Optimizing Renewable Energy Resources on an Isolated Island to Support an Archipelagic Country's Net Zero Emission Target: A Case Study of Sumba Island, Indonesia

Sumba Island, rich in solar and wind potential, faces challenges in developing RES due to isolated grids and low electricity demand. U sing renewable energy in Sumba is necessary to support Indonesia's NZE goals by effectively integrating Sumba's renew abIes into the national grid and potentially connecting it to regions with high electricity demand. This study focuses on the sustainable GEP for Sumba, optimizing renewable energy potential, improving energy storage, and exploring inter-island connectivity through MILP to achieve the optimal value of the total system cost and the least investment with predetermined boundaries. Several scenarios were examined, and the results show that connecting Sumba to nearby islands with higher electricity demands would increase the use of local RES. With the NZE interconnected scenario, the solar PV potential can be maximized up to 76.8, while the wind share can reach 58.4. However, in the other scenarios, the potential use of solar PV and wind remains below 6. Energy storage will become more necessary as solar PV and wind power use rises, increasing the proportion of renewable energy in 2060. Moreover, interconnection reduces the cost of electricity compared to an isolated system, but it can increase investment costs.