Optimal hybrid microgrid sizing framework for the mining industry with three case studies from Australia

• Main Authors: Omar Ellabban, Abdulrahman Alassi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2021-02-01
• Series: IET Renewable Power Generation
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1049/rpg2.12038

Abstract The mining industry is showing increasing interest in adding renewable energy sources (RES) to their mines energy mix as one of the principles of sustainable and profitable mining. This paper proposes a systematic and integrative optimal economic hybrid microgrid sizing framework for profitability analysis in off‐grid hybrid renewable‐energy‐based microgrids in the mining industry. The proposed framework is validated with three case studies in different mining locations in Australia based on real market data, investigating various mining site power configurations, and considering the key technical, environmental, and economic considerations. The results highlight the impact of integrating RES in greenfield or brownfield mines in terms of diesel/RES assets sizing and total cost of electricity generation for each scenario, in addition to evaluating the feasibility of grid‐extension to the mining site versus on‐site generation for a greenfield scenario. Sensitivity analysis is carried out to study the impact of varying different input parameters on the system size and cost. The contributions of this research thus provide practical insights on the profitability of hybrid microgrids in mining applications to the various stakeholders such as independent power producers (IPPs), mining facility owners and policy makers.