Farshad Khalafian - Department of electrical engineering, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran

Due to abrupt demand for reliable power supply with minimum interruption frequency and duration, reliability assessment of power systems is considered a crucial issue for both customers and utility. This has led the utility to exploit the available renewable energy resources (RERs) as an index to enhance the reliability of power systems and reduce the excessive dependency on fossil fuel resources. The adaptation of renewable energy technologies in the radial distribution system has transformed single-source power systems into a bidirectional system with several power generation sources. This improves the reliability of the radial distribution system and reduces the frequency of interruptions and outages. In this paper, wind turbine generator (WTG), photovoltaic (PV) arrays, and battery storage system (BSS) are utilized to improve the reliability of microgrids available in the power systems and reduce both the cost of energy (COE) and the annual cost of the system (ACS). The objective function of the problem is established by using total outage cost (TOC), annual emissions cost (AEC), annual replacement cost (ARC), and net present cost (NPC) associated with the power system. The proposed approach is applied to the Roy Billinton test system (RBTS) so that the impact of RERs on improving reliability and reducing COE and ACE is highlighted. A comprehensive analysis of RERs considering the effects of interest rate on COE, NPC, and ACS of the power system is implemented.

emission, microgrid, wind system, renewable energy sources, reliability