Optimal design of a diesel-PV-wind system with batteries and hydro pumped storage in a Colombian community

This paper proposes to use a combinatorial optimization technique, the branch and cut algorithm, to design an hybrid isolated microgrid in the Colombian community of Unguia. In addition, this paper presents a comparison between the designs obtained with the branch and cut algorithm, the software HOMER and a genetic algorithm for the Unguia community. The proposed microgrid includes two diesel generators whose infrastructure already exists in the community, photovoltaic panels, wind turbines and two storage systems: batteries and hydro-pumped storage. The goal of the design is to dimension the hydro-pumped storage tank, pump, hydraulic turbine, and to choose the number of batteries, panels and wind turbines that minimize the annual costs and CO2 system emissions. The proposed designs ensure a level of reliability on the system. Simulation results show that the design with the branch and cut algorithm have the lowest cost for the Unguia microgrid.