Study of Autonomous Wind Energy Systems with Battery Storage (AWESBS) for Mountainous Rural Area Electrification in Algeria

Abstract

This paper presents a simulation investigation of a specific AWESBS basing on MATLAB/SIMULINK software. The considered household load is situated in Bouzaréah in Algeria. An economic analysis has been also considered. As simulation results, it is observed that the coverage provided by the wind/battery system depends on the wind turbine nominal power. It is observed also that it depends on the local wind speed distribution as far as the economic results are concerned. It appears that the cost of the energy produced by the wind/battery system is very high (1.2 - 2.5 $/kWh) compared to those corresponding to conventional installations (0.4 $/kWh). This, however, is not to be considered as a negative determinant factor since the local authorities plan to manufacture renewable energy equipment locally and, by doing so, cancel the effects of subsidizing the local fossil fuels on the imported machines costs, which will in turn be favorably reflected on renewable energy costs.