Techno-economic analysis of grid-integrated PV/wind and storage system for electricity reliability enhancement in the industrial sector in Niger Republic

The unreliability of electricity is a major challenge in many developing countries. In handling this problem, renewable energy resources must be integrated into the existing power grid. Niger, a developing country in West Africa, faces daily electricity shortages, which require the use of diesel generators to ensure operational continuity. However, such a solution poses economic and environmental challenges. This work analyzed the feasibility of integrating photovoltaic (PV)/wind power systems into existing unreliable grid/diesel generator systems to supply industrial critical loads of two selected industries, including ORIBA JUS and AGHAZARMADRAN in Niamey and Agadez regions, respectively. HOMER Pro software was utilized as an optimization tool to perform the techno-economic analysis of the grid-integrated PV/wind. The analysis considered various data, including critical load profile, yearly grid outage duration and frequency, and meteorological data. The most cost-effective system was compared with five different configurations, including grid/diesel (base case because it is the pre-existing system), grid/diesel/PV, grid/diesel/PV/battery, grid/diesel/PV/battery/wind, and grid/diesel/PV/wind, to select the optimal configuration for each region. The study found that the hybrid grid/diesel/PV/wind system is the most cost-effective of all the various configurations for ORIBA JUS in terms of the Net Present Cost (NPC) and Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE). This system has an NPC of $1,831,094.00 and an LCOE of 0.082 $/kWh, which is about $0.03 lower than the base case. Moreover, the LCOE of this configuration is $0.011 and $0.068 lower than the grid electricity price during the non-peak and peak demand periods, respectively. The lowest cost system for AGHAZARMADRAN in the Agadez region is grid/diesel/PV/wind, with an NPC of $206,927.60 and an LCOE of 0.055 $/kWh. The NPC of this system is 55 % lower than the grid/diesel system, while the LCOE is approximately $0.07 lower than the LCOE of grid/diesel, representing over 50 % reduction. Comparison to the grid price, shows that the LCOE of grid/diesel/PV/wind is $0.095 and $0.04 lower than the rate during the peak and the low demands, respectively, thus representing a reduction in LCOE of about 63 % and 41 % for peak and low-demand grid prices in that order. In addition, integrating renewable energy significantly reduced fuel consumption by 2474 l/year for ORIBA JUS and 1139.00 l/year for AGHAZARMADRAN, while the CO₂ emissions were reduced by 33 % for ORIBA JUS and 76 % for AGHAZARMADRAN. It was concluded that the integration of PV and wind systems into the present grid and diesel systems in Niger Republic, is economically and environmentally viable.