Design of a hybrid power PV – Genset – Battery storage system for a remote off-grid application in Malaysia

Abstract: The thesis project presented in this report focuses on an analysis of the electrification prospects for a remote village in the Malaysian state of Sabah, where a micro grid is planned to be built. The main goal is to define the best sizing for a hybrid power plant to serve the micro grid, coupling a solar PV array with a storage system and a diesel genset. The first step of the study case consists of defining the energy needs of the village in order to draw its consumption curve and assume its evolution over time. Then a model of the hybrid power plant was built in Matlab and Simulink. It simulates the behavior of the power plant components – mainly the solar power plant, the storage system, the genset and the energy management system – and the interactions between these elements. The model is then used in order to run simulations according to four scenarios corresponding to four different power plant configurations: genset standalone power plant, genset & solar power plant, genset & solar & storage automatically operated, and genset & solar & storage manually operated. For each one of these scenarios, simulations were run and the optimal sizing and settings were defined according to different criteria related mainly to the fuel consumption, the genset penetration and the cost of electricity. The different scenarios and consequently the related hybrid plant configurations were compared according to the abovementioned criteria and an optimal design was selected, allowing the best trade-off between the cost of electricity and the genset penetration. This solution should guarantee a reliable and affordable access to electricity for this village over the assumed lifetime of ten years.