Technoeconomic and environmental evaluation of natural gas, solar and wind hybrid energy generation: Sample application for Aegean Region

As a result of the use of fossil fuels to meet the energy need that comes with the increase in the world population, greenhouse gas emissions have increased. The price increases in fossil fuels, which are about to be depleted in the near future, have led to more preference for renewable energy sources around the world. Renewable energy sources cannot be used in a cost-effective manner in systems due to the high installation costs and the inability to continuously produce energy at the same potential. Meeting the base loads needed throughout the year with renewable energy sources and peak loads with fossil fuels are the most convenient applications for cost-effective and continuous production. In this study, a hybrid system was modeled and evaluated after simulation and optimization processes by using the HOMER (Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable) program to find the most suitable combination. As an exemplary application, for the facility where a natural gas-fired cogeneration power plant with an installed power of 12 MW in Denizli province in the Aegean region meets the electrical and thermal load needs, a hybrid system in which wind and solar energy is included in the region is modeled, and for systems with or without the grid, techno-economic and environmental analyzes were made. By taking the net present cost value and CO2 emission valuations, the most appropriate system design with the optimum utilization rates of energy resources has been found. In the grid-connected hybrid system, the best payback period is 11.1 years and the best net present cost is 30.3 million dollars, solar radiation is 7.8kWh/m2 and wind speed is 4.56 m/s. The minimum CO2 emission value of 8.480.163 kg/year was obtained at these sensitivity values. In the simulation designed independently of the network, the net present cost was found to be 117 million dollars and the payback period was 8.13 years at the same sensitivity values. In the other sensitivity analysis, which had a payback period of 5.6, the net present cost increased to $135 million. In this simulation, the minimum CO2 was 7,240,802 kg/year.