Design and simulation of an off-grid solar power system for providing electricity to the wells of the Al-Wafa oil field using PVsyst program

Abstract

This paper aims to supply electrical energy to oil wells located far from electrical power plants by designing and simulating a standalone photovoltaic (solar) system to feed the electrical loads of the following wells (A46, A60, A58) in the Al-Wafa oil field, which is located in southwestern Libya. This is intended to reduce the cost and effort of connecting these wells to the power grid, as well as to minimize environmental damage to the natural surroundings of the wells. Using the PVsyst program to simulate the system's operation and analyze its data throughout the year is very important to determine the amount of energy produced by the solar cells, according to international standard specifications and the standard specifications of the Mellitah Oil and Gas Company, with the possibility of further developing this project in the future. The results, as shown in the PVsyst program report, indicated that the photovoltaic system covers 100% of the load requirements, even in winter months when daylight hours are shorter, and thus there is no need to increase the system's production capacity.