Feasibility of pv-wind-diesel hybrid renewable energy power system for off-grid rural electrification in Iraq: A case study

Making electricity available in rural and particularly remote areas that cannot access grid connections remains a challenge in developing countries, such as Iraq. Currently, approximately 80% of the world's energy needs are supplied by fossil fuels, which are a major source of pollution. However, diminishing global fossil fuel resources, rising prices, and increasing energy requirements are good reasons to significantly minimize the dependence on fossil fuels. This study discusses the electrical needs of Zerbattiya, a city located in South-eastern Iraq near the Iranian border. The problem is that many remote areas in Iraq have randomly expanded in the past years, yet the generation stations have remained the same. The possibility of delivering electricity to these areas is time consuming and costly. The system's components are solar panels (PV), Wind Turbines (WT), Diesel Generators (DG), Batteries (BT), and Converters integrated according to compatibility with seven different scenarios. Wind and diesel (WT-DG) have the lowest Cost of Energy (COE), and Net Present Cost (NPC) values among all studied cases and is thus the most cost-effective design for Zerbattiya. The results showed that the NWT (39), NDG (5), NBT (351), Nconv (88), COE (0.123 US$/kWh), NPC (US$2.92 million), and IC (US$ 944, 655).