i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 9 5 3 5 e9 5 4 8

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

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journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/he

Decision-making between a grid extension and a

rural renewable off-grid system with hydrogen
generation

Doudou N. Luta*, Atanda K. Raji

Department of Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Cape Peninsula University of
Technology, PO Box 1906 Bellville 7535, Western Cape, South Africa

article info abstract

Article history: Most populations in rural Africa have no access to electricity, in this study, a comparative
Received 9 January 2018 analysis between grid extension and the implementation of renewable off-grid hybrid
Received in revised form power system is carried out. The objective of the study is to determine the best feasible
31 March 2018 option. Napier, a farming village in the Western Cape province of South Africa was selected
Accepted 5 April 2018 as the site for the comparative analysis and HOMER PRO software was used to develop an
Available online 26 April 2018 optimal system using the wind and solar resources of the selected site. The load profile
considered in the analysis includes lighting, cooking and hot water demands. The best
Keywords: feasible option is determined based on the Net Present Cost of each feasible scenario.
Renewable energy Sensitivity analysis on the current cost and the projected cost of hydrogen storage w
Solar energy conducted to observe the impact of the cost of hydrogen storage on the renewable off-grid
Wind energy system cost of energy.
Hydrogen & fuel cell © 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Rural electrification

electricity; many people suffer from poor power supply qual-

Introduction
The power system industry in many countries is built around
large power plants that use fossil fuels or nuclear energy as
their primary source of energy. Generally, these power plants
are situated far away from urban agglomerations and involve
the construction of transmission and distribution networks
that are required to transport power to consumers in metro-
politan areas. The solutions to the power system industry also
need to consider rural communities, which in most cases are
situated far from metropolitan cities and have no access to
electricity. In 2016, the World Energy Outlook revealed that an
estimated population of 1.2 billion did not have access to
ity and the majority are based in rural sub-Saharan Africa and
developing Asian countries [1].
Supplying electricity to these areas seems to be a difficult
task because, on the one hand, these populations are remote,
dispersed and characterised by a low electrical energy con-
sumption while, on the other hand, most of the inhabitants of
these areas are very poor and unable to pay the electricity bills
[2]. Therefore, enlarging the power grid to meet the load re-
quirements of these remote areas has shown to be economi-
cally and sometimes even technically unfeasible. However,
the use of off-grid systems in such cases has proven to be an
alternative; the electricity can be supplied from an individual
source or a combination of renewable sources for instance

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: 212123254@mycput.ac.za (D.N. Luta), rajia@cput.ac.za (A.K. Raji).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.04.032
0360-3199/© 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
9536 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 9 5 3 5 e9 5 4 8

wind generators, photovoltaic panels, micro hydro, fuel cells,

Nomenclature etc. or from non-renewable diesel generators. In countries
such as Russia, the electricity supply in remote areas is based
AFC Alkaline fuel cell
on diesel generators. These systems inflict important eco-
Aw Total swept area
nomic and social charges on population, which include the
bT Photovoltaic temperature coefficient
environmental effects of greenhouse, black carbon and oil
CC Cycle charging
spills [3]. As a result, renewable off-grid power systems are
COE Cost of Energy
getting more attention and their use is becoming more wide-
DMFC Direct methanol fuel cell
spread. Many publications with regards to these technologies
effw Efficiency of the wind turbine
for rural or remote areas applications have been reported in
FC Fuel cell
the literature.
H2 Hydrogen
Okoye et al. [4] proposed the use of solar chimney power
Gt Radiant power incident
plants for rural communities with poor or no access to the grid
I Electrolyser current
electricity. A site-specific hourly meteorological data was
g Polytrophic coefficient
considered in the feasibility assessment of the plant in seven
LED Light Emitting Diode
chosen regions of Nigeria. The results revealed that a solar
LF Load Following
chimney power plant with a collector diameter of 600 m and a
MCFC Molten carbonate fuel cell
height of 150 m would be able to generate 154e181 kW
NASA US National Aeronautics and Space
depending upon the daily weather conditions. McCarty et al.
Administration
[5] compared six different energy technologies including
NC Number of cells in series
improved biomass-fired cookstoves, advanced biomass-fired
NPC Net Present Cost
cookstoves, communal biomass-fired cookstoves, Liquefied
hC Compressor efficiency
Petroleum Gas cookstoves, solar water heaters and
hF Faraday efficiency
community-charged solar fluorescent lighting for a village in
hPV Power reduction factor
Mali. The results uncovered that no individual technology
O&M Operation and Maintenance
could optimally resolve all the environmental, health, social
P1 Inlet pressure
and economic objectives at the same time. An integrated
P2 Outlet pressure
strategy that considers the user trend to the fuels and devices
PAFC Phosphoric acid fuel cell
that are most convenient and affordable for each task was
PEM Polymer electrolyte membrane
discovered to lead to the most important impacts in all areas.
PEMFC Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell or
Komatsu et al. [6] analysed the characteristics of solar
polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell
home systems in Bangladesh. An attempt to determine the
Pe;w Power of the wind turbine generator
factors that affect users' satisfaction so as to promote the
Pcomp power required for the compression
expansion of the coverage of solar systems. The research
PMU Power Management Unit
evaluates the determinant factors of user satisfaction and
PV Photovoltaic
households' judgement of the benefits of solar home sys-
PPV Output power of a photovoltaic panel
tems. Carrasco et al. [7] recommended a tool for the design of
PPV
rated Nominal power of the photovoltaic panel
electrification systems for rural areas based on photovoltaic
Pw output power of a wind generator
panels using the Moroccan photovoltaic electrification plan
Prated Rated power
as a reference. The tool derives from a mathematical model
Ptank Pressure of hydrogen in the tank
consisting of a set of decision variables such as location,
q_H2 Rate of hydrogen or mass flow rate of hydrogen
transport etc., to meet various constraints with the objective
R Gas constant
function of minimising the cost. Rinalde et al. [8] proposed an
SOFC Solid oxide fuel cell
experimental development of two prototypes of thermo-
T Compressor inlet temperature
electric generators for the electrification of rural isolated
TC Temperature of the photovoltaic panel
homes. The recommended thermoelectric generators make
TC;STC Cell temperature under standard test
use of the residual heat thrown away by the firewood home
conditions
stove.
TV Television
Bernal-Agustin et al. [9] applied Pareto-based Evolutionary
V Rated speed
Algorithm to design an optimal isolated hybrid PV-wind-
Vact Activation voltage
diesel hybrid energy system with the objective functions of
Vconc Concentration voltage
reducing the total cost and the pollution. Based on two daily
Vcut
in Cut-in wind speed
load profiles assumed to be unchanged throughout the year,
Vcut
off Cut-off speed
the research proposed practical low costs and pollution design
VFC Fuel cell output voltage
solutions. Adeoti et al. [10] evaluated the electrical loads
Vohmic Ohmic voltage
requirement of a rural house in Nigeria for PV-based homes
Vtank Volume of the tank
design. It was revealed that each household necessitated an
ntank Number of moles of gas in the tank
approximated annual energy of 850.8 kWh to meet the lighting
WASA Wind Atlas for South Africa
and basic home appliances energy requirement. It was as well
acknowledged the fact that the design of PV-based homes will
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 9 5 3 5 e9 5 4 8
be beneficial to these communities as it will promote quick
economic growth.
Qoaider and Steinbrecht [11] analysed the economic
feasibility of an off-grid PV system to mainly meet the load
demand of a rural farming irrigation system for a remote
village in Egypt. The PV capacity was such that it was able to
daily supply energy to pump 111,000 m3 of water for the irri-
gation and to provide electricity to the surrounding village
houses. The study compared as well the costs of energy and
concluded that the energy from PV was cheaper than that of
diesel generators. Hrayshat [12] conducted a study on a
techno-economic feasibility of a remote hybrid off-grid PV-
diesel-battery systems for a house in Jordan. It was shown
that using this hybrid configuration reduces the operating
hours and the fuel consumption of diesel generators as
compared to an energy system based on diesel generators
alone, thus decreasing the emission as well. Bekele and
Tadesse [13] investigated the feasibility of a hydro-PV-wind
hybrid energy system for villages energy supply in Ethiopia.
The study focused on analysing the potential of solar and
wind for energy generation in these areas determining the
basic load requirement of each household.
Ashok [14] developed a model to size the components of an
optimal hybrid energy system configuration for rural areas at
a reduced cost. A study conducted in some villages in India
based on the developed model allowed to determine the
suitable hybrid configuration considering the renewable en-
ergy resources to these areas. Harries [15] reviewed the chal-
lenges faced in the implantation of off-grid wind-based water
pumping systems for rural areas in Kenya. The research pre-
sented the benefits of wind-based water pumping systems for
rural areas and proposed the policy options to better the
implantation.
Adkins et al. [16] discussed about the experience acquired
during the launching of solar LED lamps in rural Malawi. The
research focusses on aspects such as LED lamps company
development issues, the interactions with the community and
the impact of LED lamps introduction into the community.
Gustavsson [17] examined the effect that solar electricity
services can have on education in rural communities. This
study reported that the use of such electricity services offer
learns the opportunity to study at night, thus improving their
education. Gustavsson, and Ellegård [18] investigated the
community experience from the use of solar electricity ser-
vices in rural areas in Zambia. The findings showed that the
population were attracted by the electricity services as they
were able to access to light and use TV sets.
Ketlogetswe and Mothudi [19] evaluated the factors hin-
dering a fast development of PV generation in rural commu-
nities in Botswana. It was shown that factors such as low-
income of most populations of these areas and the migra-
tion from villages to urban agglomerations were the main
reason. Lee et al. [20] proposed a methodology to develop a
reliable and less expensive off-grid PV-batteries for reliability
sizing of the system while keeping good level of services.
Kalinci et al. [21] investigated the techno-economic feasi-
bility of an off-grid renewable energy system with hydrogen
generation and storage possibilities in Bozcaada Island in
Turkey. The studies considered two cases; the first case is
based on wind power alone and the second uses a hybrid
9537
wind-PV system. The findings showed a decrease of the net
present cost and cost of energy in the hybrid wind-PV system
as compared to an energy system based on wind alone. In
addition, the hybrid wind-PV system proposed a lower
hydrogen tank capacity. Rahimi et al. [22] presented a techno-
economic analysis of a hybrid system based on wind and
hydrogen system in Manjil and Binaloud in Iran. The hydrogen
system consisted of an electrolyser and a PEM (Polymer elec-
trolyte membrane) fuel cell. The results revealed that meeting
the load requirement of those cities will require a bigger size
of wind turbine, making the electricity from an off-grid to be
more expensive. Bezmalinovic et al. [23] investigated the
techno-economic analysis of various off-grid energy systems
for a remote base station situated in an Adriatic Island. The
three energy systems were considered in this study namely
hybrid PV-batteries, hybrid PV-batteries-diesel generators and
hybrid PV-batteries-PEM fuel cell. The results showed a higher
cost of a hybrid PV-batteries-PEM fuel cell as compared to the
remaining systems. This higher cost is caused mainly by the
cost of hydrogen storage which still is an obstacle for a real-
world implementation of hydrogen technologies.
Marchenko and Solomin [24] presented a modelling of
hybrid wind-PV-batteries-hydrogen systems in the region of
Baikal Lake. An optimisation mathematical model showed the
efficiency of the hybrid system. For short-term use, the bat-
teries were the most efficient whereas for long-term use, the
hydrogen storage was the most cost-effective. Yunez-Cano
[25] presented a method that uses an analytical model for
sizing, analysing and assessing the feasibility of a hybrid en-
ergy system based on PV and hydrogen system using weather
data. The method consists of analysing the energy balance
and electrical components of the system.
Prasanna and Dorer [26] evaluated the feasibility of an off-
grid hybrid PV-hydrogen generation for a district. The inte-
gration of batteries into this system was also examined. An
energy optimisation method was used to model the hybrid
system and allowed to obtain an optimal system model. The
overall result showed that the batteries capacity and hydrogen
storage facilitated the district to considerably decrease carbon
emission. Qolipoura et al. [27] analysed the techno-economic
feasibility of implementing a hybrid system using PV, wind
and hydrogen system to generate electricity and hydrogen for
Hendijan areas in Iran. The result showed that considered
region was able to generate approximately 3,153,762 kWh of
electricity and 31,680 kg of hydrogen per year.
Al-Sharaf et al. [28] investigated the prospects of electricity
and hydrogen generation using solar and wind at different
places in Saudi Arabia. At each place, different renewable off-
grid configuration was selected to meet the load demand of a
house. A total of six configurations including PV- batteries,
wind-batteries, PV-wind-batteries, PV-fuel cell, wind-fuel cell
and PV-wind-fuel cell were considered. Simulations were
conducted to identify the cost-effective configurations. Ni
et al. [29] discussed about the potential applications of
renewable hydrogen for Hong Kong energy supply, the find-
ings revealed that even though renewable energy technolo-
gies cannot completely meet Hong Kong energy requirement,
they can be utilised for hydrogen production. Scamman et al.
[30] analysed an integrated hybrid off-grid system including
an electrolyser, fuel cell, battery, wind and photovoltaic
9538 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 9 5 3 5 e9 5 4 8

powers for a continuous power supply in remote telecom- generated by wind and PV is used to produce hydrogen
munication base stations in comparison to a hybrid off-grid through the electrolyser. The hydrogen is then stored in a
system utilising only battery. The results showed improved tank. When the power generated by PV and wind are insuffi-
system overall characteristics. Young et al. [31] investigated cient to meet the load, the stored hydrogen is converted to
the technical and economic feasibility renewable power sys- electricity by the fuel cell stack to cover for the power short-
tem with hydrogen energy storage for two remote areas in fall. Hence, the fuel cell system in this configuration is used as
Bhutan in India, the results suggest that it is technically an energy storage technology.
possible to diversify power supplies by using renewable en-
ergy and hydrogen. In the same vein, Tzamalis et al. [32] Description of integrated main components
investigated a techno-economic study of an integration of
hydrogen technologies storage in a hybrid power system for Generation components
the island of Milos to substitute the use of fossil fuel genera- Wind generators. Wind originates from a pressure difference
tors. A sensitivity analysis was carried out to evaluate the caused by solar irradiation between two regions of the earth.
impact of hydrogen-technology equipment costs and the cost This pressure difference exerts a force capable of causing the
of energy. The results expressed that the cost of energy of the air to move from an area of high pressure to the one of low
proposed system was higher than that of the existing one pressure [57]. The total solar power received by the earth is
which was based on fossil fuels. estimated to 1.8  1011 MW. From this power, only 2% is
Off-grid power system technologies can be grouped into converted to wind energy (3.6  109 MW), the available wind
three categories based on energy resources used [33e43]: power that can be converted into another form of energy is
around 1.26  109 MW, which is twenty times the rate of
 single energy resources-based power systems, actual world energy consumption [58].
 hybrid energy resources power systems, The output power of a wind generator (Pw ) is expressed by
 power systems with storage systems. equation (1) as [59]:
8
>
> Pw ¼0 V < Vcut
in
Amongst the three categories mentioned above, single <
Pw ¼ a:V3
b:Prated Vcut
in < V < Vrated
resource-based power system is the least reliable because of (1)
>
> Pw ¼ Prated Vrated < V < Vcut
off
:
its intermittency and variability. On the one hand, using a Pw ¼0 V > Vcut
off
hybrid configuration can improve the system efficiency since
where a and b are defined by the equations:
the energy supply is from at least on two sources. On the
other hand, adding an energy storage feature to a hybrid Prated
system can further increases the system reliability because a¼ (2)
3
Vrated
Vcut
in
3

energy storage reduces power fluctuations, enhances the

system flexibility, and enables the storage and dispatching of 3
Vcut
in
the electricity generated [44e55]. To date, different renewable b¼ (3)
3
Vrated
Vcut
in
3

hybrid configurations have been proposed in literature. In

this paper, a hybrid energy system using PV, wind generators Prated , Vcut
in ; V and Vcut
off are the rated power, cut-in, rated
and fuel cell resources is simulated to determine the best and cut-out wind speeds respectively.
feasible options between an off-grid setup and a grid exten- The real electrical power of the wind turbine generator Pe;w
sion. The simulation is performed using Homer Pro software is calculated as:
for an estimated project lifetime of 25 years. The site
Pe;w ¼ Pw :Aw :effw (4)
considered is situated in the Western Cape province of the
South Africa. where Aw is the total swept area and effw is the efficiency of the
The paper is structured as follows, the next section gives wind turbine.
the layout and describes a typical renewable fuel cell system,
section three details a case study of a decision-making and the Photovoltaic panels. Photovoltaic panels convert solar radia-
last section gives the conclusion. tion into electricity. The output power of a photovoltaic panel
(PPV ) is given by Equation (5) as [60]:

System configuration and description of
components
System configuration
A typical hybrid PV-wind with an integrated hydrogen gen-
eration schematic is shown in Fig. 1; the system consists of
photovoltaic panels, a wind generator and a fuel cell system. A
fuel cell system comprises a fuel cell stack, an electrolyser and
a hydrogen storage tank. The Power Management Unit (PMU)
enables the coordination between the different energy sour-
ces involved. During the operation, the surplus of power
Gt
PPV ¼  PPV
rated  hPV  ½1
bT ðTC
TC;STC Þ (5)
1000
where Gt is the radiant power incident perpendicular to the
surface of the photovoltaic array, PPV
rated is the nominal power
of the panel, hPV is the power reduction factor of panels, bT is
the photovoltaic temperature coefficient, TC is the tempera-
ture of the panels under operating condition and TC;STC is the
cell temperature under standard test conditions.
Energy storage components
The energy storage components consist of the fuel cell, elec-
trolyser and hydrogen tank.
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 9 5 3 5 e9 5 4 8
Fig. 1 e Schematic of the considered hybrid system adapted from Ref. [56].
Fuel cell. Fuel cell systems are regarded as potential candi-
dates for renewable power backup, especially for remote area
power systems. They are very clean as they generate nearly no
emission and are characterised by high efficiency.
A typical fuel cell is an electro-chemical device converting
chemical energy from an electrolytic reaction directly to
electrical energy by rejecting heat and water. It consists of a
negatively charged electrode named anode, a positively
charge electrode named cathode and an electrolyte mem-
brane [61]. In a fuel cell, hydrogen is as the principal fuel or
reactant whereas oxygen is the oxidant. Several different
types of reactants such as ethanol or some fuels derived from
biomass can be used depending upon the type of fuel cell
technology. These fuel cell technologies are classified ac-
cording to the type of electrolytes used and their operating
temperature. The most current technologies are [61]:
- Proton Exchange or Polymer Electrolytic Membrane Fuel
Cell (PEMFC): (Operating temperature: 30e100 C, Effi-
ciency: 50e60%),
- Alkaline Fuel Cell (AFC): (Operating temperature:
50 e200 C, Efficiency: 60e70%),
- Phosphoric Acid - Fuel Cell (PAFC):(Operating temperature:
~200 C, Efficiency: 50e60%)
- Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell: (MCFC) (Operating tempera-
ture: ~650 C, Efficiency: 60e65%)
- Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC): (Operating temperature:
500e1000 C, Efficiency: 50e65%)
- Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC): (Operating temperature:
20e90 C, Efficiency: 50e60%)
9539
The output voltage of the fuel cell stacks can be obtained as
[62]:
VFC ¼ NCell ECell ¼ E
Vact
Vconc
Vohmic (6)
where VFC is the fuel cell output voltage, E is the open circuit
voltage, whereas Vact , Vconc , and Vohmic are the activation, con-
centration, and the ohmic fuel cell voltage respectively.
Electrolyser. One of the most appropriate manner of hydrogen
generation is through electrolysis of water using electricity
from renewable generators. The process consists of using an
electrolyser to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Like fuel
cells, electrolysers are also distinguished according to the type
of electrolytes used. The most common types are Alkaline and
PEM electrolysers.
The rate of hydrogen generated by the electrolyser (q_H2 ) is
expressed as:
· NC I
qH2 ¼ hF (7)
2F
where hF is the Faraday efficiency, NC is the number of cells in
series, I is the electrolyser current and F the faraday constant.
Hydrogen storage tank
The hydrogen generated from the electrolyser is compressed
through a compressor and stored in a tank. The power
required for the compression (Pcomp ) is given as [61]:
9540 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 9 5 3 5 e9 5 4 8

" g
1 # the clearness which refers to the fraction of the solar insola-
g T P2 g tion transmitted through the atmosphere to strike the surface
Pcomp ¼ R
1 q_H2 (8)
g
1 hC P1 of the earth is 0.625. These values indicate that the site has
enough potential to deliver a considerable amount of power
where g is the polytrophic coefficient, R is the gas constant, T
from a photovoltaic system (Fig. 3 (a)).
is the compressor inlet temperature, hC is the compressor ef-
ficiency, P1 and P2 are the inlet and outlet pressure respec-
Wind resources
tively and q_H2 is the mass flow rate of hydrogen.
Fig. 3 (b) shows the monthly based profile of wind speed for
The pressure of hydrogen in the tank (Ptank ) is expressed as:
Napier that was obtained from the most recent Wind Atlas for
RT South Africa (WASA) observational report published in April
Ptank ¼ ntank (9)
Vtank 2014 [69]. The monthly annual average wind speed is 8.6 m/s
and the wind speed ranges from 7.2 m/s to 9.9 m/s. The highest
where Vtank is the volume of the tank and ntank is the number of
wind speed occurred between September and December.
moles of gas in the tank.

Site energy demand

Case study
The energy demand for domestic use in rural areas mostly
depends on the size of the area, the level of lifestyle of the
Napier; a typical Overberg farming village with a charming
consumers and equipment available in the community. Often,
rural atmosphere, it is surrounded by rolling fields of wheat,
electricity is not used for basic needs such as cooking since the
oats, barley and canola e dotted with sheep and dairy cattle,
communities tend to prefer the use of wood. The electricity is
as well as the endangered blue crane a rural city in the
mainly used to supply the lights, radio, TV, iron, kettle and
Western Cape province of South Africa [63]. The village is
fan. The daily load curve depends on the social habit of the
located at 34 280 000 S latitude and 19 540 000 longitude [64,65].
consumers [70]. For an average rural household in Africa, the
Fig. 2 shows its map. It covers an area of 23,045 km2 with an
typical load curve has a peak in the morning and at mid-day,
estimated population of 4214 inhabitants in 2011 [66].
but the highest peak occurs in the evening when there is a
high probability that all the households' appliances are con-
Site resources
nected at the same time, and can last for more or less than an
hour [71]. Prinsloo et al. [72] gives a potential rural electrical
Solar resources
energy load profile for a single household (see Fig. 4). The
The solar resource for this location was obtained from NASA
profile includes the lighting, cooking as well as hot water
database [68] (See Fig. 3 (a)). The calculated annual average
demands.
solar global horizontal irradiance is 5.09 kWh/m2/day, while

Fig. 2 e Map of Napier, Western Cape of South Africa [67].

 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 9 5 3 5 e9 5 4 8 9541

(a) (b)
10 12

Average wind speed (m/s)

Daily Radiaon (kWh/m2/day)
8 10
8
6
6
4
4
2 2
0 0
Hour Month

January February March April January February March April

May June July August May June July August
September October November December September October November December

Fig. 3 e (a) Monthly solar Global Horizontal Irradiance and (b) monthly wind profile for Napier.

400

350

300

250
Load (kW)

200

150

100

50

0
Hour (h)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Fig. 4 e Load profile.

System modelling and simulation with HOMER constraints. In this case, the grid is used for extension purpose
in order to choose between an off-grid system and a grid
HOMER Pro software was used in this study to model the extension which will be the optimal and cost effective to
components of the hybrid configuration. The software is being consider. With HOMER, the optimisation process implies
successfully utilised around the world for simulation, opti- selecting optimal values for decision variables (PV, wind, fuel
misation and sensitivity analysis of renewable microgrid cells, converters, electrolyser and hydrogen tank sizes). The
systems. HOMER recommends the optimal design for the data used in the study are shown in Tables 1e3. The grid
chosen load, resources, economic data, system control fea- extension cost in Sub-Saharan Africa is approximated as US$
tures, constraints and sensitivity variables. The optimal 20,000 per km for 11 kV line [75], however, considering other
design considered is the system configuration with the lowest components and the inflation rate, this cost can reach up to
Net Present Cost (NPC). Homer Pro software proposes two US$ 25,000 per km. The costs of components are obtained
dispatch strategies; load-following (LF) and cycle-charging from Ref. [76] for PV panels, fuel cell and electrolyser, from
(CC) [73,74]. Under the load-following strategy, generators Ref. [77] for wind generator and converter and from Ref. [78]
produce enough power to meet the load requirement without for the hydrogen storage.
charging the energy storage device. Alternatively, for the The US Department of Energy through research and
cycle-charging, after serving the load, the surplus energy development in its Hydrogen and Fuel Program is targeting to
produces hydrogen and recharges the supercapacitor. bring the cost of hydrogen storage at least down to US$ 333 per
Fig. 5 shows the HOMER model of hybrid PV-wind with an kg of hydrogen by the year 2020 [79]. The ultimate target of this
integrated hydrogen generation; the system was designed by program is to cut that cost up to US$ 266 per kg of hydrogen.
choosing suitable components and applying various Sensitivity analysis of these costs is conducted in this study to
9542 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 9 5 3 5 e9 5 4 8

Table 3 e Grid extension input data.

Grid extension input data
Capital costs (US$/km) 20,000
O&M costs (US$ per year per km) 160
Grid energy price (US$/kWh) 0.544

Results and discussion

Hybrid optimisation results

Based on the input data in Tables 1e3, a simulation was car-
ried out with annual discount rate of 8%, inflation rate of 2%,
project lifespan of 25 years and capacity shortage fraction of
0%. The results for the optimised system with a scaled annual
average energy requirement of 1080.60 kWh per day at
370.08 kW of peak load have shown two cases.

Case A. The system configuration for the first case is illus-

Fig. 5 e HOMER model of hybrid PV-Wind with an
integrated hydrogen generation.
observe the impact of hydrogen costs on the overall off-grid
system and on the cost of energy.
The replacement cost for each component used in the
simulation is estimated by Ref. [77] to be 75% of the capital
cost of the component.
trated in Table 4. The energy analysis shows a combination of
1026 kW of PV, 497 kW of wind generators, 504 kW of a con-
verter, 300 kW of a fuel cell, 110 kW of electrolyser and 90 kg of
hydrogen storage. The Cost of Energy for this scenario is 21.02
US$/kWh, while the Net Present Cost is US$ 107 M (see Table
5). The cost summary including each component cost is
shown in Fig. 6, the fuel cell represents the most expensive
component in the system (see Table 5).
With regards to the electricity generation, the average is
shown in Table 6 and the contribution of each energy source is
such that 89.2% of the generation is provided by the wind
generator, whereas the PV and the fuel cell contribute 10.7%
and 0.0668% respectively. In normal operating conditions, the
wind and PV generators supply power to the load, any excess
is fed to the electrolyser to produce hydrogen. If the wind and

Table 1 e Search space input data.

Components PV-Fuel cell system search space input data
Sizing options Lifetime Other information
PV (kW) HOMER Optimizer 25 years Derating factor: 80%
Wind generator (kW) HOMER Optimizer 20 years Hub height: 29 m
FC (kW) 600, 700, 800, 900,1000 50,000 h Min load ratio:0%
Converter (kW) HOMER Optimizer 15 years Efficiency: 95%
Electrolyser (kW) 300, 400, 500, 600,700 15 years Efficiency: 85%
H2 tank (kg) 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000 25 years Relative tank size: 0%

Table 2 e Costs input data.

Components Costs input data.
Capital costs Replacement cost Operation and Maintenance costs
PV US$ 1000/1 kW US$ 750 US$ 55.00 per year
Wind generator US$ 19,350 per 10 kW US$ 14,512.50 US$ 500 per year
FC US$ 4000 per 1 kW US$ 3000 US$ 0.01 per hour per kW
Converter US$ 400 per 1 kW US$ 300 US$ 0.00 per year
Electrolyser US$ 1100 per 1 kW US$ 850 US$ 10 per year
H2 tank US$ 1000 per 1 kg US$ 750 US$ 0.00 per year
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 9 5 3 5 e9 5 4 8 9543

Table 4 e System architecture.

Component System Architecture Table 6 e Electricity generation.
Size Unit Electrical Summary
PV 1026 kW PV 2,550,748 kWh 10.7%
Wind generator 497 kW FC 15,888 kWh 0.0668%
FC 300 kW Wind generator 21,209,242 kWh 89,2%
Converter 504 kW Total 11,026,386 kWh 100%
Electrolyser 110 kW
H2 tank 90 kg
COE 21.02 US$ $ Case B. The details for this configuration are given in Table 7,
Dispatch strategy HOMER CC the system does not consider PV generators and combines
1146 kW of wind generators and 300 kW of a fuel cell, 292 kW
of converters, 110 kW of electrolyser and 150 kg of hydrogen
PV generators are unable to meet the load power re-
storage. The Cost of Energy is equal to 35.99 US$/kW which is
quirements, the fuel cell system converts the hydrogen to
costlier than that of the first configuration. The Cost Summary
electricity and supplies the extra power to meet the load
for the system components is shown in Fig. 8 and the system
power requirement.
Net Present Cost is US$ 183 M (see Table 8). The electricity
contribution of each energy source is such that 99.9% of the
 Comparison between an off-grid system and grid extension
generation is provided by the wind generator whereas the fuel
cell contributes for 0.0697% (see Table 9).
Fig. 7 shows the Total Net Present Cost of the off-grid
system as a function of the grid extension cost. The diagram
 Comparison between an off-grid hybrid and grid extension
shows that as the grid extension distance expands, the cost of
electricity for the off-grid system remains unchanged while
The breakeven distance for this scenario is slightly lesser
that of the grid extension increases thereby making it very
than that of the first case (see Fig. 9), for distances greater than
costly. For distances greater than the breakeven of 4728.02 km,
the breakeven of 8183.09 km, the grid extension becomes
the grid extension becomes more expensive than off-grid
more expensive than off-grid system.
system.

Table 5 e Net present cost.

NPC
Capital (US$) Operating cost (US$) Replacement cost (US$) Salvage (US$) Total (US$)
PV 1.03 M 729,155 0.00 0.00 1.75 M
Wind generator 9.62 M 3.21 M 2.30 M
1.30 M 13.8 M
FC 1.20 M 14,815 0.00
174,422 1.04 M
Converter 201,787 65,215 64,210
12,085 319,127
Electrolyser 121,000 14,220 38,503
7247 166,476
H2 tank 90.0 M 0.00 0.00 0.00 90.0 M
System 102 M 4.04 M 2.40 M
1.49 M 107 M

Cost summary case A (US$)

120,000,000.00

100,000,000.00
Converter
Electrolyser
80,000,000.00
FC
60,000,000.00 H2 tank
PV
40,000,000.00
Wind generator
System
20,000,000.00

0.00

Fig. 6 e Case A cost summary.

9544 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 9 5 3 5 e9 5 4 8

Fig. 7 e Net Present Cost of the off-grid system versus the grid extension.

Discussion renewable off-grid system would be economically feasible if

The breakeven distance between the renewable off-grid sys- the distance of rural area and the nearest grid is either more
tem and grid extension from the simulation results were than 4728 km or more than 8183.09 km Below these distances,
shown to be 4728.02 km and 8183.09 km for the first and sec- the cost of grid extension would be much lower than that of
ond case respectively. Therefore, the implementation of this the off-grid system with hydrogen generation. The
geographical analysis of the site investigated shows that most
of the power stations are located 200 km radius from Napier,
making the implementation of an off-grid system less feasible
than the grid extension.
Table 7 e System architecture.
Component System Architecture Sensitivity analysis on the hydrogen cost
Size Unit Homer sensitivity analysis operates in such way that when a
Wind generator 1146 kW sensitivity parameter is entered as input, the simulation for
FC 300 kW the optimal configuration is repeated for that parameter. The
Converter 292 kW parameters defined in this study are the cost of hydrogen
Electrolyser 110 kW storage; the impact of the current cost and projected cost of
H2 tank 150 Kg hydrogen storage in 2020 as targeted by the US Department
COE 35.99 US $
of Energy is investigated and presented in Table 10. Three
Dispatch strategy HOMER CC
hydrogen cost cases are considered namely the current cost

Cost summary case B (US$)

200,000,000.00
180,000,000.00
160,000,000.00
Converter
140,000,000.00
Electrolyser
120,000,000.00
FC
100,000,000.00
H2 tank
80,000,000.00
Wind generator
60,000,000.00
System
40,000,000.00
20,000,000.00
0.00

Fig. 8 e System cost summary.

 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 9 5 3 5 e9 5 4 8 9545

Table 8 e Net present cost.

Net Present Cost
Capital ($) Operating ($) Replacement ($) Salvage ($) Total ($)
Wind generator 22.2 M 7.41 M 5.30 M
2.99 M 31.9 M
FC 1.20 M 34,284 0.00
120,306 1.11 M
Converter 116,667 37,705 37,124
6987 184,509
Electrolyser 121,000 14,220 38,503
7247 166,476
H2 tank 150 M 0.00 0.00 0.00 150 M
System 174 M 7.49 M 5.38 M
3.12 M 183 M

Table 9 e Electricity production. Table 10 e Sensitivity analysis results.

Electrical Summary Sensitivity Case 1 Case 2 Case 3
FC (Fuel cell) 34,117 kWh 0.0697% H2 tank Capital Cost (US$) 1000 333 266
Wind generator 48,905,013 kWh 99.9% H2 tank (Hydrogen) 750 250 200
Total 48,939,131 kWh 100 Replacement Cost (US$)
Architecture
PV (kW) 1026 289 314
Wind generator (kW) 497 357 354
FC (kW) 300 300 300
(US$ 1000/kg), the projected cost in 2020 (US$ 333/kg) and the
Electrolyser (kW) 110 110 110
ultimate cost (US$ 266/kg). The result shows that the current
H2 tank (kg) 90 100 100
cost of hydrogen impacts substantially on the overall capital Converter (kW) 504 284 330
cost of renewable off-grid with an integrated hydrogen Dispatch strategy CC CC CC
generation as well as on the cost of energy which is still Cost
very high (US$ 21.02). In the second and the third case cases, COE (US$) 21.02 8.86 7.54
the cost of hydrogen storage is cut down to US$ 333/kg and NPC (US$) 107M 45.1M 38.4M
Operating cost (US$) 382,782 247,811 248,011
US$ 266/kg, this will considerably reduce the overall capital
Initial capital (US$) 102M 41.9M 35.2M
cost of the system as well as the cost of energy to US$ 8.86/ FC
kWh and US$ 7.54/kWh. Even though that cost is expected Production (kWh) 15,888 3958 18,797
to reduce in the next few years, implementing such an off- O&M cost (US$) 1146 1515 1497
grid system in rural areas is economically unfeasible PV
considering that most inhabitants living in these areas do not Capital cost (US$) 1,025,515 288,723 314,099
Production (US$) 2,550,748 718,137 781,255
have the necessary financial means to pay the electricity
Wind generator
bills, such renewable system will inflict more burdens to
Capital cost (US$) 9,616,950 9,616,950 6,849,900
them. Production (kWh) 21,209,242 15,234,808 15,106,784
O&M cost (US$) 248,500 178,500 177,000

Fig. 9 e Net Present Cost of the off-grid system versus the grid extension.
9546 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 9 5 3 5 e9 5 4 8
Conclusions
A comparative analysis between the implementation of an
off-grid system and the grid extension was carried out in this
study. Based on input data, the results obtained have shown
two possible optimal design configurations with the same
Cost of Energy. These results reveal that for distances greater
than the breakeven of 4728.02 km and 8183.09 for the first and
second configurations respectively, the grid extension is less
cost effective than an off-grid system. However, the
geographical analysis of the selected site shows that most of
the power stations are located 200 km radius from Napier,
making the implementation of an off-grid system less feasible
than the grid extension. In addition, considering the cost of
hydrogen storage, the implementation of renewable off-grid
systems with hydrogen generation in rural areas seems un-
feasible as the current cost of hydrogen is still very high and
most inhabitants living in these areas do not have the
necessary financial means to pay the electricity bills.
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