Optimal multiobjective design of an autonomous hybrid renewable energy system in the Adrar Region, Algeria

Extended power outages are not only a nuisance but a critical problem in the modern world, which demands a continuous supply of decent quality electricity. Hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) within a microgrid (MG) play an important role in delivering energy to rural and off-grid areas and avoiding potential power outages. This research describes an in-depth study of the three phases, design, optimization, and performance analysis of a stand-alone hybrid microgrid for a residential area in a remote area in the province of Adrar in southern Algeria. The system is composed of photovoltaic (PV) modules and a wind turbine, a set of batteries as an energy storage unit, a diesel generator as a backup energy source, and an inverter. This paper investigates four recent methodologies based on Multi-objective Particle Swarm Optimization (MOPSO), Multi-objective Ant Lion Optimizer (MOALO), Multi-objective Dragonfly Algorithm (MODA), and Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithm (MOGA) to identify the optimal sizing of a microgrid (MG) integrated with hybrid renewable energy sources (RES). The proposed methods are carried out to select the optimal system size, which is a multi-objective problem involving the minimization of the annual cost of electricity (COE), and the loss of power supply probability (LPSP) simultaneously. To achieve this, the proposed methods are combined with energy management strategy (EMS) rules that coordinate energy flows between the various system components. The findings reveal that the MOPSO method has the most efficient hybrid renewable configuration with an annual generation cost of electricity (COE) of 0.2520 $/kWh and loss of power supply probability (LPSP) of 9.164%, which dominates the performance of MOALO (COE of 0.1625$/kWh and LPSP of 8.4872%), MOGA (COE of 0.1577$/kWh and LPSP of 10%), and MODA (COE of 0.02425$/kWh and LPSP of 7.8649%). Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis is performed for the effect that COE variants may have on the design variables.