Feasibility Study of a Wind-Diesel Hybrid System in a Remote Site on Southern of Algeria

In this study, we present an autonomous solution for a village located north of Timimoun in Algeria, with around thirty households. As the region has good wind potential with an average annual speed of around 5m/s, this resource is used to develop a hybrid wind/diesel/battery system. A technical-economic analysis is carried out using the HOMER optimization tool to determine the optimal solution. We considered a range of load sizes, from 0.9 kWh/d to 3.6 kWh/day, and a range of wind speeds, from 3.99 m/s to 5.42 m/s at 10 m from the ground. Several wind turbines with powers ranging from 1 kW to 10 kW have been tested.The best combination is given by the wind/diesel/battery system operating with the WES 5 Tulipo turbine with a rated power of 2.6 kW, with a diesel price equal to 0.22 $/kWh. This solution reduces the COE to 0.569 $/kWh and renewable fraction is maximum (86%). In addition, the emissions of CO2, CO and SO2 decrease to less than 70% of the emissions of Diesel power system. The sensitivity study shows that the wind/diesel/battery system is optimal for any wind speed greater than 3.5 m/s whatever the price of diesel.