Tariff Considerations for Micro-Grids in Sub-Saharan Africa

Reber, Timothy; Booth, Samuel; Cutler, Dylan; Li, Xiangkun; Salasovich, J.

doi:10.2172/1422366

Cited by 29 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…• Community electricity demand: Two general categories of communities were modeled-those with primarily residential uses of electricity and those with a mix of commercial and residential uses of electricity. These profiles are drawn from Tariff Considerations for Micro-grids in Sub-Saharan Africa (Reber et al 2018), which is another report in this series.…”

Section: Scopementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The community electricity demand, or load profiles, are an important input to this analysis. The two load profiles used for this report draw on a literature review and bottom-up load profile development exercise from Tariff Considerations for Micro-grids in Sub-Saharan Africa (Reber et al 2018). The following assumptions went into the development of these load profiles:…”

Section: Community Electricity Demand (Load Profiles)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This analysis draws on five different locations that were selected to represent a broad swath of different climates drawn from the set of countries with developing micro-grid industries. Three locations were initially chosen to represent a western location (Accra, Ghana), an eastern location (Lodwar, Kenya), and a southern location (Lusaka, Zambia) corresponding with the locations used in Tariff Considerations for Micro-grids in Sub-Saharan Africa (Reber et al 2018). Two additional locations were included to broaden the spectrum of climates considered: Nakuru, Kenya, and Niamey, Niger.…”

Section: Climate Zonesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Comparative Study of Techno-Economics of Lithium-Ion and Lead-Acid Batteries in Micro-Grids in Sub-Saharan Africa

Lockhart

Booth

et al. 2019

Self Cite

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Micro-grids will be a critical element of extending modern electricity services to the roughly 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa who currently lack it, yet barriers remain to micro-grid deployment at scale. Though more affordable than grid extension for many communities lacking energy access, micro-grids are expensive on a per-kilowatt-hour basis. This report takes a close look at the cost of batteries in microgrids to evaluate whether lithium-ion (Li-ion) or lead-acid batteries are optimal to minimize costs, and it assesses which operational practices for batteries lead to the lowest life-cycle cost (LCC). Batteries often make up 20%-30% of capital costs during the life of a micro-grid system, so managing these costs and better understanding what drives them are important elements of sustainable business models for developers and funders who are considering investing in this sector.

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Section: Scopementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Community Electricity Demand (Load Profiles)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Climate Zonesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparative Study of Techno-Economics of Lithium-Ion and Lead-Acid Batteries in Micro-Grids in Sub-Saharan Africa

Lockhart

Booth

et al. 2019

Self Cite

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“…The LCOE is defined as the average cost per kWh of useful electrical energy produced by the system. [25], [26]. The figures are similar to the cost reflective tariffs calculated above, but use a different method taking into account discount rate.…”

Section: A Net Present Cost and Levelised Cost Of Energymentioning

confidence: 98%

Feasibility Study for a Solar PV Microgrid in Malawi

Eales

Archer²,

Buckland

et al. 2018

2018 53rd International Universities Power Engineering Conference (UPEC)

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Energy is an enabler for development but electricity access is still unobtainable for over 1 million people in developing countries. In Malawi, less than 12% of the population have access to grid electricity and in rural areas this is as low as 1%. Solar microgrids are emerging as a cost competitive, low carbon and reliable method for offering energy access in developing countries. This paper provides a summary of the process and key findings in assessing technical and financial feasibility of a solar microgrid in Malawi, including system design definition, business model discussion and sensitivity analysis of key parameters through techno-economic modelling. The novel approach developed utilises qualitative and quantitative information gathering and assessment in an iterative way to design a robust energy access solution in the most viable local location. The results show that the upper limit of the 'expected energy use' can be up to 5 times higher than the designed energy limit. Higher demand grids are shown to present c.20% lower levelised cost of energy for the cases considered and conversely, the 'low demand' grid case is shown to have c.48% higher levelised cost of energy . This represents a significant range of uncertainly in energy use prediction, which if not treated properly will adversely affect both energy access and microgrid business development. The research presented in this paper will address these challenges in the context of Malawi but is broadly applicable to other similar locations.

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“…In order to assess each village's load profiles, we identified estimates and assumptions regarding village customer typology and actual electricity consumption patterns of each type of costumer in rural settings, for which we relied on INENSUS' field data obtained through the company's involvement in JUMEME, a Tanzanian mini-grid operator with a portfolio of 12 mini-grids across islands in Lake Victoria. Further, we gathered data on population [36,37], regional average household sizes, population shares across low-, middle-and high income levels, households appliance use and appliance power ratings [43][44][45][46][47][48]. Tables A1 and A2 in Appendix A summarize the derived daily electricity consumption levels for each costumer type and the main cost assumptions for the modelling purposes in HOMER, respectively.…”

Section: Development Of Base-case Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mini-Grids for the Sustainable Electrification of Rural Areas in Sub-Saharan Africa: Assessing the Potential of KeyMaker Models

2020

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Solar hybrid mini-grid systems possess the potential to substantially support electrification in sub-Saharan Africa. While their technical reliability has been proven, their financial viability is achieved only by heavy subsidization as of now. Due to the growing importance of results-based financing, we ask whether newly developed business models leveraging on the value added of electricity supply in rural areas (such as the KeyMaker Model) bare the potential to substantially reduce amount of grants required to finance the initial capital investment and thus contribute to a sustainable form of development. The principle of the KeyMaker Model is based on utilizing the locally supplied mini-grid electricity to establish a local agro-processing project, the revenues of which are an additional income stream for the mini-grid operator, while the project creates an end-market for the local farmers to sell their produce. We have developed two scenarios (without and with KeyMaker Model) for four rural villages in Nigeria as a case study to scientifically assess the potential of KeyMaker Models. We simulated and optimized the mini-grid systems using the software tool HOMER. We then assessed their financial viability. Our analysis demonstrates grant finance requirements ranging from 82% to 99% of the total investment for the base-case mini-grid projects without consideration of the KeyMaker Model. We find that a well-selected KeyMaker Model such as cocoa bean processing reduced the grant requirement by 68 percentage points, while processes based on maize, palm oil and cassava processing achieved reductions of 36, 26 and 8 percentage points, respectively. Hence, we conclude that the value added by the introduction of new local business models bares the potential to reduce grant requirements for the socially and economically necessary electrification across the Global South.

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Tariff Considerations for Micro-Grids in Sub-Saharan Africa

Cited by 29 publications

References 3 publications

Comparative Study of Techno-Economics of Lithium-Ion and Lead-Acid Batteries in Micro-Grids in Sub-Saharan Africa

Comparative Study of Techno-Economics of Lithium-Ion and Lead-Acid Batteries in Micro-Grids in Sub-Saharan Africa

Feasibility Study for a Solar PV Microgrid in Malawi

Mini-Grids for the Sustainable Electrification of Rural Areas in Sub-Saharan Africa: Assessing the Potential of KeyMaker Models

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