Optimal energy mix with renewable penetration for Masirah Island, Oman

ABSTRACTElectrical power generation in Oman depends mainly on natural gas, while in rural areas it is based mainly on diesel fuel. Oman has committed to net-zero emissions by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. The objective of this paper is to propose an optimal energy mix model for electricity generation from various energy sources, such as gas, diesel, wind, and photovoltaic, that considers more renewable sources in the energy mix. The optimization model minimizes various costs such as construction cost, operation cost, fuel cost, and carbon emissions, while satisfying the load demand. In this paper, Masirah Island is selected to perform our analysis. Several scenarios are contemplated, including grid extension to the island. The results found that gas-powered generators with 20% PV and storage are the best option in terms of the levelized cost of electricity. The grid extension is an economically feasible option if the existing load is more than doubled.KEYWORDS: OmanMasirah Islandrural areasrenewable sourcesenergy mixgrid extension Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Authors’ contributions Al Badi wrote the paper and did Homer AnalysisMalik wrote the optimization part and did the grid analysisBoth of them reviewed the paperAvailability of data and materialsThe datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.