The electric power sector directly depends on the development and economic growth of every country in the world. For developing and underdeveloped countries, the utility and demand for electric power are increasing yearly. To reduce carbon emission, global warming, and the harmful climate changes, renewable energy for electric power generation is needed. It reduces the need for fossil fuels for electric power generation. This chapter will briefly discuss the renewable energy role on electric power generation using novel renewable power generation techniques, its benefit to the environment and the grid, and its future prospects and challenges in the electrical power sector.
Optimization Techniques for Hybrid Power Systems
Top1. Introduction
Renewable energy sources include wind, sun, water, geothermal, and biomass. These sources are also sometimes referred to as “alternative energy sources” (Majid., 2020) (Lisin et al., 2018). The entire planet has been rapidly running out of fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal, natural gas) since the start of the twenty-first century. At the same time, renewable energies are yet not developed sufficiently to provide an effective substitute. Since fossil fuel resources are limited, most projections show that the established fossil reserves won't be enough to supply the world's demand. So, society is moving towards dependence on renewable energy (Ucal et al., 2020) (Aghahosseini et al., 2018). This creates a paradox because, many years ago, majorly renewable and sustainable sources were used. For example, people used the wind to power ships and transport people and commodities or the water to power machinery like water mills. The Industrial Revolution opened the door because fossil fuels are commonly used, which in turn caused significant pollution (Barua et al., 2023). This prompted a change towards renewable and sustainable development sources and, ultimately, the digitization of this industry (Figure 1).
Figure 1. The growth of the energy sector from before the first Industrial Revolution and through the fourth (Lee et al., 2018)
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that in 2021, developers and owners of power plants aim for over seventy percent of new electricity in plans from renewable sources. Solar energy will comprise the greatest portion of total capacity, accounting for nearly 39%, followed by wind energy at 31%. (EIA). Huge hydroelectric plants, which generate around 6% of all electricity, provide most of this energy. Many energy researchers view nuclear energy as an alternative source because of its low release of carbon dioxide. The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates that nuclear power produces 10% of the world's electricity (IAEA). In 2015, the greatest hydroelectric plant generated 16.3% of worldwide electrical energy (Acevedo., 2018). Decarbonizing the energy industry is possible, indicating that renewable energy is replacing fossil fuels (Dudin et al., 2019). Renewable electricity is characterized as power produced using alternative sources periodically without depleting the earth's natural assets (Brożyna et al., 2020) (Barua et al., 2022). The World Bank claims that power could be produced easily from renewable sources with limited emission of greenhouse gases (Das et al., 2023). In Asia, renewable energy sources account for 24% of total energy consumption (18% of which is hydropower), compared to around 20% in Europe (the EU-27 countries) (European Commission. Renewable Energy Statistics. 2021) (Elavarasan., 2019). Electricity produced by tiny wind turbines on commercial property is included in the category of wind energy. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that wind energy could generate 1.3 million megawatts (MW) of power throughout the United States (IEA).