Optimal design of hybrid energy systems incorporating stochastic renewable resources fluctuations

The potential impacts of variability and intermittency in renewable resources on the design of stand-alone renewables-based energy systems incorporating storage are addressed at the design stage. The framework developed accounts for climate-based variability by considering different stochastically generated renewable input scenarios in the evaluation of system reliability. Operational constraints which control the availability and discharge of storage technologies based on previous storage states and technology start-up times are incorporated into the energy system model to account for the intermittent power output from renewables. A cost-reliability bi-criteria sizing problem is solved for two cases of a remote Canadian mine to demonstrate that intermittency in generation can influence technology choices, system configuration and system operation. Approximations to the non-dominated fronts are generated with NSGA-II, and the operating characteristics of the maximum-reliability designs generated in the cases are investigated. The methodology provides the decision maker with information about a number of operable designs and an understanding of the performance risks associated with the selection of any given design.