An economic study to investigate the impacts of energy policy changes on renewable contribution in power systems

This paper evaluates the effect of possible energy policy changes on multi-objective optimal design and planning of a hybrid energy system. The study was performed for a remote area near Esfarjan, a village located in Shahreza, Iran. In the main scenario, the current energy policy is examined, while the sensitivity analysis scenario applies the near future condition that is gradually taking place by reducing the energy subsidies. Simulations have been done on six different system configurations for the both scenarios considering the two mentioned policies for electricity price, fuel price and environmental issues. Results show that in sensitivity scenario, in contrast with the main scenario, the renewable-grid configuration is more economical than the grid-only dependent system, which in turn will result in more interest in investing on renewable resources. Finally, the energy modeling software for hybrid renewable energy systems, HOMER is used in this study.