Techno-economic design and evaluation of hybrid energy systems for residential communities: Case study of Jubail industrial city

A total of around 300 TWh of electricity was consumed in Saudi Arabia in the year 2018, a per capita consumption of 9100 kWh. Almost all of this electricity is generated by non-renewable sources of energy. This study explores the prospective application of hybrid energy systems PV/Wind/Diesel and PV/Wind with battery storage for three residential compounds in Jubail Industrial City, an eastern coastal city in Saudi Arabia. Technical and economic viability of various hybrid energy system designs is weighed and an optimum system is adopted using HOMER software. This hybrid system is optimized to meet the electrical load demand of three residential compounds with one, two, and three-bedroom apartments with a load demand of 11,160; 4865; and 3288 kWh/day and a peak load of 685, 463 and 270 kW. The minimum COE was found to be 0.183, 0.224 and 0.244 US$/kWh, for PV/Wind/Diesel/Battery option for compound 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The average total NPC was around 9.9, 5.6, and 3.9 million US$, respectively. For options with 100% RE penetration, minimum COE was found to be 0.25 US$/kWh, for PV/Wind/Battery option for all three compounds. This optimum system will also save 2800 tons of carbon-dioxide emissions every year. This proposed hybrid energy system can be applied to other regions of the world with similar weather conditions.