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This paper attempts to retrofit the diesel generating systems - used for electrification of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) off-grid remote areas - with hybrid renewable energy (RE) systems, in which biomass is integrated with solar. For this purpose, five alternative RE systems comprised of different configurations of the following components: photovoltaic (PV) array, biogas fueled generator (BGG) and batteries (BATT) are investigated to identify the most appropriate configuration to be used for rural electrification of the aforesaid areas. These five systems are simulated, optimized and analyzed based on their techno-economic performance with the condition of fully meeting the load demand. The results unveil that – among the optimal configurations – of the investigated systems, the BGG-PV-BATT hybrid RE system is the most appropriate one for off-grid rural electrification. This system is able to entirely meet the load demand with the least cost of electricity (COE), and it has the lowest net present cost (NPC). Results of investigating the possibility of extending the electricity grid to the site disclose that - based on the site’s distance from the grid - the grid extension option is more expensive than the off-grid BGG-PV-BATT hybrid system one. Based on this fact and considering all of the obtained results, the BGG-PV-BATT proved to be the most appropriate solution - from environmental and techno-economic points of view - for off-grid rural electrification in the remote off-grid MENA sites and in other sites in the globe having the same conditions.