Design of a hybrid PV/wind/diesel generator energy system for 120 residential apartments in Gusau

Gusau, a city in zamfara state, Nigeria is faced with the challenge of inadequate power supply as electricity supply from the national grid is unstable and inadequate, besides majority of those in the remote areas are isolated from the grid. The location has a potential for renewable resources, to overcome this challenge of inadequate power supply, a hybrid electric power system which employs the use of battery storage, solar and wind energy system with a diesel generator as reserve to provide adequate power to 120 residential apartments in a settlement isolated from the grid is being designed. The solar and wind energy resources in the location were assessed; the data from the two renewable energy resources available in the location was collected for the year 2015 from the Nigerian meteorological Agency, NIMET alongside the geographical coordinates and other useful parameters as input to the HOMER software simulator for analysis. The load profile of the location was carried out, the sizing of the energy mix from PV, wind, battery and generator was made using the software. The result of the simulation shows a yearly electricity production of 168,545KWh/yr, the yearly AC primary load is 67160KWh/yr. And the excess electricity is 88581Kwh/yr, this accounts for 52.6% of the total electricity generated hence, the hybrid energy system has the potential to provide the micro-grid with adequate power with high penetration of renewable energy.