Economic and environmental analysis of micro hydropower system for rural power supply

This paper discusses the advantages of using renewable energy sources in the architecture of an off-grid hybrid power system in rural areas. The studied system is composed of a diesel generator to which a micro hydropower plant is added. Simulations using the Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable (HOMER) are performed for given annual values of hydro resources, power demands and hybrid system component costs. The results highlight the cost-effectiveness character and the reduction of gas pollutant emissions achieved by using such a system rather than a diesel generator to supply the same load.