Abstract:
Ethiopia is a developing country, where the majority of the population lives in rural areas without access to electricity. 83 % of the total population of the country uses traditional biomass energy as a basic source of energy. In contrast, the country is endowed with sufficient renewable energy resources which can be used as a standalone electric energy supply system for electrifying remote areas of the country. These resources are mainly wind, solar, and diesel systems which can be used individually or the best combination of one another. The application of a hybrid renewable energy system has become an important alternative solution for rural electrification programs. This work aims to model and study the feasibility of hybrid Wind, PV, and Diesel systems for the electrification of a rural area in Ethiopia. Since a hybrid combination of renewable energy technologies is generally considered to be the best-suited alternative to an expensive grid extension for remote rural areas, this thesis focuses on creating a model for electricity generation from the above-mentioned hybrid system for a village called Zobl, which is found in Amhara regional state. The village is located at a latitude of 12.170N and a longitude of 39.770E. The village has 300 households, one primary school, and one health center. Firstly, the wind energy, solar, and diesel power potential of the village is evaluated based on the available primary and secondary data. The electrical load of the community is estimated by making critical assumptions. Next, the energy equipment is selected and modeled based on the electrical load of the village. A standalone wind/PV/Diesel/battery hybrid system and only diesel system options are considered separately to electrify the selected village. HOMER simulation software has been used as a modeling and designing tool. For the first option, many feasible hybrid system combinations are listed and sorted according to their net present cost. Accordingly, levelized (COE) and breakeven grid extension distance depend on the selected sensitivity variables. The COE of the most favorable wind/micro hydro hybrid system is $0.121 /kWh. Likewise, the breakeven grid extension distance of the hybrid system is 34.2km. On the other hand, the Levelized COE of the diesel system is 3.089$/kWh, which is smaller than that of a hybrid system. And it is believed that the standalone wind/PV/diesel power system is economically feasible and pollution-free to implement for this particular site.
Keywords: PV, HOMER, Zobl, COE, Hybrid, Wind, Electrical Load