Abstract
There is a growing interest in the application of microgrids around the world because of their potential for achieving a flexible, reliable, efficient and smart electrical grid system and supplying energy to off-grid communities, including their economic benefits. Several research studies have examined the application issues of microgrids. However, a lack of in-depth considerations for the enabling planning conditions has been identified as a major reason why microgrids fail in several off-grid communities. This development requires research efforts that consider better strategies and framework for sustainable microgrids in remote communities. This paper first presents a comprehensive review of microgrid technologies and their applications. It then proposes the STEEP model to examine critically the failure factors based on the social, technical, economic, environmental and policy (STEEP) perspectives. The model details the key dimensions and actions necessary for addressing the challenge of microgrid failure in remote communities. The study uses remote communities within Nigeria, West Africa, as case studies and demonstrates the need for the STEEP approach for better understanding of microgrid planning and development. Better insights into microgrid systems are expected to address the drawbacks and improve the situation that can lead to widespread and sustainable applications in off-grid communities around the world in the future. The paper introduces the sustainable planning framework (SPF) based on the STEEP model, which can form a general basis for planning microgrids in any remote location.
Highlights
There is a growing interest in the application of microgrids around the world because of their potential for achieving a flexible, reliable, efficient and smart electrical grid system and supplying energy to off-grid communities, including their economic benefits [1]
The environmental performance parameters that will be of interest in this case include the life cycle emissions (LCE), global warming potential (GWP), cumulative energy demand (CED), energy payback time (EPBT) and net energy ratio (NER) or energy return on investment (EROI), which can aid the understanding of the comparison of the impacts of renewable energies with those of conventional energy sources [163,164,165]
This paper has presented a comprehensive review of microgrid technologies focusing on solar photovoltaic, wind, hydro, biomass and conventional energy systems, their developmental status and applications
Summary
There is a growing interest in the application of microgrids around the world because of their potential for achieving a flexible, reliable, efficient and smart electrical grid system and supplying energy to off-grid communities, including their economic benefits [1]. While efforts are continually being made by several developing countries toward increasing the energy access rate, there is a lack of considerations for the enabling planning factors, which is why microgrids fail in several off-grid communities This prevailing challenge requires research efforts that consider new ways of thinking, better and effective strategies and framework that can help achieve sustainable microgrids in remote communities. The remaining aspects of the paper is arranged as follows: Section 2 focuses on the different microgrid technologies; Section 3 presents the background—current situation, local issues and the proposed model; Section 4 discusses the microgrid failure factors (MFFs); Section 5 presents the sustainable microgrid factors (SMFs), while Section 6 focuses on the sustainable planning framework (SPF) and the prospects of microgrids in remote communities; Section 7 concludes the paper
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