Journal of Fundamentals of Renewable Energy and Applications
Open Access

Abstract

Austere Location Wind Turbine Energy System Analysis

Lukas Cowen, Douglas Dudis and Torrey Wagner

One promising technology to combat an energy shortage in austere locations is wind energy. In combination with battery storage and generator backup, we explore the feasibility of using a hybrid energy system to reduce the volume of diesel fuel required. Modeling the energy demands in austere locations will enable missions in remote settings to optimize their energy costs, increased their energy resiliency and assure their supply. For a modeled time-series energy requirement that varied between 2.4 MW and 5.1 MW, the optimal wind system size was 9.9 MW of installed wind power paired with a 741 kWh battery. Assuming an elevated price of fuel, the cost of operating the base with only fuel was greater than $55 million dollars. The total component and operational cost of the optimized wind, generator and battery system was cost-effective within one year and totaled $48 million dollars.