A feasibility analysis of PV-based off-grid rural electrification for a pastoral settlement in Ethiopia

Amanuel Kachiko Kuno, Nafbek Begna and Fisaha Mebratu

Energy, 2023, vol. 282, issue C

Abstract: Ethiopia’s electric grid relies mostly on hydropower for electricity generation. Compared to metropolitan regions, rural areas have only 5% access to power, and 83% of remote areas rely on traditional biomass energy for lighting and cooking. Close to 60% of the land area in Ethiopia is pastoral, and electrifying from the main grid is a major challenge due to economic, technical, and nomadic reasons. This paper explores the feasibility analysis, design, and simulation of an off-grid solar Photovoltaic system in addition to discussing the complete engagement of national energy policy and a strategic plan for electrifying a pastoral Communities’ in Borena. Using solar radiation base data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, a case study is performed at Moyale, Yabelo, and Dire, which have 454 households, 367 households, and 379 households, respectively. Through the HOMER software simulation, the optimization determines the inverter, battery size and number, and solar array’s capacity. The daily energy usage and peak power demand in the pastoral communities of Moyale, Yabelo, and Dire were 498.102 kWh/day, 447.114 kWh/day, and 454.02 kWh/day, or 36.89 kW, 35.41 kW, and 35.68 kW, respectively. Due to the country’s subsidizing of all clean energy costs, off-grid solar Photovoltaic systems are more economically feasible than diesel generators, which have a level cost of electricity of 0.4 US$/kWh. National energy strategic plans and policies ultimately support the full involvement of off-grid solar Photovoltaic electrification at remote sites.

Keywords: HOMER software; Solar Photovoltaic; Off-grid; Pastoral community’s; Levelized cost of electricity; National strategic plan and policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544223022934
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:282:y:2023:i:c:s0360544223022934

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2023.128899

Access Statistics for this article

Energy is currently edited by Henrik Lund and Mark J. Kaiser

More articles in Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().