The Bolivian government’s concerns that are related to reducing the consumption of diesel fuel, which is imported, subsidized, and provided to isolated electric plants in rural communities, have led to the implementation of hybrid power systems. Therefore, this article presents the performance analysis in terms of energy efficiency, economic feasibility, and environmental sustainability of a photovoltaic (PV)/Stirling battery system. The analysis includes the dynamic start-up and cooling phases of the system, and then compares its performance with a hybrid photovoltaic (PV)/diesel/battery system, whose configuration is usually more common. Both systems were initially optimized in size using the well-known energy optimization software tool, HOMER. An estimated demand for a hypothetical case study of electrification for a rural village of 102 households, called “Tacuaral de Mattos”, was also considered. However, since the characteristics of the proposed systems required a detailed analysis of its dynamics, a dynamic model that complemented the HOMER analysis was developed using MATLAB Simulink TM 8.9. The results showed that the PV/Stirling battery system represented a higher performance option to implement in the electrification project, due to its good environmental sustainability (69% savings in CO2 emissions), economic criterion (11% savings in annualized total cost), and energy efficiency (5% savings in fuel energy conversion).
Energy is vital to reduce poverty and improve social and economic development. For more than a century, modern economies have based their growth on fossil fuels, which has led to global warming, environmental pollution, and social problems. In accordance with the Paris Agreement (2015), governments have committed to evaluating their energy systems to seek appropriate solutions to support their decarbonization and keep global warming well below 2 o C. In order to achieve this objective, developing countries are making considerable efforts, among which is considered a shift to the use of renewable energy sources to satisfy their growing demand. Despite the current development and planning for the sector, there is room for improvement within the long-term planning and evaluation of energy systems. This paper analyses the difference between fossilbased and renewable-based growth in terms of economics, technical and environmental effects in Bolivia. To do so, all the country's energy sectors, including electricity, heat, and mobility, are covered and optimized through the open-source energy system modeling framework EnergyScope. Results showed a sustainable energy scenario in 2035, which accounted for 66% of renewable share and 44.64 e/tCO 2-eq. related to a compensation value for the difference with the business-as-usual scenario based on future government plans. This work demonstrated that a Bolivian energy system with a high share of renewable resources is possible, leading to energy sovereignty addressing climate change.
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