Off-grid renewable energy systems provide opportunities to give electricity and other
utilities to remote communities. Such communities may not have access to electricity,
cooling, and purified water, or may require diesel-powered generators for such requirements.
Mini- or micro-hydroelectric plants can be the core of facilities to meet these needs
where there are sufficiently large rivers and favourable terrain. Such systems have
advantages over solar or wind power in having minimal short-term fluctuations that
necessitate the use of storage or back-up systems. Part of the power can be drawn
off for drinking water purification or ice production. However, during drought, these
facilities can suffer from a drop in output, in which case decision support would
be needed to determine the optimal abnormal operating state during the crisis. A fuzzy
P-graph approach is developed to determine the optimal solution in consideration of
multiple product demands. Membership functions of the product demands are used to
calibrate the degree of tolerable shortage based on community needs. The methodology
is illustrated with a case study of a system operating under drought conditions. Results
show that having a twin turbine MHP reduces the need to use a diesel back-up system,
except in cases of extreme drought. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
