Development of a Hybrid Renewable Energy System for Far North Queensland, Australia
Creators: name: Islam, Md Khairul
Publisher: name: CQUniversity
Year: 2025
Subjects: classificationCode: 401799
subject: Mechanical engineering not elsewhere classified

description: Hybrid renewable energy systems have been recognised as one of the most appropriate ways to achieve sustainable development in response to climate change and energy shortfalls. The people of Far North Queensland (FNQ) rely on diesel generators for their basic energy needs and are reliant on limited supplies of diesel fuel, causing high levels of greenhouse gas emissions, which damage trees, vegetation, and marine life. This study analysed hybrid energy systems in Doomadgee, FNQ, Australia, which are nearby places having great biodiversity, such as the Great Barrier Reef. Far North Queensland has abundant solar and wind resources that are clean and offer the potential for effective sustainable energy systems. However, solar and wind power are less reliable as they produce energy intermittently and are unpredictable. By combining renewable resources with hydrogen storage, energy systems can be made more reliable and secure. Far North Queensland’s future energy system could therefore be based on solar, wind, and hydrogen energy. This study addresses a range of tasks. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to explore renewable resources for FNQ’s power generation needs. Far North Queensland has undergone an assessment using a GIS-based multi-criteria approach for determining renewable potential. The solar radiation and wind speed of a selected region of the Doomadgee (FNQ) were forecasted to predict future power generation from solar photovoltaics and wind turbines. The input data for the model included forecasted solar irradiation and wind speed data, real-time pricing of electricity, and the costs of hybrid systems, including storage devices. This study analysed the performance of hybrid renewable energy systems for an average load demand of 49.07 MWh/day with a 4.83 MW peak in an off-grid condition. Six different scenarios were modelled using the HOMER Pro software and were based on several aspects, such as technical, economic, social, and ecological. Thirteen parameters-based multi-objective optimisations were performed using TOPSIS. A combination of solar photovoltaic, wind turbine and hydrogen energy were identified to be the ideal solution, with a net present cost and energy cost of 165 MAUD and 0.646 AUD/kWh, respectively. This option can save the region’s ecosystem by dropping 12,330,597 kg/year of CO2 emission. The hybrid energy system analysis was extended to a sensitivity study for further assessment. Different variables such as nominal discount rate, inflation rate, electrolyser efficiency and lifetime, load, solar radiation, and wind speed have been varied to examine the viability of different scenarios. The renewable potential, load demand, and levelised cost of energy are crucial parameters. Multivariate polynomial regression was used to investigate the interactions between these crucial parameters. New polynomial equations were developed for different scenarios. These equations provide clear information about the quadratic, linear, and cross-effects on the system economy. The developed equations can also be utilised to determine the hybrid energy system cost in other locations with different renewable resources and load demands. In summary, this thesis contributes to the deployment of a sustainable hybrid energy system by developing correlations among the renewable potential, demand, and cost of energy. The findings of the study led to the development of polynomial equations for hybrid energy systems, capable of predicting system costs, providing policy makers, system designers, and investors with a tool for sustainable development and a reference for decision making.