New Zealand's Antarctic research station, Scott Base, is currently 100% reliant on aviation turbine fuel and existing diesel generator sets to produce the heat and electricity necessary to sustain staff activities. Decreasing fuel consumption at Scott Base has benefits economically, politically and environmentally. A method of reducing fuel consumption and increasing base independence that is receiving considerable attention from Antarctica New Zealand is the addition of wind power to the existing energy system. A performance-objective design of a wind-diesel hybrid energy system for Scott Base is proposed in order to determine the most effective hybrid system configuration with the lowest cost within a set of system constraints. A demand side management technique is also evaluated as a measure to further increase potential fuel savings. Modelling is completed using the simulation tool HOMER and results are presented for several different system configurations.

Brochet is a remote, off-grid community located in Northern Manitoba, Canada. The existing diesel generating system is characterized by high economic and environmental costs. As the existing diesel generators are nearing the end of their operational lifespan, this study uses the HOMER model to determine an optimum electricity system design at Brochet that has high electrical reliability, least cost, and low emissions. Three potential power generation options were considered and evaluated, namely: 1) only diesel, 2) only wind, 3) a mix of both. The wind-diesel hybrid system performed best for all the evaluation criteria. While maintaining high reliability, this hybrid system design resulted in 19 % reduction in electricity cost, and 30 % reduction of CO2 when compared to the existing electricity system at Brochet. Thus, this study concludes that the wind-diesel hybrid system is the optimum electricity system design for Brochet and proposes this system replace the existing system.

Brochet is a remote, off-grid community located in Northern Manitoba, Canada. The existing diesel generating system is characterized by high economic and environmental costs. As the existing diesel generators are nearing the end of their operational lifespan, this study uses the HOMER model to determine an optimum electricity system design at Brochet that has high electrical reliability, least cost, and low emissions. Three potential power generation options were considered and evaluated, namely: 1) only diesel, 2) only wind, 3) a mix of both. The wind-diesel hybrid system performed best for all the evaluation criteria. While maintaining high reliability, this hybrid system design resulted in 19 % reduction in electricity cost, and 30 % reduction of CO2 when compared to the existing electricity system at Brochet. Thus, this study concludes that the wind-diesel hybrid system is the optimum electricity system design for Brochet and proposes this system replace the existing system.

Off-grid hybrid renewable energy systems are known as an attractive and sustainable solution for supplying clean electricity to autonomous consumers. Typically, this applies to the communities that are located in remote or islanded areas where it is not cost-effective to extend the grid facilities to these regions. In addition, the use of diesel generators for electricity supply in these remote locations are proven to be uneconomical due to the difficult terrain which translates into high fuel transportation costs. The use of renewable energy sources, coupling with the diesel generator allows for the diesel fuel to be offset. However, to date, a common design standard for the off-grid system has yet to be found and some challenges still exist while attempting to design a reliable system. These include the sizing of hybrid systems, coordination between the operation of dissimilar power generators and the fluctuating load demands, optimal utilisation of the renewable energy resources and identifying the underlying principles which reduce the reliability of the off-grid systems. In order to address these challenges, this research has first endeavoured into developing a sizing algorithm which particularly seeks the optimal size of the batteries and the diesel generator usage. The batteries and diesel generator function in filling the gap between the power generated from the renewable energy resources and the load demand. Thus, the load requirement is also an important factor in determining the cost-effectiveness of the overall system in the long run. A sensitivity analysis is carried out to provide a better understanding of the relationship between the assessed renewable energy resources, the load demand, the storage capacity and the diesel generator fuel usage. The thesis also presents the modelling, simulation and experimental work on the proposed hybrid wind-diesel-battery system. These are being implemented with a full-scale system and they are based on the off-the-shelf components. A novel algorithm to optimise the operation of a diesel generator is also proposed. The steady-state and dynamic analysis of the proposed system are presented, from both simulation and an experimental perspective. Three single-phase grid-forming inverters and a fixed speed wind turbine are used as a platform for case studies. The grid-forming inverters adopt droop control method which allows parallel operation of several grid-forming sources. Droop control-based inverters are known as independent and autonomous due to the elimination of intercommunication links among distributed converters. Moreover, the adopted fixed speed wind turbine employs a squirrel cage induction generator which is well known for its robustness, high reliability, simple operation and low maintenance. The results show a good correlation between the modelling, the experimental measurements, and the field tested results. The final stage of this research explores the effect of tower shadow on off-grid systems. Common tower designs for small wind turbine applications, which are the tubular and the lattice configurations, are considered in this work. They generate dissimilar tower shadow profiles due to the difference in structure. In this research, they are analytically modelled for a wind turbine which is being constructed as a downwind configuration. It is proven that tower shadow indeed brings negative consequence to the system, particularly its influence on battery lifetime within an off-grid system. This detrimental effect occurs when power generation closely matches the load demand. In this situation, small frequent charging and discharging cycles or the so called microcycles, take place. The battery lifetime reduction due to these microcycles has been quantified and it is proven that they are not negligible and should be taken into consideration while designing an off-grid hybrid system.

At present many remote and Island communities rely solely on diesel powered generators to provide electricity. Diesel fuel is both expensive and polluting and the constant speed operation of the diesel engine is inefficient. In this thesis the use of renewable energy sources to help offset diesel fuel usage and an alternative way of running the diesel generator with the aim of reducing electrical energy costs is investigated. Diesel generators have to be sized to meet peak demand, in one or two diesel generator island grids, these generators will be running at a fraction of maximum output for most of the time. A new variable speed diesel generator allows for a reduction in fuel consumption at part load compared to constant speed operation. Combining the variable speed diesel generator with renewable generation should maximise the diesel fuel offsetting of the renewable source due to the increased efficiency at low loads. The stability issues of maintaining transient performance in a renewable variable speed hybrid system have been modelled and simulated. A control strategy has been developed and the use of energy storage as a buffer for any remaining stability problems has been explored. The control strategy has then been experimentally tested along with one of the possible energy storage solutions. An economic feasibility study has been performed on a case study community to validate the main aim of this research of reducing the cost of electrical energy in diesel generator grids.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has an area of 1.69 million square kilometers. It is the biggest oil producers in the world, and the electricity industry relies heavily on oil. The annually growth request for electricity is around 5%. The price of electricity will be expensive in the next 30 years and there could be a shortage of electricity supply. It is better to use alternative forms of energy to prolong the life of the oil industry in Saudi Arabia. To reduce dependence on oil, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is considering using alternative sources of energy including solar energy and energy wind. Since the wind speed is around 10m/s and in the summer it is full of sunshine; therefore, the renewable energy should play a more important role in future electric power supply of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A hybrid system is proposed in this thesis to study the possible power supply system in the remote areas. Wind information in Dhahran is used in simulations in order to make sure that the system is reliable and appropriate to be used in the remote areas of the country. Economic analysis is also conducted to compare the cost of the hybrid system with that of a 200 km transmission line connected from existing service area.

Some communities in remote locations with high wind velocities and an unreliable utility supply, will typically install small diesel powered generators and wind generators to form a microgrid. Over the past few years, microgrid projects have been developed in many parts of the world, and commercial solutions have started to appear. Such systems face specific design issues, especially when the wind penetration is high enough to affect the operation of the diesel plant. The dynamic behavior of a medium penetration hybrid microgrid is investigated. It consists of a diesel generator set, a wind-generator and several loads. The diesel engine drives a 62.5 kVA synchronous generator with excitation control. The fixed-speed wind turbine drives a 60 kW cage rotor induction generator. The microgrid can be connected to the utility grid but can also run as an isolated system. The total load of the microgrid is about 100 kVA which varies during the day, and consists of static and dynamic loads, including an induction motor. The excitation controller and speed controller for the diesel’s synchronous generator are designed, as well as the power control of the wind turbine, and the controller for capacitor banks and dump load. The system is modeled and simulated using PSCAD. The study evaluates how the power generation is shared between the diesel generator set and the wind generator, the voltage regulation during load connections, and discusses the need of battery energy storage, the system ride- through-fault capability and frequency control, particularly at times when the utility is disconnected and the microgrid is run as an independent isolated power system. The results of several case studies are presented.

The aim of this thesis is to show how much fuel can be saved in a power system based in diesel generators with integrated wind turbine (WDPS – Wind Diesel Power System) when a storage system is integrated. Diesel generator is still the most used power system for remote locations where the conventional grid doesn’t reach and its integration with wind turbine is seen as a natural combination to reduce diesel consumption. However, the wind intermittency brings some challenges that might prevent the necessary diesel savings to the level that justifies the integration with wind turbine. The introduction of a storage system can leverage the wind energy that would otherwise be wasted and use it during periods of high demand.The thesis starts by describing the characteristics of energy storage systems (ESS) and introducing the major ESS technologies: Flywheel, Pumped Hydro, Compressed Air and the four main battery technologies, Lead Acid, Nickel-Based, Lithium-ion and Sodium-Sulphur. The aim of this step it to obtain and compile major ESS parameters to frame then into a chart that will be used as a comparison tool.In the next step, wind-diesel power systems are described and the concept of Wind Penetration is introduced. The ratio between the wind capacity and diesel capacity determines if the wind penetration is low, medium and high and this level has a direct relation to the WDPS complexity. This step also introduces important concepts pertaining to grid load and how they are affected by the wind penetration.Next step shows the development of models for low, medium and high penetration WDPS with and without integrated ESS. Simulations are executed based on these models in order to determine the diesel consumption for each of them. The simulations are done by using reMIND tool.The final step is a comparative study where the most appropriated ESS technology is chosen based on adequacy to the system, system size and location. Once the technology is chosen, the ESS economic viability is determine based on the diesel savings obtained in the previous step.Since this is a general demonstration, no specific data about wind variation and consumer demand was used. The wind variation, which is used as the input for the wind turbine (WT), was obtained from a typical Weibull Distribution which is the kind of distribution that most approximate a wind pattern for long term data collection. The wind variation over time was then randomly generated from this distribution. The consumer load variation is based on a typical residential load curves. Although the load curve was generated randomly, its shape was maintained in conformity with the typical curves.This thesis has demonstrated that ESS integrated to WDPS can actually bring a reasonable reduction in diesel utilization. Even with a wind pattern with a low mean speed (5.31 m/s), the savings obtained was around of 17%.Among all ESS technologies studied, only Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) showed to be a viable technology for a small capacity WDPS. Among the four BESS technologies studied, Lead-Acid presents the highest diesel savings with the lower initial investment and shorter payback time. / O objetivo dessa tese é determinar quanto combustível pode ser economizado quando se integra um sistema de armazenamento de energia (ESS na sigla em Inglês) a um sistema gerador baseado em gerador diesel integrado com turbina eólica (WDPS na sigla em Inglês). Geradores à diesel são largamente utilizados em áreas remotas onde a rede de distribuição de eletricidade não chega, e a integração de geradores à diesel com turbinas eólicas se tornou a combinação usual visando a economia de combustível. No entanto, a intermitência do vento cria alguns desafios que podem inclusive tornar essa integração inviável economicamente. A introdução de ESS à esse sistema visa o aproveitamento da energia que seria desperdiçada para usá-la em periodos de alta demanda.A tese começa descrevendo as características de ESS e suas principais tecnologias: Flyweel, hidroelétrica de bombeamento, ar-comprimido e as quatro principais tecnologias de bateria, Chumbo-Ácido, Níquel, Íon de Lítio e Sódio-Sulfúrico. O objetivo dessa etapa é obter os principais parâmetros de ESS e apresentá-los numa planilha para referência futura.Na etapa seguinte, geradores à diesel são descritos e é introduzido o conceito de Penetração do Vento. A razão entre a capacidade eólica e a capacidade do gerador diesel determina se a penetração é baixa, média ou alta, e esse nível tem uma relação direta com a complexidade do WDPS. Nessa etapa também são introduzidos importantes conceitos sobre demanda numa rede de distribuição de eletricidade e como esta é afetada pela penetração do vento.A etapa seguinte apresenta a modelagem de WDPS com baixa, média e alta penetração, incluindo a integração com ESS. Sobre esses modelos são então executadas simulações buscando determinar o consumo de diesel de cada um. As simulações são feitas usando a ferramenta reMIND.A última etapa é um estudo comparativo para determinar qual tecnologia de ESS é a mais apropriada para WDPS, levando-se em conta sua localização geográfica e capacidade. Uma vez que a escolha tenha sido feita, a viabilidade econômica do ESS é calculada baseado na ecomonia de combustível obtida na etepa anterior.Como esta tese apresenta uma demonstração, não foram utilizados dados reais de variação do vento nem de consumo. A variação do vento foi obtida de uma distribuição Weibull típica, que é a distribuição que mais se aproxima da característica do vento coletada em logo prazo. A variação do vento no tempo foi gerada aleatoriamente baseada nessa distribuição. A curva de consumo é baseada em curvas de consumo residenciais típicas. Embora a curva de consumo tenha sido gerada aleatoriamente, o seu formato foi mantido em conformidade com as curvas típicas.Essa tese demonstrou que ESS integrado à WDPS pode trazer uma economia razoável. Mesmo usando uma distribuição de vento com baixo valor médio (5.3 m/s), a economia obtida foi de 17%.Dentre as tecnologias de ESS pesquisadas, apenas o sistema de armazenamento com bateria (BESS na sigla em Inglês) se mostrou viável para um WDPS com pequena capacidade. Dentre as quatro tecnologias de BESS pesquisadas, Chumbo-Ácido foi a que apresentou a maior economia de diesel com o menor investimento inicial e com o menor tempo de retorno do investimento.

Thesis (MScEng (Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / The sustainability and economy of the current South African National Antarctic Expedition IV (SANAE IV) base diesel-electric power system are threatened by the current high fuel prices and the environmental pollution reduction obligations. This thesis presents the potential technical, environmental and economical challenges associated with the integration of small wind energy conversion system (WECS) with the current SANAE IV diesel fuelled power system. Criteria derived from technical, environmental and economic assessments are applied in the evaluation of eight commercially available wind turbines as to determine the most technically and economically feasible candidates. Results of the coastal Dronning Maud Land and the local Vesleskarvet cold climate assessments based on long term meteorological data and field data are presented. Field experiments were performed during the 2007-2008 austral summer. These results are applied in the generation of a wind energy resource map and in the derivation of technical wind turbine evaluation criteria. The SANAE IV energy system and the electrical grid assessments performed are based on long term fuel consumption records and 2008 logged data. Assessment results led to the identification of SANAE IV specific avoidable wind turbine grid integration issues. Furthermore, electro-technical criteria derived from these results are applied in the evaluation of the eight selected wind turbines. Conceptual wind turbine integration options and operation modes are also suggested. Wind turbine micro-siting incorporating Vesleskarvet specific climatological, environmental and technical related issues are performed. Issues focusing on wind turbine visual impact, air traffic interference and the spatial Vesleskarvet wind distribution are analysed. Three potential sites suited for the deployment of a single or, in the near future, a cluster of small wind turbines are specified. Economics of the current SANAE IV power system based on the South African economy (May 2008) are analysed. The life cycle economic impact associated with the integration of a small wind turbine with the current SANAE IV power system is quantified. Results of an economic sensitivity analysis are used to predict the performance of the proposed wind-diesel power systems. All wind turbines initially considered will recover their investment costs within 20 years and will yield desirable saving as a result of diesel fuel savings, once integrated with the SANAE IV diesel fuelled power system. Finally, results of the technical and economical evaluation of the selected commercially available wind turbines indicated that the Proven 6 kWrated, Bergey 10 kWrated and Fortis 10 kWrated wind turbines are the most robust and will yield feasible savings.

Les générateurs diesels sont la principale source d'énergie électrique qui alimente la plupart des régions éloignées et isolées dans le monde. Malheureusement, ces moteurs posent encore d'énormes défis techniques, financiers et environnementaux. Toutefois, la combinaison de ces générateurs avec des sources renouvelables comme l'énergie éolienne dans un système éolien-diesel hybride (WDS) pourrait réduire ces déficits en réduisant la consommation de combustibles fossiles et de la durée de fonctionnement des moteurs diesels et en réduisant le coût de l'exploitation et les émissions nocives. L’intermittence de l'énergie éolienne et sa dissipation pendant les périodes venteuses exigent un système de stockage d'énergie. Dans cette thèse, un nouveau système hybride éolien-diesel avec compression d'air adiabatique et stockage à pression constante (ACP-WDCAS) a été proposé. Ce système combine les technologies de stockage d'énergie hydropneumatiques et les systèmes de stockage de l'énergie sous forme d’air comprimé avec le système éolien-diesel. L'objectif de ce système est d'optimiser les performances des moteurs diesel et de réduire la consommation de carburant sans apporter de modifications majeures à l'architecture de ces moteurs dans les sites isolés. Une simulation numérique, une modélisation mathématique et une analyse des évolutions possibles du système seront de ce fait étudiés. / Diesel generators are the main source of electrical energy that supply most of the remote isolated areas in the world. Unfortunately, these motors still pose enormous technical, financial and environmental challenges. Therefore, the combination of these generators with renewable sources like wind energy in a wind-diesel hybrid system (WDS) could reduce these deficits by reducing the fossil fuel consumption and the operating time of diesel engines and by shortening the operation cost and environmental harm. And because the intermittency of wind energy and its dissipation during windy periods require an energy storage system. In this thesis, a new wind-diesel hybrid system with adiabatic air compression and storage at constant pressure (ACP-WDCAS) was proposed. This concept combine compressed air and hydro pneumatic energy storage technologies with wind-diesel system. The objective of this system is to optimize the performance of diesel engines, and minimize fuel consumption without making major changes to the architecture of these engines in remote sites. A numerical simulation, a mathematical modeling and an analysis of the possible evolutions of the system are studied.