Simplex algorithms. Therefore, this illustrates that the simulations were consistent. The study’s findings are anticipated to be helpful to stakeholders, decision-makers, and investors to achieve the goals and increase the electricity access rate in remote areas of Afghanistan.

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Abbreviations

ADB:

Asian Development Bank

BSS:

Battery storage system

COE:

Cost of energy

DG:

Diesel generator

DN:

Distribution network

HOMER:

Hybrid optimization model for multiple energy resources

LED:

Light emitting diode

NPC:

Net present cost

NSIA:

National statistic and information authority

PV:

Photovoltaic

WT:

Wind turbine

HRES:

Hybrid renewable energy system

LF:

Load following

CC:

Cycle charging

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Electronics, Faculty of Engineering, Alberoni University, Kapisa, Afghanistan

    Shir Ahmad Dost Mohammadi

  2. Department of Electrical and Electronics, Faculty of Engineering, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey

    Cenk Gezegin

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  1. Shir Ahmad Dost Mohammadi
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The corresponding author performed the data collection, analysis, and writing the first draft of the manuscript. All of these steps have been done under the supervision of the second author ( Cenk Gezegin). Furthermore, the editing of the final draft and language correcting have been carried out by Dr. Cenk Gezegin

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Correspondence to Shir Ahmad Dost Mohammadi.

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Dost Mohammadi, S.A., Gezegin, C. Feasibility investigation and economic analysis of photovoltaic, wind and biomass hybrid systems for rural electrification in Afghanistan. Electr Eng 106, 2821–2841 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00202-023-02115-8

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