Optimal Decision-Making on Hybrid Off-Grid Energy Systems for Rural and Remote Areas Electrification in the Northern Cameroon

Abstract

Hybrid renewable energy systems are effective solutions to the problem of lack of electricity in many localities around the world. In this paper, a comparative study of ten different options of standalone hybrid energy systems is done. These systems are used for household energy supply in rural and remote areas. The three regions of the northern Cameroon have been chosen as study sites. HOMER optimization Pro software has been performed for the optimal sizing of the proposed systems. The system reliability, the cost of energy, the renewable energy penetration, and the carbon dioxide emissions are the main comparative indexes considered. For an energy demand of 46418.100 kWh/year and a lifetime project of 25 years, the best optimal system configuration for the sites considered based on economic analysis is the PV/DG/battery system with a cost of energy of 0.378 $/kWh in Garoua, 0.359 $/kWh in Maroua, and 0.394 $/kWh in Ngaoundéré. When considering the environmental criteria, the PV/Battery and the PV/wind/Battery are the best options with 0 kgCO2 emissions per year and 100% renewable energy penetration. The renewable energy penetration of the PV/DG/Battery system is 95.6% in Garoua, 96.3% in Maroua, and 95.1% in Ngaoundéré. Thus, when taking into account both economic and environmental aspects, the PV/DG/Battery could appear as the best optimal system for rural and remote areas electrification in the northern part of Cameroon. The sensitivity analysis revealed that the studied systems are more attractive when increasing the project lifetime (up to 50 years, the COE is 0.375 $/kWh, 0.356 $/kWh, and 0.391 $/kWh, respectively, in Garoua, Maroua, and Ngaoundéré). However, the studied systems are more attractive when reducing the fuel price and the discount rate. When reducing the fuel price to up to 0.01 $/l, the COE is 0.359 $/kWh in Garoua, 0.342 $/kWh in Maroua, and 0.371 $/kWh in Ngaoundéré. When reducing the discount rate to up to 1%, the values of the COE are 0.253 $/kWh, 0.240 $/kWh, and 0.264 $/kWh, respectively, in Garoua, Maroua, and Ngaoundéré.

A systematic decision-making approach to optimizing microgrid energy sources in rural areas through diesel generator operation and techno-economic analysis: A case study of Baron Technopark in Indonesia

“…It can be used for some types of renewable energy sources, such as PV, wind turbines, and micro-hydro combined with diesel generators (DG) both on DC and AC connections. Several studies applied this type of inverter in the configuration of microgrids in remote areas due to its reliability (Mudaheranwa et al, 2023;See et al, 2022;Upadhyay & Sharma, 2016;Yaouba et al, 2022). The specific type used in this study was the Leonics Apollo MTP-413F with a capacity of 25 kW which was selected based on the DC to AC power capacity ratio (Díaz-Bello et al, 2023).…”

“…The optimization of renewable energy systems requires identifying potential local energy resources to be implemented in order to meet the surrounding load demands. Moreover, the consideration of economic and environmental criteria with the high solar irradiance for 3T areas requires using a hybrid system that combines solar energy, a diesel generator, and batteries (Yaouba et al, 2022) (Dei & Batjargal, 2022). The design of an islanded hybrid microgrid with wind turbines, solar modules, a diesel generator, and battery storage based on LF control strategies has been identified as part of several strategies to achieve the lowest values for LCOE, NPC, and CO2 Jahangir et al, 2023).…”

A Case Study of an Optimal Detailed Analysis of a Standalone Photovoltaic/Battery System for Electricity Supply in Rural and Remote Areas

“…However, PV systems can only operate during the day due to the partial availability of solar energy. Hybrid systems are thus proposed in order to make electrical energy available at any time of the day [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19].…”