Development and Evolution of Hybrid Microgrids in the context of Contemporary Applications

This chapter provides a valuable insight to the development and evolution of hybrid microgrids, their applications, energy demand analysis, energy sources, mathematical modeling, objective parameters, and case studies. It begins with the definition of hybrid microgrids and highlights their importance in various sectors. Onward, it discusses the key microgrid applications. The analysis of energy demand and the concerned factors in the considered applications are examined. Additionally, the major energy sources are explored such as the photovoltaic systems, wind mills, diesel generators, fuel cells, electrolyzes, hydrogen tanks, and battery storage systems in hybrid microgrid configurations are emphasized. Afterwards, the objective parameters such as net present cost, levelized cost of electricity, and greenhouse gas emissions reduction are introduced and used as key metrics for evaluating the performance and environmental impact of hybrid microgrids. Moreover, three case studies are presented, examining the cost analysis and greenhouse gas emissions of a cement industry, conducting sensitivity analysis and assessing environmental impacts in the case of the city of Gwadar, and exploring the implementation of hybrid microgrids in a university campus setting.