Techno-Economic Feasibility Analysis of a Hybrid Renewable Energy System for Gili Labak Island as a Disadvantaged, Outermost and Frontier Region of Indonesia Using HOMER

Indonesia, as the largest archipelagic country with 17,491 islands according to the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, has significant energy challenges, such as on Gili Labak Island, Sumenep Regency, East Java, which the PLN electricity network has not touched. Currently, people on this island rely on diesel power plants as the main source of electricity, which has environmental impacts in the form of carbon gas emissions. To reduce environmental impacts and achieve the target of a sustainable energy mix in Indonesia, a new approach is needed by utilizing renewable energy sources, which are abundant on Gili Labak Island, such as solar radiation reaching 5 kWh/m2/day and wind speed reaching 4.84 m/s. Therefore, this paper designs a hybrid renewable energy installation by integrating Hybrid Renewable Energy Sources as a strategic step towards a more sustainable and efficient energy system on Gili Labak Island. Simulations and calculations using HOMER software revealed that the cost of energy (COE) for the hybrid power plant on Gili Labak Island is $0.15 per kWh, with random variability of 10% day to day and 2% timestep and an average consumption of 18.2 kW. This comparison of COE costs shows that the figure is 1.74 times higher than the electricity price from PLN of $ 0,088 / kWh. However, because the PLN electricity system is not yet available right now, and compared to the system currently used on Gili Labak Island, a diesel generator costs $ 0,38 / kWh, the hybrid system is much cheaper, only 0.39 from the cost of a diesel generator, shows the proposed Renewable Hybrid Energy Source is still competitive. These results indicate that investment in a hybrid power plant or EBT on Gili Labak Island, Sumenep, is a potential option because it not only considers the availability of sufficient alternative energy through potential wind speed and adequate solar radiation but also has relatively competitive production costs.