Electricity generation from hybrid PV-wind-biomass

system for rural application in Brazil

Congcong Song
2017-03-02

Master of Science Thesis

KTH Industrial Engineering and Management
Energy Technology EGI_2017-0018 MSC
Division of Energy Systems Analysis
SE-100 44 STOCKHOLM
 Master of Science Thesis EGI_2017-0018 MSC

Electricity generation from hybrid PV-wind-biomass

system for rural application in Brazil

Congcong Song

Approved Examiner Supervisor

Mark Howells Shahid Hussain Siyal

Abstract
Electrification of households in rural area and isolated regions plays a significant
impact on the balanced economic development. Brazil grows with a high population
growth rate, but still parts of rural area and isolated regions do not have the
accessibility of electric power. This study focuses on the feasibility study of a hybrid
PV-wind-biomass power system for rural electrification at Nazaré Paulista in
southeast Brazil. This study was performed by using the hybrid renewable energy
system software HOMER. The wind and solar data was collected from Surface
meteorology and Solar Energy-NASA, and the biomass data was collected and
estimated from other previous studies.

The result shows, the hybrid PV-wind-biomass renewable system can meet 1,601
kWh daily demands and 360 kW peak load of the selected rural area. The power
system composed of 200 kW PV panels, 200 kW biomass generator, 400 battery
banks, and 200 kW converter. All the calculations were performed by Homer and the
selection were based on the Net Present Cost (NPC) and Levelized cost of energy
(COE). Because of the fossil fuels’ negative impacts on human health and
environment, all the energy sources for this system are renewable energies which have
less pollution.

Key words: Hybrid system, Renewable energy systems, PV, Wind, Biomass,
Levelized cost of energy, Net present cost
Acknowledgements
First of all, I would like to express my sincere heartfelt thanks to all Sustainable
Energy Engineering professors that gave me great assistance during my whole study
period and shared their wealth of knowledge with me. Furthermore, I owe my greatest
debt of gratitude to my supervisor, Shahid Hussain Siyal (Phd) who kindly agreed at
the beginning to assist me to do my research and offered me understanding, patience,
invaluable advices and informative suggestions during the period. Finally, I would
like to thank to my family members who showed their patience and encouraged me in
writing the thesis.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract ............................................................................................................................................. 2
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................... 3
List of figures ..................................................................................................................................... I
List of tables ...................................................................................................................................... II
List of abbreviations......................................................................................................................... III
1. Introduction ...........................................................................................................................- 1 -
1.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................- 1 -
1.2 Objectives of the Thesis ............................................................................................- 3 -
2. Schematic layout of the work................................................................................................- 4 -
2.1. PV-wind-biomass hybrid power system ....................................................................- 4 -
2.2. Methodology of economic analysis...........................................................................- 4 -
3. System modeling ...................................................................................................................- 7 -
3.1. Rural area load assessment........................................................................................- 8 -
3.2. Resources assessment............................................................................................. - 10 -
3.2.1. Wind resource ............................................................................................ - 10 -
3.2.2. Solar resource ............................................................................................. - 12 -
3.2.3. Biomass resource ....................................................................................... - 13 -
3.3. Components assessment ......................................................................................... - 14 -
4. Results and discussion ....................................................................................................... - 18 -
4.1. Technical Analysis ................................................................................................. - 18 -
4.2. Financial Analysis .................................................................................................. - 19 -
4.3. Environment analysis ............................................................................................. - 21 -
5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... - 23 -
References .................................................................................................................................. - 24 -
List of figures

Fig. 1 Schematic layout..........................................................................................................- 4 -

Fig. 2 The PV-wind-biomass hybrid power supply system (Design by author) .....................- 7 -
Fig. 3 Map of Nazaré Paulista ................................................................................................- 8 -
Fig. 4 Estimated daily profile .............................................................................................. - 10 -
Fig. 5 Month availability of wind resource in the area ....................................................... - 11 -
Fig. 6 Annual Wind Speed Weibull Distribution ................................................................. - 11 -
Fig. 7 Solar radiation availability ........................................................................................ - 13 -
Fig. 8 Biomass accessibility(tones/day) .............................................................................. - 14 -
Fig. 9 Configuration of hybrid PV-wind-biomass system in HOMER .................................. - 14 -
Fig. 10 Power curve for WES 250 kW ................................................................................. - 16 -
Fig. 11 The categorized optimization table ........................................................................ - 18 -
Fig. 12 Cost summary for the proposed system scenarios ................................................. - 20 -
Fig. 13 Cash flow summary for SC1 .................................................................................... - 20 -
Fig. 14 Cash flow summary for SC2 .................................................................................... - 21 -
Fig. 15 Cash flow summary for SC3 .................................................................................... - 21 -

I
List of tables

Tab. 1 Details of Nazaré Paulista ...........................................................................................- 8 -

Tab. 2 Estimated electricity load for a rural house and a school...........................................- 9 -
Tab. 3 Hourly load profile ......................................................................................................- 9 -
Tab. 4 Monthly average wind speed at 50m above the surface of earth in Nazaré Paulista- 11
--
Tab. 5 Monthly average solar radiation in Nazaré Paulista ................................................ - 12 -
Tab. 6 Monthly average biomass in Nazaré Paulista .......................................................... - 14 -
Tab. 7 Technical and economic input data of each component for HOMER model ........... - 15 -
Tab. 8 Details for Hoppecke 24 OPzS 3000......................................................................... - 17 -
Tab. 9 System configurations of top three power systems ................................................ - 18 -
Tab. 10 Yearly electrical energy production of each scenario ............................................ - 19 -
Tab. 11 CO2 emission reduced by replacing Bituminous with renewable power system .. - 22 -

II
List of abbreviations

Abbreviation Description
OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
HOMER Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables
PDEE Ten-year Energy Expansion Plans
WEO World economic outlook
IEA International Energy Agency
PV Photovoltaic
DC Direct Current
AC Alternating Current
CHP Combined Heat and Power
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
MSW Municipal Solid Wastes
NPC Net Present Cost
COE Levelized Cost of Energy
O&M Operation and Maintenance

III
1. Introduction
1.1 Introduction

There is a growing global awareness of energy security and the importance of reliable
electricity supply, hence, courtiers are searching for the cost effective ways to increase
renewable energy based electricity generation. [1] In the meantime, to guarantee the
access to reliable and affordable power is also one of the highlights. According to the
forecasts of Kevin J. and Glenn A. [2], the world population is going to reach 8.5
billion by 2030 and is expected to exceed 11 billion by 2100. However, at the same
time, most people in the worldwide does not have the accessibility of electric power
despite the highly growth rapid of electricity consumption. Base on WEO-2016, more
than 16% of the global population is facing the issue of lacking electricity supply, and
apparently, most of them are coming from the rural area. [3] To build reliable
electricity infrastructure is not only to reach the development goals but also can
stimulate the economic development.

The economic and technological development is closely related to the use of energy,
for a long time, people use fossil fuels to meet their energy demands. In addition to
being used for power generation, fossil fuels are also used for heating and transport.
[4] In the foreseeable future, humans will continue to use fossil fuels on a large scale,
and the use will be on the rise. This is because, with the economic development, the
global population will show an increasing trend which leads to a large demand for
energy and indirectly leads to increased demand for fossil fuels. [5] Although fossil
fuels are the primary source of energy production, people are committed to find
alternative energy sources because of the negative impacts on human health and
environment, especially the climate change issue. [6]

In the worldwide, almost all the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) members and non-OECD countries are working on introducing
new energy polices and measurements to increase the energy security and mitigate the
climate change issue. In 2005, the final energy use and the greenhouse gas emissions
are increased by 23% and 25% compared with the level in 1990. And the non-OECD
countries played an important role in these changes.[7]

Brazil is one of the non-OECD countries and the biggest country in Latin America. It
has the largest economy in South and Central America and also ranks number five in
the world by population.[8] The land area and water area of Brazil are about
8,358,140 km2 and 157,630 km2. Most part of the land area is cover by the forest and
accounts for about 62%. Brazil is an important energy producer and the petroleum
plays a major role. Energy sources of Brazil consist of primarily hydropower, oil,
mineral coal and biofuels. In 2014, fossil fuels were accounted about 60% in the total
domestic energy supply and renewable energy sources only represented 40%. [9]

-1-
By 2014, the population in Brazil had already risen to 206.1 million and the rural
population accounts for up to 14.6% of total population. [10], [11] The yearly
electricity consumption growth rate in Brazil is about 4.5%, but still, there is about 20%
of rural population that does not have the accessibility of electric power. [12] In order
to meet the rural demand of electricity and considering about the climate change
issues, the Brazilian government is willing to spend $100 billion USD for the future
development. The Ten-year energy expansion plans (PDEE) has set the target to
increase the share of renewable energy of country's electricity generation matrix to
86.1% by 2023. [13], [14] Building a local off-grid electrification can be the solution
to help the rural area and isolated regions to gain the reliable electricity accessibility
and a renewable energy system can lead a significant environmental impact. The
world has awarded of the negative environmental impact of fossil fuels, so that, to
replace fossil fuels with the environmental renewable energy is the inevitable choice.

Brazil is the lead of the renewable electricity generation and mainly from hydropower.
There is about 79% electricity generated by hydroelectric power plants in these latest
years and small parts are from other sources, such as wind, biomass and coal.[15]–[17]
The wind and solar power have high potentials in Brazil, but have not been fully
investigated and utilized. The wind energy is seen as a fast growth renewable energy
in Brazil and still has large potential to be developed and expected to grow 2GW
yearly. The National Decennial Energy Plan drew up a constitution to increase the
installed wind power capacity to 16GW by 2021 which is about 9% of total electricity
consumption.[18], [19] Northeast of Brazil has the richest solar radiation which is
around 5.9kWh/m² and most solar and wind power plants are located in this region.
The solar power is under good developing, there were about 5 millions solar panels
installed in 2009. For the purpose of national energy plans, the solar power still needs
to be exploited and there is a substantial potential.[20]

A hybrid energy system consists of more than one energy resources, and for most
other studies,[21], [22] using wind power and solar power for electricity generation is
the most popular choice. In this study, this hybrid electricity system includes not only
wind power and solar power but also biomass energy. The hybrid PV-wind-biomass
power plant (not yet implemented) is aimed to produce and utilize the electricity for
the residential sector in Brazil.

Furthermore, Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (Homer) is the

most common software to analysis a hybrid power system. HOMER is developed to
build an optimization model and evaluate the technology and economic efficiency of
off-grid and on-grid power systems for different generation applications. In this study,
HOMER is used to carry the feasibility assessment of the hybrid PV-wind-biomass
power system.

The main objective of this study is to design the hybrid PV-wind-biomass power
system in Brazil to meet a certain rural electricity requirement and analyze the

-2-
feasibility of this power generation system by considering about the economical and
environmental impacts. In order to achieve the objectives, a municipality called
Nazaré Paulista with 16.4 thousand populations has been chosen. [23] Homer
software is used to design the power system and calculate the electricity productions
and analysis the system’s feasibility.

This study paper is divided into three parts: Chapter 1 displays the introduction of this
paper; Chapter 2 presents the schematic layout of this work; Chapter 3 shows the
Homer analysis of the power system; Chapter 4 is about results and conclusions.

1.2 Objectives of the Thesis

The main objective of this study is to design the hybrid PV-wind-biomass power
system to meet a certain load requirement of the Brazil local grid and analyze the
feasibility of this power generation system in Brazil.

The specific objectives can be divided as:

 To analysis the energy load for the selected rural area in Brazil
 To analysis and evaluate the renewable energy potential mainly for those three
resources, biomass, solar and wind
 To design a PV-wind–biomass hybrid system in Brazil
 Economical and climate mitigate potential analysis of the this hybrid power
generation system

-3-
2. Schematic layout of the work
2.1. PV-wind-biomass hybrid power system

The PV-wind-biomass hybrid power is proposed for analysing the feasibility and stability.
The schematic layout of this study is shown in Fig 1 under to meet the electricity
demand in the rural area of Nazaré Paulista. Simulation, optimization and sensitivity
analysis are elements for HOMER to model the system and analyze the result. During
the simulation process, the power system components need to be determined and data
needs to be input to meet the electricity load. This process can decide the lifecycle
cost of system according to the installing and operating and maintenance cost of
different components. In the operating process, after calculation, all the available
alternatives will be shown.

The final choice should be based on costs of investment, fuels and maintenance and
operation and environment impact. In the sensitivity analysis process, the parameters
for components can be adjusted to determine the feasibility of configuration and the
differences for the system.

Fig. 1 Schematic layout

2.2. Methodology of economic analysis

HOMER simulates the system by making energy balance calculation for every hour in
a year and comparing the hourly electric demand to the system hourly electric supply.
It can calculate the energy flows for each system component and decide how the
system works to meet the electric demand. Additionally, it will simulate all the
feasible alternatives according to the cost of installing and operating the system, fuels
and interest rate.
-4-
After simulation, HOMER shows the top ranked system configurations according to
the Net Present Cost (NPC), and also shows the sizes and quantities of the
components, the total capital cost and Levelized cost of energy (COE).

NPC is the main economic output in HOMER and means the deviation between the
total cost of the system and the total revenue. The total cost of the system includes the
capital cost, replacement cost and the operation and maintenance cost of the system,
fuel costs and emissions penalties. Revenues include salvage value and grid sales
revenue. It is calculated according to the expression below: [24], [25]

Cann,tot
CNPC =
CRF(i, R proj )

Cann,tot = total annualized cost of the system [$/yr]

i =annual interest rate [%], in this project, the

interest rate is 6%
= project lifetime [yr], in this project, the
R proj
lifetime is 25 years
CRF() = capital recovery factor. It can be calculated
according to below

i(1 + i)n
CRF(i, n) =
(1 + i)n − 1

n = Total number of years fixed for investment

recovery

COE is the average cost per kWh of useful electrical energy produced by the system.
It plays an important role when considering about the system, but HOMER ranks the
result according to NPC instead of COE is because NPC is a more trustworthy number.
It is hard to isolate and calculate the cost of electricity or the amount of electricity
demand and actually supplied when the system serves both electric and thermal loads.
COE is calculated according to the expression below: [26], [27]

Cann,tot
COE =
Eprim,AC + Eprim,DC + Edef + Egrid,sales

Cann,tot = total annualized cost of the system [$/yr]

Eprim,AC = AC primary load served [kWh/yr]

-5-
 Eprim,DC = DC primary load served [kWh/yr]

Edef = deferrable load served [kWh/yr]

Egrid,sales = total grid sales [kWh/yr]

The Salvage value is also considered as the remaining value of the components of the
system at the end of the project. It can be calculated as below:

R rem
S = Crep
R comp

=replacement cost of the component [$/yr]

Crep

R rem =the remaining life time of the component at

the end of the project lifetime
=the total life time of the component
R comp

-6-
3. System modeling
In this chapter, the main emphasis of the work is about modeling this hybrid system
by using the collected and predication date, specifying inputs and outputs of the
models and getting the simulated results. The aim of designing this hybrid power
system is to produce and utilize the electric energy which is from renewable energy
sources instead of fossil fuels to meet the energy demand.

It is obvious that this hybrid power system is composed of three sustainable and
renewable energy sources: wind power, solar power and biomass. Hybrid power
system has greater stability and reliability than any single source power system, so
that the maintenance cost is also lower. The pollution emissions are also lower than
other power systems because of using renewable energy sources. Fig 2 gives the
PV-wind-biomass hybrid power supply system which is designed for analyzing.

DC Bus

Fig. 2 The PV-wind-biomass hybrid power supply system (Design by author)[28], [29]

A municipality called Nazaré Paulista is located in the southeast region of São Paulo
state, in Brazil. Nazaré Paulista has around 16.4 thousands inhabitants in the area of
326,254 km2 and the rural population is accounted as 15% of total population. The
latitude and the longitude of the municipality are 23.1816° S and 46.3979° W. The
average annual temperature in Nazaré Paulista is about 18° C, and the yearly amount
of rainfall is significant high. [30], [31] Fig 3 and Tab 1 under show the geographic
location and details of the selected city.

-7-
 Fig. 3 Map of Nazaré Paulista[23]

Tab. 1 Details of Nazaré Paulista[30], [31]

Parameters Details
Municipality Nazaré Paulista
State São Paulo
Country Brazil
Latitude 23.1816 South
Longitude 46.3979 West
Total population (2010) 16,414
Urban population (2010) 13,911
Rural population (2010) 2503

3.1. Rural area load assessment

This study is aiming to analyze the feasibility of building hybrid PV-wind-biomass

power system in rural area in Brazil. Nazaré Paulista is a municipality which is
located in the southeast of São Paulo, there are 2503 residents live in the rural area
and can be estimated as about 500 houses. The primary load profile for the whole
rural area is derived and based on the following assumption:

For these 500 houses, each house has the basic electrical equipments: two compact
fluorescent lamps (CFL), ceiling fan, one TV, refrigerator and a small radio.

The village consists of a public utility which is a school with 10 compact fluorescent
lamps, ceiling fans, 5 TVs and 5 computers. For the school, the computer's power
consumption is relatively large.
-8-
 There are two demand peaks every day, one is during the lunch time between 12pm
and 13pm, the other one is during the night time from 18pm to 23pm. For houses,
refrigerators work 24 hours every day and have stable electricity consumptions.

Tab. 2 Estimated electricity load for a rural house and a school[32]–[37]

Final use Typeof Power Quantity Operating Hours/Day kWh/Day

load (W) hour per
day
Households Lamp 11 2 18:00-24:00 6 0.132
Ceiling fan 120 1 12:00-13:00 6 0.72
18:00-23:00
TV 90 1 12:00-13:00 6 0.54
18:00-23:00
Refragrator 70 1 0-24:00 24 1.68
Radio 20 1 8:00-13:00 5 0.1
School Lamp 11 10 18:00-23:00 5 0.55
Ceiling fan 120 10 12:00-13:00 6 7.2
18:00-23:00
TV 90 5 8:00-12:00 9 4.05
13:00-18:00
Computer 180 5 8:00-12:00 9 8.1
13:00-18:00

Tab 2 shows detailed load demand for proposed appliances in a rural house.
According to this estimation, the total daily electricity demand for a rural house is
3.172 kWh and for one school is 19.9 kWh. According to this load profile, the
maximum demand of this rural village is around 151.23 kW, and the daily energy
consumption is approixmately 1,600.5 kWh/d.

Tab. 3 Hourly load profile

Hour Load (kw) Hour Load (kw)

00:00 35 12:00 151.2

01:00 35 13:00 36.35

02:00 35 14:00 36.35

03:00 35 15:00 36.35

04:00 35 16:00 36.35

05:00 35 17:00 36.35

-9-
 06:00 35 18:00 151.23

07:00 35 19:00 151.23

08:00 46.35 20:00 151.23

09:00 46.35 21:00 151.23

10:00 46.35 22:00 151.23

11:00 46.35 23:00 46

Fig. 4 Estimated daily profile

3.2. Resources assessment

The selected rural area has the significant additional development potential of
renewable energy sources to meet the electricity requirement.

3.2.1. Wind resource

On a global scale, wind power has experienced a rapid growth rate. In 2011, the total
installed capacity reached approximately 240GW and new installed capacity was
around 40GW compares with 2010. [38] In Brazil, southern and northeast have
relatively large wind power potentials and most wind farms focus on offshore wind
energy since the higher wind speed in coastal area. The working principle for wind
turbine to produce electricity is to convert the kinetic energy into mechanical or
electric energy when the wind blows through.

Monthly average wind speed at 50m above the surface of earth of Brazil can be found
from Surface meteorology and Solar Energy-NASA and is used as wind resource
input data in HOMER. The slowest wind speed and the highest wind speed are 3.54
m/s and 4.58 m/s and the annual average wind speed is about 3.99 m/s.

- 10 -
Tab. 4 Monthly average wind speed at 50m above the surface of earth in Nazaré Paulista [39]

Month Wind speed (m/s) Month Wind speed (m/s)

January 3.83 July 3.72
February 3.71 August 4.03
March 3.80 September 4.50
April 3.58 October 4.58
May 3.62 November 4.55
June 3.54 December 4.43
Annual average 3.99

In order to calculate the wind energy yield of the wind turbine, the probability density
distribution of the wind speed must been figured out. Because the wind power is
unsteady, there is a two-parameter Weibull distribution which is often used to
characterize wind regimes in HOMER. The graph below shows a typical distribution
of wind speeds and the best-fit Weibull distribution. The Weibull k value is also called
Weibull shape factor which is a parameter that indicates the breadth of a distribution
of wind speeds over a year. In this case, the breadth of distribution of wind speed k is
1.96.[40], [41]

Fig. 5 Month availability of wind resource in the area

Fig. 6 Annual Wind Speed Weibull Distribution

- 11 -
3.2.2. Solar resource

The sunlight in Brazil is sufficient for solar power plants expanding on account of the
location. It is located on the equator and therefore the average solar irradiation in this
country is considerable high.

In order to get final result in HOMER, the solar resources data is one of the important
input data. In this part, the latitude and longitude of the selected location and the
amount of solar radiation available to the photovoltaic (PV) array throughout the year
are necessary to calculate the output of the PV array each hour of the year.
Considering at the location is 23.1816 S and 46.3979 W, the monthly average solar
radiation can be taken from Surface meteorology and Solar Energy-NASA. It is
ranges from 3.58 kWh/m2 /day and 5.55 kWh/m2 /day, and the annual average solar
radiation is 5.33kWh/m2 /day. [39]

Tab. 5 Monthly average solar radiation in Nazaré Paulista [39]

Month Solar radiation Month Solar radiation

(kWh/m2 /day) (kWh/m2 /day)
January 5.33 July 3.77
February 5.18 August 4.49
March 4.80 September 4.43
April 4.38 October 5.09
May 3.64 November 5.55
June 3.58 December 5.45
Annual average 4.64

HOMER displays the monthly average radiation and clearness index in the solar
resource table and graph. The clearness index is an indicator of the clearness of the
atmosphere and ranges from 0 and 1.Theoretically, the higher clearness index means
the weather condition is sunnier. [42], [43] In this study, the average clearness index
in Nazaré Paulista is around 0.498 and most counties are between 0.25 and 0.75.

- 12 -
 Fig. 7 Solar radiation availability

3.2.3. Biomass resource

In this study, the main resource for the generator is biomass. In Brazil, there is a large
potential of biomass to be further developed and it could be the resource for electric
power supply in Brazil. By increasing the share of bioenergy in the energy matrix can
potentially reduce the emissions caused by the use of fossil fuels. According to Lora
and Andrade [44], in 2006, the biomass electricity corresponded around 4.4% of the
total electricity. The main sources of biomass are listed as sugar cane bagasse,
firewood, and agricultural residues.

In this study, agricultural residues are considered as the source of biomass in HOMER.
In Brazil, the total production of agricultural residues in 2001 was 138.5 million tones
and the biomass availability is calculated and estimated based on [44]. After
calculation and estimation, the yearly biomass production for the whole country is
0.672 tonnes/person. So, the daily biomass availability for the rural area in Nazaré
Paulista is 4.61 tonnes/day which equals to 4182.12 kg/day. The month wise
availability of biomass in the study is shown in Tab 6 and Fig 8.

- 13 -
Tab. 6 Monthly average biomass in Nazaré Paulista[44]

Month Available Biomass Month Available Biomass

(tonnes/day) (tonnes/day)
January 5.06 July 4.61
February 4.16 August 4.61
March 4.76 September 4.46
April 4.46 October 4.76
May 4.76 November 4.46
June 4.46 December 4.76
Annual Average 4.616

Fig. 8 Biomass accessibility(tones/day)

3.3. Components assessment

Fig. 9 Configuration of hybrid PV-wind-biomass system in HOMER

Fig 9 shows the configuration of this hybrid power system. The PV-wind-biomass
hybrid power system consists of PV arrays, wind turbines, biomass gasifier, battery
banks and inverters. AC electricity is generated from wind turbine and biomass
gasifier and it can be used directly. But the PV arrays generate DC electricity that
needs to be converted to AC electricity in the converter. The battery bank in this
system is called Hoppecke 24 OPzS 3000 that can store up the over generated
electricity and use it in emergent situations. The electricity input in the battery is
expressed as DC electricity, so that, the AC electricity needs to pass through the
- 14 -
converter and transform to DC electricity. The economical data inputs in HOMER
software includes the capital costs, maintenance costs and replacement costs of
system components are provided in Tab 7. The project life of this study is 25 years
and the annual real interest rate is 6%.

Tab. 7 Technical and economic input data of each component for HOMER mode[34], [45]–[48]

WES 250 Wind turbine

Maximum hub height 50m
Rated power 250 kW
Life time 20 years
Rated wind speed 13m/s
Initial cost 2300 US$/kW
Replacement cost 1500 US$/kW
O & M cost 2 US$/kW/year
PV panel
Derating factor(%) 80%
Life time 20 years
Initial cost 1200 US$/kW
Replacement cost 1200 US$/kW
O & M cost 4 US$/kW/year
Biomass gasifier
Life time 15000 operating hours
Initial cost 1348 US$/kW
Replacement cost 500 US$/kW
O & M cost 0.06 US$/h
Hoppecke 24 OPzS 3000 Battery
Life time 5 years
Initial cost 1392 US$/battery
Replacement cost 1300 US$/battery
O & M cost 14 US$/year
Converter
Efficiency 90%
Initial cost 1675 US$/kW
Replacement cost 1400 US$/kW
O & M cost 167 US$/year

Wind turbine

The working principle for wind turbine is to convert the kinetic energy into
mechanical or electric energy. For the wind turbine, cut-in (start-up) speed, normal
speed and cut-out (maximum) speed are usually used to describe the turbine working
processes. When the wind speed reaches the normal speed, the wind turbine will
generate a steady power which does not change with the wind speed increase. The
- 15 -
blade length and rotor diameter can influence the turbine rotor swept area, and
therefore decide the wind power output. In the hybrid power system, WES 250 kW
with a 20 years life time was chosen to produce wind energy.

300
Rated
250 Output
200 Power Rated
Power Output Output
150 Cut-in speed
(kW)
100
Speed

50
0

12.5
2
0
1

3
4
5
6
7
8
9

12
10
11

13
14
15
16
Wind Speed (m/s)

Power Curve

Fig. 10 Power curve for WES 250 kW[49]

The power curve represents varies between turbine power outputs and wind speeds.
For WES wind turbine, the rated output power is 250 kW. The cut-in speed for this
turbine is smaller than 3 m/s that mean the turbine starts rotating and producing power
at this minimum wind speed and keeps increasing rapidly with the wind speed
increase. Until the speed creeps up to 13 m/s, the wind turbine is able to produce
electric power at its maximum which is 250 kW. Considering of the safety and
stability, all the wind turbines have maximum wind speeds to protect turbine structure.
If the wind speed is increased up to the cut-out speed, the wind turbine will be shut
down to prevent the damage to the rotor. For WES 250, the cut out speed is 25 m/s.
When the wind speed reaches or higher than this critical point, it will stop working to
prevent from the damage.[49]

PV Array

In this paper, PV panel with a 20 years life time is selected. The working principle for
PV panels is to absorb the sunlight and convert solar energy into direct current (DC)
and then convert into alternating current (AC) to meet the electricity demand.[50]
After PV panels collect sunlight, the electricity flows between PV cells and the DC
electricity is generated. The DC electricity will go through the electricity converter to
be transformed.

Biomass gasifier

Biomass gasification technology is ripe enough for using in power generation and
easily to combine with co-firing technology. Most gasification power plants are
- 16 -
combined heat and power (CHP) plants because of the high efficiency and both heat
and electricity are generated. Part of heat is used in this system and the rest of heat
and all the electricity are delivered to the heating system and electric grid system.

In this study, an energy generator is combined with wind turbine and PV arrays to
produce the renewable electricity. Biomass is the fuel for the generator and three main
working processes are included in gasification process: pyrolysis, gasification and
combustion. The estimated biomass fuel price is 25 US dollar per tone and the carbon
content of the biomass is 30%.

Battery

For a solar system, the battery bank is needed to capture excess energy and supply
during nights or days with low solar irradiation.[51] In this work, Hoppecke 24 OPzS
3000 is chosen to storage the excess energy. Table 3-7 shows the details about this
battery. According to DIN 40735-1, the maximum capacity at 10h discharge should be
at least 3000 Ah. In the reality, the designed 10h discharged capacity is up to 3220 Ah.
This module’s capacity is considerable high enough for a solar power system.

Tab. 8 Details for Hoppecke 24 OPzS 3000[52]

Manufacturer Hoppecke
Cnom /1.80 V (Ah) 3000
C10 /1.80 V (Ah) 3220
C5 /1.77 V (Ah) 2795
C3 /1.75 V (Ah) 2394
C1 /1.67 V (Ah) 1568
Cnom : Normal capacity at 10h discharge according to DIN 40735-1
C10 , C5 , C3 , C1 : Capacity at 10h, 5h, 3h, 1h discharge

Converter

A converter (inverter) is used to convert the electricity between AC voltage and DC

voltage. [53] The efficiency is assumed to be 90% and it has a 20 years lifetime. The
estimated capital and replacement cost of the converter is US$ 1675/kW and
US$ 1400/kW.

- 17 -
4. Results and discussion
After simulation, HOMER shows the top ranked system configurations according to
NPC. Fig 11 below summarized top ranked system configurations obtained from the
simulation results.

Fig. 11 The categorized optimization table

4.1. Technical Analysis

Tab. 9 System configurations of top three power systems

PV Wind Generator Battery Converter Total NPC COE

(kW) turbine (kW) (kW) ($/kW)
Scenario 200 N/A 200 400 200 $2,580,157 0.346
1
Scenario N/A N/A 200 400 200 $2,699,663 0.362
2
Scenario 300 1 200 200 200 $2,954,729 0.396
3

Three best scenarios resulted from the simulations are showed in Tab 9 and described
in details below:

1) Hybrid PV-biomass power system composed of 200 kW PV panels, 200 kW

biomass generator, 400 battery banks and 200 kW converter.

2) Biomass system alone composed of 200 kW biomass generator, 400 battery banks
and 200 kW converter.

3) Hybrid PV-wind-biomass power system composed of 300 kW PV panels, a 250

kW wind turbine, 200 kW biomass generator, 200 battery banks and 200 kW
- 18 -
 converter.

Tab 10 shows the share of electricity production from each system component for
each main scenario.

Tab. 10 Yearly electrical energy production of each scenario

SC1 SC2 SC3

Production MWh % MWh % MWh %
PV 287 40 N/A 0 430 48
Wind N/A 0 N/A 0 145 16
Biomass 431 60 687 100 313 35
Total 718 100 687 100 889 100

SC1 consists of two renewable sources, solar and biomass. In SC2, all the electric
power is generated from biomass energy. SC3 includes solar, wind, and biomass and
in this system solar is the main energy resource of the production, followed by
biomass.

SC1 presents the lowest costs of NPC and LCOE compared to the other scenarios, so
that, this system is the most cost effective. The average daily electric power demand
in this rural area is 1601 kWh/d which leads to a yearly electricity demand as
approximately 600 MWh. All of these systems can produce the electric power more
than the local demand which means these systems are feasible because they could
potentially produce enough electric power to meet the energy demand in the rural area.
However, as shown in Tab 10, comparing these three systems, SC3 could produce the
most electricity, but there is a larger amount of excess electricity which is a big waste.
For other two scenarios, SC1 could also produce 30 MWh more than SC2 due to the
consisting of two energy resources, but it can meet the electricity demand at a
relatively low cost. Future more, in future, the excess electricity produced by SC1
could be sold to the grid or neighbor cities when this system is developed to a grid
connected system to increase the system revenues. Thus, SC1 can be seen as the best
option for rural electrification in this area.

4.2. Financial Analysis

HOMER calculates and shows the total cost and income of this hybrid power system.
From a purely economic perspective, the total net present cost of this project means
all the costs that it incurs over its lifetime minus the present value of all the revenue
that it earns over its lifetime. The cost details of selected main scenarios are showed
as below:

- 19 -
 NPC($*10^5) LCOE ($/kWh)

2.95
2.7
2.58

0.35 0.36 0.4

SC1 SC2 SC3

Fig. 12 Cost summary for the proposed system scenarios

According to Fig 12 above, it is easily to see that the hybrid system SC1 presents the
lowest cost of NPC and LCOE compared to the other scenarios. By comparing these
three systems, the capital cost of SC2 is the lowest, but the cost of replacement and
operating is much higher than other two systems. Also, this is a biomass alone system,
hence, the cost of purchasing fuels is also much higher than others. SC1 tends to be
lower capital cost and replacement cost, but a little higher operating cost than SC3. At
the end of the project, HOMER shows the salvage which means the remaining value
in a component of the power system at the end of the project lifetime. SC2 has the
lowest salvage and the others are nearly the same. According to the above, HOMER
shows that SC1 is the most economical system in order to meet the electricity demand
in the rural area.

Fig. 13 Cash flow summary for SC1

- 20 -
 Fig. 14 Cash flow summary for SC2

Fig. 15 Cash flow summary for SC3

4.3. Environment analysis

The aim of this project is to provide electricity for rural area from renewable energies.
The reason of replacing fossil fuels with environment friendly and sustainable fuels is
because it can potentially reduce the CO2 emissions. Here, coal is seen as a
comparative object to study possible pollution reductions. According to US. Energy
Information Administration (EIA), coal can be well classified as
Bituminous, Sub-bituminous, and Lignite. [54] For example, when producing
electricity by Bituminous, there is around 0.94 kg CO2 is emitted per kWh. On the
other hand, renewable energies can be seen as nearly emission free. Therefore, by
replacing fossil fuels with renewable energies in electrification, a large amount of
CO2 emission can be avoided. In this project, by multiplying emission factor of
Bituminous and the electricity production of each energy resources and each power

- 21 -
 system, the potentially emission reductions could be found. Tab 11below shows the
results of CO2 avoided by those three renewable power system. For all of these
systems, more than 6.5* 10^5 kg CO2 can be avoided by each renewable power
system.

Tab. 11 CO2 emission reduced by replacing Bituminous with renewable power system

SC1 SC2 SC3

Electricity Emission Electricity Emission Electricity Emission
production reduction production reduction production reduction
(MWh) (*10^5 kg) (MWh) (*10^5 kg) (MWh) (*10^5 kg)
PV 287 2.7 430 4.0
Wind 145 1.4
Biomass 431 4.1 687 6.5 313 2.9
Total 718 6.8 687 6.5 889 8.3

- 22 -
5. Conclusion
With the rapid development of the economy, sustainable development and energy
security are becoming more and more important. Increasingly, renewable energy gains
attention and plays an important role in the current and future development. In order
to reduce the greenhouse effect and gas emission, renewable energy will gradually
replace fossil fuels but in a long-time period.

The current work purpose is to analyze the feasibility of the hybrid PV-wind-biomass
power system in Brazil from economic and environment sectors. It also made a deep
research on the present energy situation and development potentials of renewable
energy. Solar energy, wind energy, and biomass are newly developed sustainable
resources with a lot of scope for development in Brazil. Brazil is located Eastern
South America and neighboring with the Atlantic Ocean, the annual average solar
insulation and wind velocity are 4.64 kWh/m2 /day and 3.99 m/s respectively in the
selected location and the annual average potential is approximately 4.616 tones/day
for biomass energy resource.

The hybrid PV-wind-biomass power system was modeled and analyzed by HOMER
simulation software. The best suitable design with high economic value includes 200
kW PV panels, 200 kW biomass generator, 400 battery banks, and 200 kW converter.
It can potentially produce enough electricity to meet the local demand. The initial cost
for this system is about 2.6 million US dollars which is quite high, but if considering
from a long-term, the benefits will be greatly enhanced because of the existence of
components. Furthermore, replacing fossil fuels with renewable energies in
electrification sector can also contribute positively in reducing CO2 emission.

Recommendations and future work

For future work, it should be based on:

 Continued study on the subject and improve the hybrid system to a grid
connected system.
 Implementation of the system to some degree to test the feasibility and stability.
 Doing tests and analysis to find if biomass prices have impacts on the feasibility
of the system
 Doing more economic analysis to propose a suitable and realistic electricity price.
 Doing emission tests after implementation of this system to find potential
methods to control and mitigate the amount of emission.

- 23 -
References
[1] International Energy Agency, “Secure and Efficient Electricity Supply.pdf.” International
Energy Agency, 2013.
[2] K. J. Warner and G. A. Jones, “A population-induced renewable energy timeline in nine
world regions.pdf.” Elsevier Ltd, 31-Nov-2016.
[3] IEA, “WEO - Energy access database,” International Energy Agency, 2016. [Online].
Available:
http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/resources/energydevelopment/energyaccessdatabas
e/. [Accessed: 23-Dec-2016].
[4] R. Ali, T. M. N. T. Mansur, N. H. Baharudin, and S. I. S. Hassan, “Environmental impacts of
renewable energy,” in Electric Renewable Energy Systems, Elsevier Inc., 2015.
[5] E. Brutschin and A. Fleig, “Innovation in the energy sector – The role of fossil fuels and
developing economies.” Elsevier Ltd, 2016.
[6] C. McCombie and M. Jefferson, “Renewable and nuclear electricity: Comparison of
environmental impacts.” Elsevier Ltd, 2016.
[7] International Energy Agency, “Worldwide Trends in Energy Use and Efficiency,”
International Energy Agency, 2008.
[8] M. M. Alam, M. W. Murad, A. H. M. Noman, and I. Ozturk, “Relationships among carbon
emissions, economic growth, energy consumption and population growth: Testing
Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis for Brazil, China, India and Indonesia,” Elsevier Ltd,
2016.
[9] Central Intelligence Agency, “The World Factbook — Brazil,” 2017. [Online]. Available:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/br.html. [Accessed:
10-Feb-2017].
[10] The World Bnak, “Brazil | Data,” 2016. [Online]. Available:
http://data.worldbank.org/country/brazil. [Accessed: 10-Feb-2017].
[11] The World Bnak, “Rural population (% of total population) | Data,” The World Bank, 2014.
[Online]. Available:
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.RUR.TOTL.ZS?end=2015&locations=BR&name_des
c=false&start=1960&view=chart. [Accessed: 08-Mar-2017].
[12] M. F. Gómez, “Electricity access for human development in the Brazilian Amazon,”
Licentiate thesis, KTH, 2012.
[13] C. Cote and M. S. Langevin, “Brazilian Electricity 101 A BrazilWorks Briefing Paper.”
BrazilWorks, 2013.
[14] IRNEA, “Renewable Energy Policy Brief BRAZIL.” International Renewable Energy Agency,
2015.
[15] E. von Sperling, “Hydropower in Brazil overview of positive and negative.pdf.” Elsevier Ltd.,
2012.
[16] “Hydropower supplies more than three-quarters of Brazil’s electric power - Today in Energy
- U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).” [Online]. Available:
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=16731. [Accessed: 10-Feb-2017].
[17] P. Meisen and J. Hubert, “Renewable Energy Potential of Brazil.” Global Energy Network
Institute, 2010.

- 24 -
[18] C. A. Trein, “Brazilian Power Grid and General Information.” Ministry of Mines and Energy-
Brazil, 2013.
[19] IRENA, “Brazil Market overview,” 30 YEARS POLICIES WIND ENERGY, pp. 40–47, 2016.
[20] Rijksdienst voor Ondernement Nederland, “Market Study : PV Energy in Brazil.” Ministry of
Economic Affairs, 2015.
[21] S. Weida, S. Kumar, and R. Madlener, “Financial viability of grid-connected solar PV and
wind power systems in Germany.” Elsevier Ltd, 2016.
[22] S. Bahramara, P. M. Mohsen, and M. R. Haghifam, “Optimal planning of hybrid renewable
energy systems using HOMER: A review.” Elsevier Ltd, 2016.
[23] “IBGE | Cidades | São Paulo | Nazaré Paulista.” [Online]. Available:
http://cidades.ibge.gov.br/xtras/perfil.php?lang=&codmun=353240&search=||infogr%E1fi
cos:-informa%E7%F5es-completas. [Accessed: 23-Dec-2016].
[24] U. S. Kumar and P. S. Manoharan, “Economic analysis of hybrid power systems (PV/diesel)
in different climatic zones of Tamil Nadu,” Elsevier Ltd A.
[25] C. Li et al., “Techno-economic feasibility study of autonomous hybrid windPVbattery power
system for a household in Urumqi China.pdf.” Elsevier Ltd, 2013.
[26] C. Brandoni and B. Bosnjakovic, “HOMER analysis of the water and renewable energy nexus
for water-stressed urban areas in Sub-Saharan Africa,” Elsevier Ltd, 2016.
[27] B. J. Saharia and M. Manas, “Viability Analysis of Photovoltaic/Wind Hybrid Distributed
Generation in an Isolated Community of Northeastern India,” Distrib. Gener. Altern. Energy
J., 2016.
[28] G. Heinz, “Facilities Management: The History of Carleton’s First Wind Turbine | Carleton
College,” Carleton College, 2014. [Online]. Available:
https://apps.carleton.edu/campus/facilities/sustainability/wind_turbine/. [Accessed:
11-Feb-2017].
[29] ETAP Powering Success, “Photovoltaic Array | Solar Panel | Solar Farms | Solar Irradiance,”
ETAP Powering Success. [Online]. Available:
https://etap.com/product/s/distribution-network-analysis/renewable-energy/photovoltaic
-array-solar-panel. [Accessed: 11-Feb-2017].
[30] “Habitantes por zona rural e urbana em cada município: São Paulo - Censo 2010 - UOL
Notícias.” [Online]. Available:
http://noticias.uol.com.br/censo-2010/populacao-urbana-e-rural/sp. [Accessed:
23-Dec-2016].
[31] “Nazaré Paulista latitude e longitude.” [Online]. Available:
www.adistanciaentre.com/br/nazare-paulista-latitude-longitude-nazare-paulista-latitude-n
azare-paulista-longitude/LatLongHistoria/121964.aspx. [Accessed: 23-Dec-2016].
[32] M. F. Gómez and S. Silveira, “Exploring the effect of subsidies on small-scale renewable
energy solutions in the Brazilian Amazon.” 2015.
[33] M. Fadaeenejad, M. A. M. Radzi, M. Z. A. AbKadir, and H. B. Hizam, “Assessment of hybrid
renewable power sources for rural electrification in Malaysia.” ElsevierLtd., 2013.
[34] S. Singh, M. Singh, and S. C. Kaushik, “Feasibility study of an islanded microgrid in rural area
consisting of PV, wind, biomass and battery energy storage system.” 2016.
[35] L. Olatomiwa, S. Mekhilef, A. S. N. Huda, and O. S. Ohunakin, “Economic evaluation of
hybrid energy systems for rural electrification in six geo-political zones of Nigeria,” Elsevier

- 25 -
 Ltd, 2015.
[36] A. Chauhan and R. P. Saini, “Renewable energy based off-grid rural electrification in
Uttarakhand state of India:Technology options,modelling method, barriers and
recommendations.” RenewableandSustainableEnergyReviews, 2015.
[37] M. K. Shahzad, A. Zahid, T. ur Rashid, M. A. Rehan, M. Ali, and M. Ahmad,
“Techno-economic feasibility analysis of a solar-biomass off grid system for the
electrification of remote rural areas in Pakistan using HOMER software,” Elsevier Ltd, 2017.
[38] IRENA, “Renewable Energy Technologies: cost analysis series-Wind Power.” International
Renewable Energy Agency, 2012.
[39] NASA, “NASA Surface meteorology and Solar Energy: HOMER Data.” [Online]. Available:
https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/sse/homer.cgi?email=skip%40larc.nasa.gov&step=1&
lat=-23.1816&lon=-46.3979&submit=Submit&ms=1&ds=1&ys=1998&me=12&de=31&ye=1
998&daily=swv_dwn. [Accessed: 23-Dec-2016].
[40] A. R. Majeed, H. R. Fehrenbach, and P. Muhsin, “Design of hybrid renewabl power plant for
electrification of small villages,” in 2013 International Conference on Electrical
Communication, Computer, Power, and Control Engineering (ICECCPCE), 2013, pp. 1–7.
[41] K. Sunderland, T. Woolmington, J. Blackledge, and M. Conlon, “Small wind turbines in
turbulent (urban) environments: A consideration of normal and Weibull distributions for
power prediction,” Elsevier Ltd, 2013.
[42] K. N. Poudyal, B. K. Bhattarai, B. Sapkota, and B. Kjeldstad, “Estimation of Global Solar
Radiation Using Clearness Index and Cloud Transmittance Factor at Trans-Himalayan
Region in Nepal,” Sci. Reaserch, 2012.
[43] L. Olatomiwa, S. Mekhilef, and O. S. Ohunakin, “Hybrid renewable power supply for rural
health clinics (RHC) in six geo-political zones of Nigeria,” Elsevier Ltd, 2015.
[44] E. E. S. Lora and R. V. Andrade, “Biomass as energy source in Brazil,” Elsevier Ltd, 2008.
[45] N. Dharmala, “A decentralized energy option for rural electrification–Using polygeneration
in India,” Master Thesis, KTH, 2015.
[46] S. Barakat, M. M. Samy, M. B. Eteiba, and W. I. Wahba, “Viability study of grid connected
PV/Wind/Biomass hybrid energy system for a small village in Egypt,” in 2016 Eighteenth
International Middle East Power Systems Conference (MEPCON), 2016, pp. 46–51.
[47] M. S. Abdulah, T. Matlokotsi, and S. Chowdhury, “Techno-economic feasibility study of
solar PV and biomass-based electricity generation for rural household and farm in
Botswana,” in 2016 IEEE PES PowerAfrica, 2016, pp. 67–71.
[48] S. Singh and S. C. Kaushik, “Optimal sizing of grid integrated hybrid PV-biomass energy
system using artificial bee colony algorithm,” IET Renew. Power Gener., vol. 10, no. 5, pp.
642–650, 2016.
[49] WES, “WES 250 wind turbine,” WES, Wind Energy Solutions. [Online]. Available:
http://windenergysolutions.nl/portfolio-item/wes-250/. [Accessed: 23-Dec-2016].
[50] European Photovoltaic Industry Association, “Solar Generation: Solar Electricity For Over
One Billion People And Two Mollion Jobs By 2020.” Greenpeace, 2006.
[51] N. Izadyar, H. C. Ong, W. T. Chong, J. C. Mojumder, and K. Y. Leong, “Investigation of
potential hybrid renewable energy at various rural areas in Malaysia,” Elsevier Ltd, 2016.
[52] Hoppecke Batterien GmbH& Co, “Hoppecke OPzS 3000.” [Online]. Available:
https://www.hoppecke.com/fileadmin/Redakteur/Hoppecke-Main/Products/Downloads/O

- 26 -
 PzS_en.pdf. [Accessed: 23-Dec-2016].
[53] A. Ajlan, C. W. Tan, and A. M. Abdilahi, “Assessment of environmental and economic
perspectives for renewablebased hybrid power system in Yemen,” Elsevier Ltd, 2016.
[54] US. Energy Information Administration, “How much carbon dioxide is produced per
kilowatthour when generating electricity with fossil fuels? - FAQ - U.S. Energy Information
Administration (EIA).” [Online]. Available:
https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=74&t=11. [Accessed: 13-Mar-2017].

- 27 -