Solar-powered mini-grids and smart metering systems, the solution to Rwanda energy crisis

Niyonteze, Jean De Dieu; Zou, Fang; Asemota, Godwin Norense Osarumwense; Bimenyimana, Samuel

doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1311/1/012002

Cited by 12 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In SSA, the few energy communities that exist are predominantly set up to bridge energy access gaps with underlying concerns such as poverty reduction and improvement in health. However, these communities are gradually emerging as a pathway towards sustainability and resilience for millions of households in the region [44][45][46].…”

Section: Energy Communities In the Context Of Sub-saharan Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In our review, we identified that the aforementioned factors associated with energy communities in Europe are either lacking or insufficient in SSA energy projects. Several authors characterise these insufficiencies as key barriers to establishing sustainable energy communities in the region [14,18,19,[44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51].…”

Section: Energy Communities In the Context Of Sub-saharan Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[18,[44][45][46][47][48]50,55,56,58,59,61,[66][67][68][69] Policy SSA states do not have adequate regulatory frameworks that would incentivise communities to engage in energy projects. [14,18,[44][45][46][47][48]50] Institutional Communities lack the institutional support such as policy advice or business services to develop and manage energy projects. [44] Technical Individuals and communities lack the technical skills and expertise to effectively manage the renewable energy projects.…”

Section: Engagement and Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[14,18,[44][45][46][47][48]50] Institutional Communities lack the institutional support such as policy advice or business services to develop and manage energy projects. [44] Technical Individuals and communities lack the technical skills and expertise to effectively manage the renewable energy projects. [45,48]…”

Section: Engagement and Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[ 44,66] Financial Communities lack access to the upfront capital required to establish and maintain effective energy projects. [14,18,[44][45][46][47][48]50,67] In SSA, the current regulatory environment is not sufficient to provide for the emergence and growth of energy communities [14,18,[44][45][46][47][48]50].…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

A Review of Energy Communities in Sub-Saharan Africa as a Transition Pathway to Energy Democracy

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Energy communities have received considerable attention in the Global North, especially in Europe, due to their potential for achieving sustainable energy transitions. In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), energy communities have received less attention partly due to the nascent energy systems in many emerging SSA states. In this paper, we argue that these nascent energy systems offer an opportunity to co-create energy communities that can tackle the energy access challenges faced by most SSA countries. To understand how such energy communities are realised in the sub-region, we undertake a systematic review of research on energy communities in 46 SSA countries. Our findings show that only a few energy projects exhibit the conventional characteristics of energy communities; In most of these projects, local communities are inadequately resourced to institute and manage their own projects. We thus look to stakeholder engagement approaches to propose co-design as a strategy for strengthening energy communities in SSA. We further embed our co-design proposal in energy democracy thinking to argue that energy communities can be a pathway towards equity and energy justice in SSA. We conclude that energy communities can indeed contribute to improving energy access in Africa, but they need an enabling policy environment to foster their growth and sustainability.

show abstract

Section: Energy Communities In the Context Of Sub-saharan Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Energy Communities In the Context Of Sub-saharan Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Engagement and Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Engagement and Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

A Review of Energy Communities in Sub-Saharan Africa as a Transition Pathway to Energy Democracy

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

The role of community energy systems to facilitate energy transitions in Ethiopia and Mozambique

Gebreslassie,

Cuvilas

2023

Energy Syst

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Policymakers and academics are focusing on energy transition to provide affordable, sustainable, and green energy for everyone. This is being driven by a combination of the lack of electricity access to millions of people particularly in the African continent and the requirement for the reduction of environmental impact through the use of greener energy resources and systems. This paper summarizes an interdisciplinary research program investigating community energy systems in Ethiopia and Mozambique to facilitate energy transitions. Specifically, it compares community energy landscapes, progress made, and existing challenges and opportunities. To determine the status of community energy development in the two countries, recent publications and official policies were reviewed, and community energy managers were interviewed. The review showed that renewable energy sources are the dominant focus for community energy developments, which is key to achieving a cleaner energy future. However, progress in community energy development has been slow in these countries. There are several reasons that hinder community energy systems from driving the necessary energy transition to a cleaner, modern, and affordable energy. Some of these reasons are the absence of favorable regulatory frameworks, incentive package, knowledge on business models, weak commitments from stakeholders, and insufficient community involvement. These issues vary in degree between the two countries.

show abstract

Key technology development needs and applicability analysis of renewable energy hybrid technologies in off-grid areas for the Rwanda power sector

Niyonteze

Zou

Asemota

et al. 2020

Heliyon

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Until recently, the Rwanda power sector increased rapidly to double the 2010 installed capacity. The energy consumption in Rwanda experienced a steady rise correspondingly with the population and modern socioeconomic life. Consequently, Rwanda household access to electricity increased to 53% by September 2019. Not only does 47% of Rwanda's population lack electricity access, there are persistent power failures and the grid is also unstable. Using renewable energy hybrid technologies in off-grid areas might be a solution to this problem. However, the high cost of renewable energy hybrid systems has led to its slow adoption in many developing countries. Hence, it is important to find the most appropriate hybrid combinations that reduce energy cost and access electricity generation that maximizes the available renewable energy resources. This paper examines some new technology development needs related to the power sector in Rwanda. Secondly, four different 100% renewable energy hybrid systems were designed and simulated to support rural and remote areas considering an average load demand of 158.1 kWh/day with a peak load of 18 kW. The hybrid systems simulation and optimization were obtained using HOMER (hybrid optimization model for electric renewables) software. The input data were obtained from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for solar and wind resources, and hydro resources were from real-time field data for selected study site. The simulation results indicate hydro/ solar/battery hybrid is the most cost-effective and environmentally viable alternative for off-grid rural electrification because of low net present cost (NPC) and least greenhouse gas emissions. The proposed hybrid combination could apply to other rural areas in the region and elsewhere in the world especially where climate conditions are similar.

show abstract

Solar-powered mini-grids and smart metering systems, the solution to Rwanda energy crisis

Cited by 12 publications

References 13 publications

A Review of Energy Communities in Sub-Saharan Africa as a Transition Pathway to Energy Democracy

A Review of Energy Communities in Sub-Saharan Africa as a Transition Pathway to Energy Democracy

The role of community energy systems to facilitate energy transitions in Ethiopia and Mozambique

Key technology development needs and applicability analysis of renewable energy hybrid technologies in off-grid areas for the Rwanda power sector

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About