INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH

Int. J. Energy Res. (2012)

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/er.2930

TECHNICAL NOTE

Impact of battery storage on economics of hybrid

wind-diesel power systems in commercial applications
in hot regions
S. M. Shaahid*,
Center for Engineering Research, Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT
Integration of wind machines and battery storage with the diesel plants is pursued widely to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
The aim of this study is to assess the impact of battery storage on the economics of hybrid wind-diesel power systems in
commercial applications by analyzing wind-speed data of Dhahran, East-Coast, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (K.S.A.). The annual
load of a typical commercial building is 620,000 kWh. The monthly average wind speeds range from 3.3 to 5.6 m/s. The hybrid
systems simulated consist of different combinations of 100-kW commercial wind machines (CWMs) supplemented with
battery storage and diesel generators. National Renewable Energy Laboratorys (NRELs) (HOMER Energys) Hybrid
Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER) software has been employed to perform the economic analysis.
The simulation results indicate that for a hybrid system comprising of 100-kW wind capacity together with 175-kW
diesel system and a battery storage of 4 h of autonomy (i.e. 4 h of average load), the wind penetration (at 37-m hub height,
with 0% annual capacity shortage) is 25%. The cost of generating energy (COE, $/kWh) from this hybrid windbattery
diesel system has been found to be 0.139 $/kWh (assuming diesel fuel price of 0.1$/L). The investigation examines the
effect of wind/battery penetration on: COE, operational hours of diesel gensets. Emphasis has also been placed on un-met load,
excess electricity, fuel savings and reduction in carbon emissions (for winddiesel without battery storage, winddiesel with
storage, as compared to diesel-only situation), cost of windbatterydiesel systems, COE of different hybrid systems, etc.
The study addresses benets of incorporation of short-term battery storage (in winddiesel systems) in terms of fuel savings,
diesel operation time, carbon emissions, and excess energy. The percentage fuel savings by using above hybrid system is
27% as compared to diesel-only situation. Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
KEY WORDS
hybrid winddieselbattery systems; commercial loads; diesel generators; carbon emissions
Correspondence
*S. M. Shaahid, Center for Engineering Research, Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261,
Saudi Arabia.

E-mail: mshaahid@kfupm.edu.sa
Received 18 April 2012; Accepted 18 April 2012

1. INTRODUCTION
Energy is fundamental to the quality of life on the earth. It
is a key ingredient in all sectors of modern economies.
The world is highly dependent on an abundant and
uninterrupted supply of energy for living and working.
Meeting the growing demand for energy sustainably is
one of the major challenges of the 21st century. By 2050,
the worlds population is set to increase from 6.6 billion
currently to more than nine billion. Energy use during this
period is set to double. Also, consumption of energy
resources by humans adds substantially to CO2 emissions
that contribute to climate change. Urgently arresting
climate change is in the interests of all nations. Transition
to a low carbon economy is therefore a global aim that
Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

envelops every single nation. In this perspective, renewable

energy (such as wind or solar) holds the key to future
prosperity and a healthy global environment and is considered
as a promising way to solve the problems of energy
and environmental pollution. Wind is developing into a
mainstream power source in several countries and is playing
an important role in meeting the energy challenges that the
world is facing today. Literature indicates that wind energy
(being freely accessible, in-exhaustible, site-dependent,
environment-friendly, non-polluting/benign) is being vigorously
pursued by a number of developed and developing
countries with average wind speeds in the range of 410 m/s,
in an effort to reduce their dependence on fossil-based nonrenewable fuels [17]. Cumulative global wind energy capacity
reached about 159,213 MW as of 2009. The price of

S. M. Shaahid

Battery storage, hybrid wind-diesel power systems, commercial loads

generating energy using wind energy conversion systems

(WECS) has dropped dramatically over the last decade, and
currently it is in the range of 4 to 5 cents per kWh. The technology of the wind machines has improved remarkably over the
last ve years. WECS in the range of 3.2 MW are commercially
available. The rate of increase in installed capacity
during the last 10 years is in the range of 2530% per annum
[8]. Typical wind power applications include (but not limited
to) lighting, electical appliances, military installations,
communication/gas stations, electricity for remote settlements
(which are far from utility grid), water pumping for irrigation,
cathodic protection of oil pipe lines, etc.
Stand-alone WECS are not economically competitive
because of their intermittent nature (associated with high
cut-in speeds) and because they require large storage to
meet the load. Stand-alone diesel systems contribute in
atmospheric pollution. The diesel generator efciency
drops when it operates at less than 40% of full load, its
lifespan shortens, and frequency of maintenance increases
[9,10]. More often, it is difcult to achieve realizable
electricity cost savings with respect to the diesel-alone
situations (due to high O & M + fuel costs associated with
diesel gensets) in a long term. However, integration of
wind with diesel mini-grids has several advantages. It
reduces pollution, may reduce the COE ($/kWh) in a
long-run, and provides the reliability of the diesel system
as well as the cost effectiveness of the wind-generated
energy. Introduction of WECS into the diesel grid leads
to an appreciable reduction in the diesel consumption.
Incorporation of short-term battery storage (in winddiesel
systems) further improves performance of winddiesel
systems and yields potential benets in terms of fuel savings,
diesel operation time, carbon emissions, and excess energy
generation relative to no-storage systems. The importance
of battery storage in renewable energy systems is undisputed.
A hybrid winddieselbattery-driven power system is a
viable/cost-effective technology for electric supply. Many
projects deployed around the world use hybrid winddiesel
system system although it requires a sophisticated control
system [1126]. Literature indicates that winddieselbattery
technology is ready for wide spread deployment and to
complement existing diesel plants.
The demand for electrical power in K.S.A. is increasing
at a fast rate. This demand is driven by high population
growth and a large number of industrial projects. The
installed generating capacity of the power plants reached
45,000 MW and with a peak load of 41,000 MW in 2009
[27]. The demand for electricity is expected to reach about
55,000 MW by 2020. This increase can be attributed to
rapid growth in residential, commercial, and industrial
sectors. Since, K.S.A.s wind regime is reasonable, an
appreciable fraction of its energy needs may be harnessed
from wind energy. Moreover, use of alternative sources of
energy reduces (greenhouse gases) CO2 emmision which is
the principal cause of global warming. Literature indicates
that addition of 1.5 MW WECS, capable of producing
about 4 million kWh of energy/year, would eliminate
5.6 million tons of CO2 [28,29]. Also, investments in
Int. J. Energy Res. (2012) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er

mobilization of wind power can stimulate the local economy

(in a long run) by making use of available local indigenous/
indispensable wind resources [4].
The research on feasibility of renewable energy systems
at Dhahran (26 32 N, 50 13 E) has been the subject
matter of several studies [3033]. An earlier work on
hybrid winddieselbattery systems was a basic study,
and attention was not focused on techno-economics (such
as: COE, un-met load, hub height, excess energy, carbon
emissions, fuel savings, cost of hybrid systems, etc). Also,
the previous study considered small wind machines [33].
In the present work, wind-speed data (of the year 1997)
of Dhahran has been analyzed to assess the impact of
battery storage on economics of hybrid winddiesel power
systems while meeting the load requirements of a typical
commercial building (with annual electrical energy load
of 620,000 kWh). Load inuences the power system
design markedly. Literature indicates that commercial/
residential buildings in the K.S.A. consume an estimated
1040% of the total electric energy generated. The
hybrid systems simulated consist of different combinations
of 100-kW CWMs supplemented with battery storage and
diesel gensets. Specically, the merit of hybrid winddiesel
battery system has been evaluated in a broad sense with
regards to its size, operational requirements, cost, etc. The
interaction between wind, battery, and diesel components of
the hybrid system plays a crucial role on the economics of
the system. NRELs and HOMER Energys HOMER
software has been utilized to carry out the economic analysis
of hybrid winddieselbattery power systems. HOMER is a
sophisticated tool or computer model that facilitates design
of stand-alone electric power systems [34]. Additionally, the
investigation places emphasis on the effect of wind/battery
penetration on: energy production, COE, operational hours
of diesel gensets for a given hybrid system. Emphasis has also
been placed on un-met load, excess electricity generation,
percentage fuel savings and reduction in carbon emissions
(for different scenarios such as: winddiesel without storage,
winddiesel with storage, as compared to diesel-only
situation), cost break-down of winddieselbattery systems,
COE of different hybrid systems, etc. The techno-economic
ndings of the present work complement the earlier study on
hybrid winddiesel systems [33].

2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Climatic conditions dictate the availibility of wind energy
at a site. Dhahran is located just north of the Tropic of
Cancer on the eastern coastal plain of Saudi Arabia and
is nearly 10 km inland from the Arabian Gulf Coast.
Although it is in the vicinity of the coast, it is situated in
very much a desert environment. Two distinct seasons
are noticed in this region: a very hot season (May to
October) and a cold season (November to April). Monthly
mean temperatures reach close to 37 C for hot months, and
in cooler months, the mean temperatures drop by about
20 C as compared to the hot months. The relative humidity

S. M. Shaahid

Battery storage, hybrid wind-diesel power systems, commercial loads

3. WIND DATA AND MODE OF

OPERATION OF HYBRID SYSTEM

Wind speed (m/s)

The monthly average wind speeds for Dhahran of the year

1997 are presented in Figure 1. Wind speeds are higher in
summer months (May to Aug.) as compared to other months.
This indicates that a WECS would produce appreciably more
energy during summer months as compared to the other
months (this is a welcome/favorable characteristic because
the load is high in summer in this part of the world). The
monthly behavior of wind speed matches the higher electrical
load requirements during summer period. The data also
indicates that there is noticeable variation of monthly
average wind speed from one month to another month. These
variations indicate that the monthly energy output from
WECS would be subjected to considerable differences. An
earlier study on WECSs at Dhahran has analyzed long-term
(19861997) wind-speed data [37]. In the present study,
wind-speed data of the year 1997 has been considered as a
representative year for assessing the performance of hybrid
winddieselbattery systems using HOMER software. The
monthly average wind speeds during 1997 have been found
to range from 3.3 to 5.6 m/s. The yearly average wind speed
of 1997 is 4.31 m/s at 10 m height. The monthly average
wind speeds corresponding to the year 1997 at different
hub heights (by using 1/7th power law) are presented in
Figure 2. Wind is faster, less turbulent, and yields more
energy at 30 m or more heights above the ground. With
increase in height from 10 m to 50 m, the wind speed
increases by about 26%. The raw daily wind-speed data of
the year 1997 is shown in Figure 3. The cumulative frequency
distribution of wind speed is illustrated in Figure 4. The calculations of wind energy (in HOMER) are made by matching
the power wind-speed characteristics of CWMs with the

hub-height wind-speed data. The cut-in speed, rated speed,

and cut-out speed of the 100-kW CWMs (considered in the
study) are 3.0 m/s, 15.0 m/s, and 25.0 m/s, respectively. The
technical and performance characteristics of diesel generators
assumed in the study are tabulated in Table I. The power
curve of the 100-kW wind machine is shown in Figure 5.
Todays best wind machines can achieve an overall efciency
of about 35% [3840]. However, it may be mentioned that
further technological milestones may change the scenario.
In general, the cut-in wind speed (speed at which wind
machine starts producing useable energy) of most of the
CWMs ranges from 3 to 4 m/s [30]. The wind duration
analysis indicates that the wind speeds are less than 3 m/s
for about 40% (at 10-m height) of the time during the year
as shown in Figure 4. This implies that a stand-alone
WECS (if installed at Dhahran) will not produce any
energy for about 40% of the time (during the year) and
hence cannot meet the required load distribution on a
continuous basis. In this regard (to cope up with the down
time of WECS), integration of WECS with diesel systems
can meet the required load distribution on a 24-h basis.
The dispatch strategy of the hybrid system (is load
following type) is as follows: in normal operation, WECS
feeds the load demand. The excess energy (the energy
above the average hourly demand; if any) from the WECS
is stored in the battery until full capacity of the storage
system is reached. The main purpose of introducing battery
storage is to import or export energy depending upon the
situation. In the event, that the output from WECS exceeds
the load demand and the batterys state of charge is
maximum, then the excess energy is fed to some dump
load or goes un-used (due to lack of demand). A diesel
system is brought online at times when WECS fails to
satisfy the load and when the battery storage is depleted
(i.e. when the batterys state of charge is minimum).

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

An important driving element of any power generating
system is load. Load has substantial impact on system

2500

2000

4
1500
3

Wind speed

1000

Electrical Load

2
500

0
J

Monthly avg. daily electrical load (kWh)

exhibits a large diurnal cycle on the order of 60% round the

year. Typical long-term annual mean precipitation is about
80 mm. The winds blow from 270 to 360 direction range
(north to north-westerly winds) for most of the time during
the year [35,36].

Month
Figure 1. Monthly average wind speed and monthly average daily commercial load.

Int. J. Energy Res. (2012) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er

S. M. Shaahid

Battery storage, hybrid wind-diesel power systems, commercial loads

8
10 m

Wind speed (m/s)

30 m

40 m
5

50 m

60 m

3
2
1
0
J

Month
Figure 2. Monthly average wind speed at different hub heights.

Figure 3. Daily wind-speed data for one complete year.

Figure 4. Cumulative frequency distribution of wind speed.

Int. J. Energy Res. (2012) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er

S. M. Shaahid

Battery storage, hybrid wind-diesel power systems, commercial loads

Table I. Technical data and study assumptions of diesel units

and batteries.
Description

Data

Diesel generator units:

120 kW

Rated power of diesel unit 1 [D1]

Minimum allowed power
(min. load ratio)
No load fuel consumption
Full load fuel consumption
Rated power of diesel unit 2 [D2]
Minimum allowed power
(min. load ratio)
No load fuel consumption
Full load fuel consumption

30% of rated power

39.6 L/h
10.09 L/h
55 kW
30% of rated power
18.15 L/h
4.63 L/h

Batteries:
Type of batteries
Nominal voltage (V)
Nominal capacity
State of charge (SOC)
Nominal energy capacity of each
battery (V*Ah/1000)
Capital cost
Operation and maintenance cost

Surette 6CS25P
6V
1156 Ah
40%
6.94 kWh
1200 $
50 $/year
Multiple diesel load
following

Dispatch/Operating strategy:
Spinning reserve:

10% of the load

Additional online diesel capacity
(to shield against increases in the load or
decreases in the wind power output)

design. The present work focuses attention on commercial

loads. As a case study and as a representation of commercial
buildings, the measured annual average electric energy
consumption of a typical air-conditioned supermarket
(located in Dhahran, oor area = 945 sq.m) has been
considered as yearly load (620,000 kWh) in the present
study [41]. This load could also be a representation of
many remotely located commercial buildings which lack
access to the utility grid (even today, there are many

communities living or dwelling in small pockets in remote

locations of K.S.A.). The K.S.A.s area is large, with large
number of settlements (far from electric grids) scattered all
over the Kingdom. The supply of electricity to these
remote villages through diesel generators alone or by
connecting into the nearest grid could be an expensive
option. The retrotting of wind turbines and batteries along
with the diesel systems may result in reduced fuel transport/
storage/consumption, lower diesel emissions, fewer diesel
spills, and possibly longer engine life. As illustrated in this
Figure 1, the load seems to peak during June to September.
The peak requirements of the load dictate the system size.
In the present study, the selection and sizing of components of hybrid power system have been done using
NRELs (HOMER Energys) HOMER software. HOMER
is a hybrid system design software that facilitates design of
electric power systems for stand-alone applications. Input
information to be provided to HOMER include: electrical
load data, renewable resources data (wind-speed data),
component technical details/costs, constraints, controls,
type of dispatch strategy, etc. HOMER designs an optimal
power system to serve the desired loads. HOMER is an
simplied optimization model/code, which performs
hundreds or thousands of hourly simulations over and over
(to ensure best possible matching between supply and
demand) in order to design the optimum system. It uses life
cycle cost to rank order these systems. It offers a powerful
user interface and accurate sizing with detailed analysis of
the system. The software also performs automatic sensitivity analysis to account for the sensitivity of the hybrid
system design to key parameters, such as the resource
availability or component costs [34].
The hybrid systems simulated consist of different
combinations of 100-kW wind machines (clustered into
wind farms of different capacities) supplemented with
battery bank and diesel generators. The study explores a
suitable mix of inter-dependent key parameters such as:
wind farm capacity (kW), battery storage (hours of autonomy, kWh), and diesel capacity to match the pre-dened
load (with 0% capacity shortage). As a rule of thumb,

120

Wind power (kW)

100
80
60
40

100 kW WECS

20
0
0

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Wind speed (m/s)

Figure 5. Power curve of commercial 100-kW wind machine.

Int. J. Energy Res. (2012) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er

Int. J. Energy Res. (2012) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er

0.087
0.121
0.128
0.131
0.135
0.139
0.144
0.148
228,024
186,431
170,188
167,168
165,971
165,227
164,552
164,255
164.5
134.5
122.8
120.6
119.8
119.2
118.7
118.5
0
4
3
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
25
25
25
25
25
25
25
2534
3268
4341
4197
4118
4081
4090
4092
6801
5749
4094
3978
3940
3912
3864
3847
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6

Un-met
load (kWh)
D2 (55 kW)
D1 (120 kW)
Hybrid system (kW)

0 kW WECS + 175 kW Diesel

100 kW WECS + 175 kW Diesel

Annual Diesel
fuel
consumption
L/year
Carbon
emissions
(tons/year)
Excess
energy
(%)
Operational hours of different diesel generators

Renewable Energy
(wind) Fraction
(% of load)
Battery storage
capacity (hours of
hourly demand)

diesel generators are generally sized to meet the peak

demand of the power. The peak demand in the present case
study is 159 kW. In this regard, two diesel generator sets
with a combined power of 175 kW (to cover peak load
and to cover spinning/operating reserve of about 10% to
overcome rapid changes in load) have been considered
for carrying out the technical and economic analysis of
the hybrid systems. The capacities of the two diesel gensets
(D1, D2) are 120 kW and 55 kW, respectively. The
spinning reserve is the surplus electrical generation capacity
(over and above that required to cover the load) that is
instantly available to cover additional loads. It provides a
safety margin that helps ensure reliable electricity supply
even if the load were to suddenly increase or the renewable
power output were to suddenly decrease.
Several simulations were made by considering different
combinations of wind farm capacities. The number of
geogorapically separated wind turbines (100 kW) has been
allowed to vary from 0 to 6. The battery storage sizes
(kWh) considered are 0 to 6 load-hours or autonomy
(equivalent to 0 to 6 h of average load, i.e. equivalent to
0 to 102 Surette batteries with details as mentioned in
Table II). The study assumptions made for making simulations on HOMER are furnished in Table II. As a starting
point, simulations have been performed for wind-diesel
systems with no storage. The simulation results of
HOMER (based on diesel price of 0.1$/L) for hub height
(37 m) of NW100 WECS + diesel systems are shown in
Figure 6. In this gure, rst column shows the presence
of wind turbines in a given hybrid system, second-third
column indicates the presence of diesel units, fourth
column highlights number of 100-kW wind turbines
considered in a particular case, ninth column shows COE
($/kWh) of 1 kWh of energy, etc. It can be noticed from
the results (Figure 6) that in general, the wind penetration
(Renewable energy fraction, column 10) has varied from
0 to 78%. In an isolated system, renewable energy contribution of 78% is considered to be high. Such a system
might be very difcult to control while maintaining a
stable voltage/frequency. The level of wind penetration in
hybrid winddiesel systems (deployed around the world)
is generally in the range of 11 to 25% [42]. A trade-off
needs to be established between different feasible options.
To consolidate, the COE from a hybrid winddiesel system
(100 kW wind capacity together with 175-kW diesel
system, 37-m hub height, for given wind-regime/load data
of 1997, 0% annual capacity shortage) with 25% wind
penetration has been found to be 0.121 US$/kWh as shown
in Figure 6. It can be depicted from Figure 8 that COE
increases with increase in penetration of wind.
It is also evident from Figure 6 that as penetration of
wind increases, the diesel engine operation time decreases
(which eventually reduces emission of green house gases
in the atmosphere). It is worth mentioning that for dieselonly situation, the operational hours of the two diesel units
are 6801 and 2534, respectively. However, for winddiesel
hybrid system (100-kW wind machine, 175-kW diesel
system, for a given hub height of 37 m, 0% annual capacity

Cost of
energy
(COE)
$/kWh

Battery storage, hybrid wind-diesel power systems, commercial loads

Table II. Number of operational hours of diesel generators, wind penetration, un-met load, excess energy, annual diesel fuel consumption, cost of energy of hybrid winddieselbattery systems
(for given wind/diesel capacity, for different sizes of battery storage capacity, based on diesel price of 0.1US$/L).

S. M. Shaahid

S. M. Shaahid

Battery storage, hybrid wind-diesel power systems, commercial loads

Figure 6. Technical and economic parameters of wind-diesel systems (at 37 m hub height).

shortage, as shown in Figure 6), the operational hours of

the two diesel units are 5731 and 3298, respectively. This
clearly reects that operational hours of the bigger diesel
generator (D1, 120 kW) of hybrid winddiesel (25% wind
penetration) system decrease by 16% as compared to
diesel-only (zero % wind energy) situation. This indicates
that with introduction of wind machines, load on the rst
diesel generator has decreased substantially.
For a given hub height of 37 m and for a given conguration with wind farm capacity of 100 kW (together with
175-kW diesel system), the un-met load has been found
to be zero kWh, capacity shortage has been found to be
zero kWh/year, and excess energy generated has been
found to be about 4%. It should be mentioned over here
that this excess energy produced goes un-used due to lack
of demand (there are ways and means to utilize excess
energy, sometimes it is fed to some dump load). One of
the options to reduce excess energy is by incorporation of
a small battery storage. It has been observed from simulations that monthly average winddiesel generated power is
high during summer months (MayAug.) as compared to
other months. This is a favorable characteristic because
the load is higher during summer months. HOMER hybrid
model indicates that the total initial capital cost of the
hybrid system (100 kW wind machine, 175 kW diesel
system, 37 m hub height) is US$ 296,000 while the Net
Present Cost (NPC) is US$ 1,161,702 Also, HOMER
simulations show that the intial capital cost of WECS is
about 76% of the total initial capital cost. This highlights

that cost of wind turbines in hybrid system is predominant.

However, operation and maintenance cost of WECS is just
about 12% of the total O & M + fuel cost, whereas the O &
M + fuel cost of the diesel system is about 88%.
The percentage of fuel savings by using hybrid system
(100-kW wind machine, 175-kW diesel system, for 37-m
hub height) as compared to the diesel only case is about
18% as shown in Figure 6. Moreover, percentage fuel
savings increase by increasing the wind farm capacity.
The diesel fuel savings may only be quantiable by means
of justifying the additional capital expenditure invested in
WECS. It has also been observed that the carbon emissions
for diesel-only situation are 165 tons/year. However, with
winddiesel hybrid system (175-kW diesel, 100-kW
WECS, 37-m hub height) the carbon emissions are 135
tons/year. This reects that the percentage decrease in
carbon emissions with 25% wind penetration is about
18% as compared to diesel-only case. The effect of wind
penetration on operational hours of diesel generators,
diesel fuel consumption, carbon emissions, COE, excess
energy is demonstrated more explicitly in Figures 79.
More importantly, simulations have been made to
assess the impact of battery storage on economics of
hybrid winddiesel systems (in commercial applications
in hot regions) and to explore the benets of incorporation
of short-term storage (in winddiesel systems) in terms of
fuel savings, total diesel run time, and excess energy
generation relative to no-storage systems. In order to assess
the impact of battery storage on a given hybrid system

8000

Hours of operation

7000
6000
5000
4000
DG1
DG2

3000
2000
1000
0
0

25

45

67

78

Wind penetration (%)

Figure 7. Impact of wind penetration on diesel engine operation time.

Int. J. Energy Res. (2012) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er

S. M. Shaahid

Battery storage, hybrid wind-diesel power systems, commercial loads

180
160
200000

140
120

150000

100
80

100000

60
Diesel fuel consumption

50000

Carbon emissions

40

Carbon emissions
(Tons/year)

Diesel fuel consumption

(liters/year)

250000

20
0
0

26

44

56

0
65

Wind penetration (%)

0.35

60

0.3

50

0.25

40

0.2
30
0.15
20

0.1

Cost of energy (US$/kWh)

Excess energy (%)

0.05

Excess energy (%)

Cost of energy (COE,

US$/kW)

Figure 8. Impact of wind penetration on diesel fuel consumption and carbon emissions (for 37-m hub height).

10
0

0
0

26

44
Wind penetration (%)

56

65

Figure 9. Impact of wind penetration on COE and excess energy generated (at 37-m hub height).

(100-kW WECS, 175-kW diesel, 25% wind penetration,

37-m hub height), battery storage capacity was varied from
0 to 6 load-hours or autonomy (equivalent to 0 to 6 h of
average load). The results of the above simulations are
presented in Table II which demonstrates the effect of battery
storage on: operational hours of diesel units, diesel fuel
consumption, excess energy generation, carbon emissions,
COE, etc. The COE from the above hybrid winddiesel
battery system (25% wind penetration) with 4 h of autonomy
(4 h of average load) or battery storage has been found to be
0.139 $/kWh (assuming diesel fuel price of 0.1$/L). As
mentioned above, percentage fuel savings by using hybrid
winddiesel system (100-kW WECS, 175-kW diesel system,
no-storage) is 18% as compared to diesel-only situation.
Expectedly, the presence of battery further enhances the
fuel-saving potential. The percentage fuel savings for the
same wind penetration is 27% (about 9% extra relative to
wind-diesel system) with inclusion of 4 h of battery storage
(Table II). Further increase in storage results in only little
economic benets because of high cost of batteries (i.e. fuel
saving is not much for battery storage greater than 4 h of
average load). Broadly speaking, maximum benets of
storage (in the present case) can be realized for a battery
capacity of 4 h of autonomy (average load). As stated earlier,
the percentage decrease in carbon emissions by using hybrid
system (100-kW WECS, 175-kW diesel system, no-storage,
Int. J. Energy Res. (2012) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er

25% wind penetration) as compared to the diesel only

scenario is 18%. However, the percentage decrease in
carbon emissions for the same wind penetration is 28% (as
compared to diesel-only case) with inclusion of 4 h of battery
storage. This implies that with use of the above hybrid
winddieselbattery system, about 46 tons per year of
carbon emissions can be avoided entering into the local
atmosphere. It can be noticed (from Table II) that the COE
increases with increase in size of battery storage. Also, the
number of operational hours (diesel run time) of the diesel
units in winddiesel system further decreases with inclusion
of battery storage (Table II). For example, for the above
hybrid winddiesel (100-kW WECS, 175-kW diesel system,
25% wind penetration, no-storage) system, the operational
hours of the bigger diesel unit decreases by 16% as compared
to diesel-only situation. However, (for the same conguration) with inclusion of 4 h of battery, the operational hours of
the bigger (120 kW), diesel generator of hybrid winddiesel
(with storage) decreases by 43% as compared to diesel-only
situation. Also, for this conguration, the un-met load is
zero kWh. In addition to the above benets, the presence
of short-term storage also results in decrease in excess
energy. The excess energy is 4% (Table II) for hybrid
winddiesel (100-kW WECS, 175-kW diesel system, 25%
wind penetration, no-storage) system. However, (for the
same conguration) with inclusion of 4 h of battery, the

Battery storage, hybrid wind-diesel power systems, commercial loads

excess energy is 1% for hybrid winddieselbattery

scenario. For a given level of wind, the the economy of the
hybrid winddieselbattery systems is better with lower the
excess energy.

5. CONCLUSIONS
The study indicates that for a hybrid system comprising of
100-kW wind capacity together with 175-kW diesel system
(D1:120 kW, D2: 55 kW) and a battery storage of 4 h of
autonomy (equivalent to 4 h of average load), the wind
penetration (at 37-m hub height, with 0% annual capacity
shortage) is 25%. The COE from this hybrid winddiesel
battery system has been found to be 0.139 $/kWh (assuming
diesel fuel price of 0.1$/L). The total net present cost of the
above hybrid system has been found to be US$ 1,161,702.
Also, for this conguration, the un-met load is zero kWh.
The study exhibits that for a given hybrid conguration,
the number of operational hours of diesel generators
decreases with increase in wind farm capacity. It has been
found that for a given wind-diesel hybrid system, the
decrease in diesel run time is further enhanced by inclusion
of battery storage. The percentage fuel savings by using
hybrid winddieselbattery system (100-kW WECS, 175-kW
diesel system, 4 h storage) is 27% as compared to diesel-only
situation. The percentage decrease in carbon emissions by
using hybrid system (100-kW WECS, 175-kW diesel system,
4 h of battery, with 26% wind fraction) is 28% as compared
to the diesel only scenario. More importantly, with use of the
above hybrid system, about 46 tons per year of carbon
emissions can be avoided entering into the local atmosphere.
Also, the excess energy generated by using the above hybrid
winddieselbattery system is just 1%.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author acknowledges the support of the Research
Institute of the King Fahd University of Petroleum and
Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The author is also very
thankful to NREL and HOMER Energy for making available
freely HOMER software for design of hybrid electric power
systems. The author extends special thanks to Dr. Tom
Lambert and Dr. Peter Lilienthal for their time and effort in
reviewing HOMER les and for their cooperation.

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