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There is a worldwide need to amplify the usage of renewable energy in the manufacture of electrical energy. Thus, the integrated energy systems (IESs) have become a major part of today’s power systems. Wind and solar energies are intermittent power sources and may lead to voltage and power flow instabilities. The purpose of this paper is to use the interline power flow controller (IPFC) for limiting the overloading of the transmission lines and improving the voltage stability of the IES.

This paper deals with an integrated system consisting of wind and solar energies and conventional systems. An appropriate position for the IPFC in the IES is proposed based on the disparity line utilization factor. The IPFC is then tuned for decreasing the loss of power and lessening the voltage deviation using the grey wolf algorithm.

The method is implemented on a modified IEEE 30-bus system. Results from the study show that the mega volt ampere (MVA) loading of the overloaded lines is reduced for the IES. Also, the voltage stability and the voltage profile of the system are improved to a major extent. The real and reactive power loss of the system is also brought down.

The use of renewable energy sources is a need of the present world to overcome environmental problems. This research focuses on the use of flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) devices with renewable sources incorporated in the power system. Very limited research has been done in this field. The IPFC, which is one of the most advanced FACTS device, is used for the study.

Generation scheduling (GS) is the most prominent and hard-hitting problem in the electrical power industry especially in an integrated power system. Countless techniques have been used so far to solve this GS problem for proper functioning of the units in the power system to dispatch the load economically to consumers at once. Therefore, this work aims to study for the best possible function of integrated power plants to obtain the most favourable solution to the GS problem.

An appropriate method works in a proper way and assures to give the best solution to the GS problem. The finest function of incorporated power plants should be mathematically devised as a problem and via that the aim of the GS problem to minimize the total fuel cost subject to different constraints will be achieved. In this research work, the latest meta-heuristic and swarm intelligence-based technique called grey wolf optimization (GWO) technique is used as an optimization tool that will work along with the formulated problem for correct scheduling of generating units and thus achieve the objective function.

The recommended GWO technique provides the best feasible solution which is optimal in its performance for different test cases in the GS problem of integrated power plant. It is further found that the obtained solutions using GWO method are better than the former reports of other traditional methods in terms of solution excellence. The GWO method is found to be unique in its performance and having superior computational efficiency.

Decision making is significant for effective operation of integrated power plants in an electrical power system. The recommended tactic implements a modern meta-heuristic procedure that is applied to diverse test systems. The method that is proposed is efficient in providing the best solutions of solving GS problems. The suggested method surpasses the early techniques by offering the most excellent feasible solutions. Thus, it is obvious that the proposed method may be the appropriate substitute to attain the optimal operation of GS problem.

Renewable energy sources are discontinuous and infrequent in nature, and it is tough to predict them in general. Further, integrating renewable energy source-based plants with the conventional plant is extremely difficult to operate and maintain. Operation of integrated power system is full of challenges and complications. To handle those complications and challenges, the GWO algorithm is suggested for solving the GS problem and thus obtain the optimal solution in integrated power systems by considering the reserve requirement, load balance, equality and inequality constraints.

The proposed system should be further tested on diverse test systems to evaluate its performance in solving a GS problem and the results should be compared. Computation results reveal that the proposed GWO method is efficient in attaining best solution in GS problem. Further, its performance is effectively established by comparing the result obtained by GWO with other traditional methods.

Ethiopia’s energy sector faces critical challenges to meeting steadily increasing energy demand given limited infrastructure, heavy reliance on hydroelectric power and underdevelopment of alternative energy resources. The purpose of this paper was to identify optimal least cost investment decisions for integrated energy source diversification. The authors seek to contribute to the relevant literature by paying particular attention to the role of public policy for promoting renewable energy investment and to better understand future energy security implications of various sources of uncertainty.

The authors created a dynamic linear programming model using General Algebraic Modelling System software to explore the national energy security implications of uncertainties associated with increasing technological advances and efficiency, and climate change scenarios.

To cope with the impacts of drought expected from future climate change on hydroelectric power production, Ethiopia would need to invest in the development of alternative energy resources. Such investment would not only enhance the sustainability and reliability of energy production but also increase costs. Greater rates of technological and efficiency innovations, however, were found to improve electricity diversification and reduce production costs and shadow prices or resource scarcity, and are thus key for enhancing energy security and reducing the risks posed by drought.

The dynamic linear programming model by the authors represents a flexible sector modelling tool for exploring the sustainability and efficiency of energy resource development pathways and evaluating the effects of different sources of uncertainty on the energy sector.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate impacts of policy instruments for market penetration of renewable technologies in South Africa. Based on the current debates about renewable energy policies and the comparative advantage of the country in terms of coal resources the author set up a framework focusing on renewable energy price subsidies, carbon tax and renewable energy portfolio standard.

Using a simulation model through a linear programming approach the paper assesses impacts of those policies on fossil fuel and renewable energy sectors via business‐as‐usual and policy option scenarios. The business‐as‐usual assumes that there are not policy instruments mobilized to promote adoption and diffusion of clean technologies instead of a policy scenario where such policies are included.

The results of the analysis show that when the coal‐based resources are integrated in the simulation process, only carbon tax and renewable energy price‐based subsidies promote a transition towards a sustainable energy production, therefore reduce the associated environmental damage.

Moreover, the paper also shows that in the case of carbon tax and renewable price subsidies, emission prices should be adequately scrutinized in order to guarantee a positive economic surplus.

Dynamic economic and emission dispatch (DEED) aims to optimally set the active power generation with constraints in a power system, which should target minimum operation cost and at the same time minimize the pollution in terms of emission when the load dynamically changes hour to hour. The purpose of this study is to achieve optimal economic and emission dispatch of an electrical system with a renewable generation mix, consisting of 3-unit thermal, 2-unit wind and 2-unit solar generators for dynamic load variation in a day. An improved version of a simple, easy to understand and popular optimization algorithm particle swarm optimization (PSO) referred to as a constriction factor-based particle swarm optimization (CFBPSO) algorithm is deployed to get optimal solution as compared to PSO, modified PSO and red deer algorithm (RDA).

Different model with and without wind and solar power generating systems; with valve point effect is analyzed. The thermal generating system (TGs) are the major green house gaseous emission producers on earth. To take up this ecological issue in addition to economic operation cost, the wind and solar energy sources are integrated with the thermal system in a phased manner for electrical power generation and optimized for dynamic load variation. This DEED being a multi-objective optimization (MO) has contradictory objectives of fuel cost and emission. To get the finest combination of the two objectives and to get a non-dominated solution the fuzzy decision-making (FDM) method is used herein, the MO problem is solved by a single objective function, including min-max price penalty factor on emission in the total cost to treat as cost. Further, the weight factor accumulation (WFA) technique normalizes the pair of objectives into a single objective by giving each objective a weightage. The weightage is decided by the FDM approach in a systematic manner from a set of non-dominated solutions. Here, the CFBPSO algorithm is applied to lessen the total generation cost and emission of the thermal power meeting the load dynamically.

The efficacy of the contribution of stochastic wind and solar power generation with the TGs in the dropping of net fuel cost and emission in a day for dynamic load vis-à-vis the case with TGs is established.

Cost and emission are conflicting objectives and can be handled carefully by weight factors and penalty factors to find out the best solution.

The proposed methodology and its strategy are very useful for thermal power plants incorporating diverse sources of generations. As the execution time is very less, practical implementation can be possible.

As the cheaper generation schedule is obtained with respect to time, cost and emission are minimized, a huge revenue can be saved over the passage of time, and therefore it has a societal impact.

In this work, the WFA with the FDM method is used to facilitate CFBPSO to decipher this DEED multi-objective problem. The results reveal the competence of the projected proposal to satisfy the dynamic load demand and to diminish the combined cost in contrast to the PSO algorithm, modified PSO algorithm and a newly developed meta-heuristic algorithm RDA in a similar system.

Greece is a net importer of oil and gas and is among the most vulnerable countries of the European Union (EU) on energy supply disruptions. Furthermore, is considered a “crossroad” of existing and forthcoming infrastructure for importing energy to the EU. The purpose of this paper is the presentation of the web tool that implements the developed methodology for the quantification of socio‐economic risks of oil and gas corridors. The tool is applied to the main present and future oil and gas corridors to Greece, and the related outcomes are discussed.

A structured and coherent review on the future and present oil and natural gas (NG) corridors to Greece was elaborated, based on desk analysis and collection of the related data from national and international sources. Factor analysis was employed for the quantification of socio‐economic risks of each energy corridor. Particular emphasis was laid on the tool's design, so as to be user‐friendly, combining intuitive menus and navigation throughout the steps of the system.

The calculation of socio‐economic risks of the main oil and gas corridors to Greece provides operative and measurable concepts for supporting energy‐modelling processes. Indeed, this paper provides useful insights on the factors affecting the smooth energy supply and the reliability of oil and gas supply options to the Greek energy system. Moreover, the presented web tool can be used as a reference point for the researcher working on energy supply risks quantification.

The introduction of the energy corridors perspective in the valuation of supply security is of significant importance, taking into account the constantly increasing energy dependence of EU countries. To the best of the authors' knowledge, a structured and coherent review of the future and present oil and NG corridors to Greece is not present in the international literature. In addition to this, the development of the web tool is a clear contribution towards the quantification of the economic and socio‐political risk analysis and a step forward of the existing studies.

Net energy importing countries (NEICs) pursue strategic policies to reduce the consumption of energy from conventional sources and increase that of renewable energy to attain energy security and sustainable development. However, net energy exporting countries (NEECs) rely substantially on the proceeds realised from oil and gas exports to mainly NEICs to finance government activities. This paper aims to investigate the effect of increased consumption of renewable energy in developed NEICs on the Nigeria’s oil and gas exports.

The study was undertaken by analysing macro-economic annual time-series data set (1980-2014) using autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach.

Both the short-run and the long-run results of the ARDL modelling reveal that renewable energy consumption in developed NEICs is affecting Nigeria’s oil and gas exports negatively, thereby causing significant decrease in the amounts of revenue being generated therefrom.

Like most empirical studies, the conduct of this research has encountered some challenges. Thus, the use of rather small sample in terms of period covered (1980-2014), annual frequency of data and focus on one NEEC (Nigeria) are the key limitations of this paper. While the first two challenges were dealt with by using ARDL, future research can focus on other NEECs to extend the study.

The findings have several policy implications, including the need for Nigeria to focus on developing internal market trajectories to increase domestic utilisation of its conventional energy rather than depending on external markets. The results also suggest the need for public policymakers to develop a strategic plan that will effectively address the external economic threat arising from the influence of global energy transition.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper represents the first effort to empirically examine the effect of renewable energy consumption by developed NEICs on the Nigeria’s oil and gas exports. The paper contributes to the literature by providing insight into and documenting evidence that the world is taking transitioning to cleaner energy sources very seriously.

The purpose of this article discusses the design of underground eco-houses using a dome structure of light construction while taking into account the historical experience of the development of the local population. This article considered the traditions of folk architecture and modern sophistication in the creation of energy-efficient eco-houses in foreign countries in the context of architecture and construction of affordable residential homes for the local population.

The research presented in this paper was motivated by the need for developing agro-tourism facilities in hard-to-reach areas of the Silk Road in Southern Kazakhstan causes the construction of eco-houses built using local construction materials. Since ancient times in Southern Kazakhstan and during seasonal migrations in yurts of light construction, people have lived in mud-brick houses deep in the ground. Along with architectural and artistic solutions in building construction, great importance was attached to saving material resources, labour costs and achieving heat stability of residential buildings.

In the architectural and planning solution of the eco¬-house, progressive directions of construction of agrotechnical structures using renewable energy sources are adopted. Particular importance was given to the choice of the construction site on an elevated area nearby historical monuments and a favourable season for the construction of eco-houses with considering the natural and climatic characteristics of rural areas of Southern Kazakhstan.

This paper discussed the issues of insulation, ventilation and improving the eco-house microclimate comfort using local building materials. Improving the architectural and artistic expressiveness of the eco-house in terms of the tradition of folk architecture was also explicitly discussed in this paper.

Tables with the justification of expediency of construction of economical eco-houses in natural and climatic conditions of Kazakhstan and Central Asia are provided. The results help to improve the energy efficiency of eco-houses in Kazakhstan by using renewable energy sources.

Social benefits are associated with the use of local raw materials. Eco-houses built from traditional building materials can become accessible to a wide range of people and stimulate the development of small businesses. This may be associated with the construction of eco-houses to serve visiting tourists in remote picturesque oases, as well as the manufacture of dome structures, felt products and the preparation of reed panels and so on.

The thermotechnical characteristics of the region's ground energy are given, which can significantly save the cost of heating the eco-house. Solutions for optimal insolation, ventilation of the eco-house are provided, taking into account the natural and climatic conditions of Southern Kazakhstan.

The ex-post literature, which evaluates the real impact of renewable generation, is scarce. Most studies are simulations and therefore are not based on real data. This study aims to further this goal using a unique database of the Portuguese spot market, where there are powerful incentives for renewable electricity.

This paper analyses ex-post the impact of energy produced in special regime on the wholesale hourly spot market prices of Portuguese electricity during the period 2009–2016. This paper uses standard, two stage least squares and generalized method of moments multivariate regressions and other energy econometrics techniques.

It is found that special regime generation has a negative impact on the wholesale price. This impact is higher than that found in other markets. This paper also concludes that using special regime generation to supply the future growth of demand will decrease wholesale electricity spot prices more intensively than using other technologies.

This paper uses a unique database based on ex-post for the Portuguese spot market. The Portuguese case is particularly interesting, not only because of its strong incentives policy on renewable energy but also because its spot market is interconnected with the Spanish market. This paper contributes to the debate about the sustainability of current renewable electricity support schemes. The decreasing trend in electricity prices, with the introduction of new renewable capacity, can be incompatible with the required payments for non-renewable producers. This paper also shows that even if the price reduction on spot markets is transferred to final consumers, given that it is relatively small (8% spot price which represents 45% of the final price), compared with the cost of incentives (35% of the final price), consumers probably will not be able to support a new investment pipeline with a similar framework.

The challenges and factors of household adoption and the use of alternative energy sources have been a point of discussion among researchers. The purpose of this study is to apply a variant of the unified theory of adoption and use of technology (i.e. UTAUT 2) to explore the effect of various constructs that influence technology adoption on the consumers’ intention to adopt (and use) solar power generators (SPG) at the household level and the subsequent switching behavior.

Based on survey data collected from six cities in India (n = 1,246), factor analysis and structural equation modeling are applied for data analysis and testing the study hypotheses.

The results of the structural equation model found UTAUT constructs performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and hedonic to positively affect behavioral intentions to adopt SPG. However, facilitating conditions and perceived value was not found to affect behavioral intentions to adopt SPG. Behavioral intentions to adopt SPG was found to positively influence the switching behavior.

The present study augments the domain of alternative energy usage behavior by applying the UTAUT 2 in the adoption of alternative energy sources (namely, solar) and subsequent switching behavior from traditional sources at the household level.

The findings from the present study will guide the marketers and policymakers on the consumer attitudinal and behavioral aspects of solar energy usage at the household level and subsequent switching behavior.

The present study is novel as it moves beyond household-level behavioral intention to use solar energy and includes the switching behavior to shift to solar power from traditional energy sources.