HyMGP: A Customized MILP-Based Tool for Techno-Economic Planning of Islanded Microgrids

This paper presents a customized microgrid planning algorithm and tool, HyMGP, for remote sites in arid regions, which is formulated as a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) problem. HyMGP is compared with HOMER Pro to evaluate its performance in optimizing the sizing of microgrid components, including photovoltaic panels (PVs), vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs), and battery energy storage systems (BESS), for remote and off-grid applications. The study focuses on a standalone microgrid in the Saudi Arabia, considering high solar irradiance, limited wind availability, and a constant load profile composed of continuous cathodic protection and daytime cooling. In the simulation environment, comparisons with HOMER solutions demonstrate the advantages of HyMGP, which provides optimal and more flexible solutions by allowing user-defined component specifications and strictly enforcing all constraints. Further analysis shows that incorporating wind turbines reduces the Net Present Cost (NPC) by decreasing the required PV and battery capacities. Increasing battery autonomy leads to a higher NPC in both PV-only and hybrid systems due to the need for larger storage. Finally, lithium iron phosphate (Li-ion LFP) batteries are found to be more cost effective than lead acid, offering lower NPCs due to their longer lifespan, deeper discharge capability, and fewer replacement cycles.