Optimal levelised cost of system values with increasing renewable energy sources in a smart microgrid

Nowadays, as manufacturing costs for distributed power generation technologies fall, the economic equation is increasingly favouring Renewable Energy Sources (RES) technologies. The high electricity cost of small electricity systems, coupled with oil price volatility, desire for energy security, and the relatively higher vulnerability of them to the impacts of climate change, build a strong rationale for them to shift towards sustainable energy systems. There is a significant research into the topic of optimal renewable energy configurations for small electrical systems, which has predominantly focused on wind, Photovoltaics as generation technologies, coupled with batteries. In this paper, we will investigate how the optimum configuration and costs of RES and Microturbine (MT) on a Smart Microgrid (S-MG) change with increasing penetration of MT source. A well-established index in the energy field for quantifying and comparing the costs of electricity generation technologies is the Levelised Cost of Electricity (or Energy) (LCOE). In this paper, the LCOE index serves as a useful basis for our study in proposed S-MG.Nowadays, as manufacturing costs for distributed power generation technologies fall, the economic equation is increasingly favouring Renewable Energy Sources (RES) technologies. The high electricity cost of small electricity systems, coupled with oil price volatility, desire for energy security, and the relatively higher vulnerability of them to the impacts of climate change, build a strong rationale for them to shift towards sustainable energy systems. There is a significant research into the topic of optimal renewable energy configurations for small electrical systems, which has predominantly focused on wind, Photovoltaics as generation technologies, coupled with batteries. In this paper, we will investigate how the optimum configuration and costs of RES and Microturbine (MT) on a Smart Microgrid (S-MG) change with increasing penetration of MT source. A well-established index in the energy field for quantifying and comparing the costs of electricity generation technologies is the Levelised Cost of Elect...