Electricity access in Nigeria: Viability of off-grid photovoltaic system

Abstract

This study examines the viability of providing electricity to an un-electrified village in North-Eastern Nigeria using a mini-grid based off-grid solar photovoltaic system. The study employs the life-cycle cost to estimate a 25-year life-time cost of an off-grid electrification project using solar photovoltaic panels and compares with the cost of paying for grid-electricity within the same period. Comparing the cost of off-grid electrification with grid-extension is more appropriate; however, data on the cost of grid extension in Northern Nigeria are scarce. Thus, electricity tariff is used as a proxy since the Nigerian electricity market has been deregulated and the electricity tariff is expected to be market-reflective. The result shows that such project will not be economically viable at the prevailing commercial lending rate as it yields a negative net present value. However, the project becomes viable with adequate government support through the reduction in commercial lending rate for such projects and provision of start-up grants (as production subsidy). Such subsidy will not result in economic waste since the target is clearly defined. Apart from government financial incentives, creating necessary support mechanism in terms of legal and regulatory frameworks to encourage private investment will be necessary. In addition, engaging the community in the construction and maintenance of the project will ensure sustainability.

Design of a 1 kva PV system for electrical laboratory in faculty of engineering, University of Uyo, Nigeria

“…On the whole, as was observed in [4], solar radiation throughout the country is fairly well distributed recording on the average a daily sunshine of about 6 hrs and solar radiation of about 19.8 MJm -2 day -1 respectively.…”

Technology options for increasing electricity access in areas with low electricity access rate in Nigeria

“…We create our household, productive, and institutional demand profile by drawing insights from literature [5,30,31]. Our assumptions on the electricity demand of the households in the demand node with the lowest population are presented in the Supplementary datasheet.…”

Rural electrification using a stand-alone photovoltaic system: Case study of Cameroon

“…The economic viability of implementing a stand-alone PV system in Nigeria is investigated by Akpan and Isihak [9]. They used the total life-cycle cost to estimate the cost of 25 years of an off-grid PV project and compared with the cost of paying for grid electricity within the same period.…”

“…Thus the proposed system will use one battery of 1300 Ah and 12 V with 85% efficiency. The system voltage is selected 12 V because of the low power demand to run the electric devices [9].…”