Renewable Energy Options for a Rural Village in North Korea

Dahyun Kang and Tae Yong Jung
Additional contact information
Dahyun Kang: Graduate School of International Studies, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Korea
Tae Yong Jung: Graduate School of International Studies, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Korea

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 6, 1-19

Abstract: The national electrification rate of North Korea is extremely low and the situation in rural areas is even worse. Thus, this study designs a virtual electrification project for a rural village in North Pyongan and compares an off-grid energy system and on-grid system in terms of net present cost (NPC) and levelized cost of energy (LCOE) to define the most cost-effective energy system. Using Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources (HOMER), this study designs two off-grid systems that apply different types of batteries—lead–acid and lithium-ion energy storage systems (ESS)—and determines the NPC and LCOE of the most cost-effective system. Then, it calculates the NPC and LCOE of grid extension by adding necessary costs required for generation, transmission, and distribution. The result shows that the hybrid energy system (HES) of solar photovoltaic (PV), wind turbines, lead–acid batteries, and diesel generators is the most cost-effective option for the selected location. The range of breakeven grid-extension distance is from 9.69 km to 20.57 km. The sensitivity analysis based on different discount rates shows that a higher discount rate means a shorter breakeven distance. This analysis suggests that deploying an HES is one way to improve the electrification rate for remote and rural areas in North Korea.

Keywords: rural electrification; hybrid energy system; renewable energy; lead–acid battery; ESS; grid extension; North Korea (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/6/2452/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/6/2452/ (text/html)

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:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:6:p:2452-:d:334966

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().