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Abstract
Rural electrification in remote areas of developing countries has several challenges which hinder energy access to the population. For instance, the extension of the national grid to provide electricity in these areas is largely not viable. The Kenyan Government has put a target to achieve universal energy access by the year 2020. To realize this objective, the focus of the program is being shifted to establishing off-grid power stations in rural areas. Among rural areas to be electrified is Habaswein, which is a settlement in Kenya’s northeastern region without connection to the national power grid, and where Kenya Power installed a stand-alone hybrid mini-grid. Based on field observations, power generation data analysis, evaluation of the potential energy resources and simulations, this research intends to evaluate the performance of the Habaswein mini-grid and optimize the existing hybrid generation system to enhance its reliability and reduce the operation costs. The result will be a suggestion of how Kenyan rural areas could be sustainably electrified by using renewable energy based off-grid power stations. It will contribute to bridge the current research gap in this area, and it will be a vital tool to researchers, implementers and the policy makers in energy sector.
Highlights
IntroductionDespite making efforts to enhance electrification, only managed to reach an electrification rate of 47% in 2016 [1]
This study aims at providing information about the use of mini-grids as a convenient solution to increase electricity access in remote areas
We prove the obvious result that, during the operational phase, the hybrid plants present lower emissions because fuel consumption is lower than the present plant, and the installation of a BESS achieve the maximum reduction of pollutants because the battery system can supply energy when the PV plant is not working; in the configuration without BESS, the diesel generators will work every time the PV plant is not producing enough power
Summary
Despite making efforts to enhance electrification, only managed to reach an electrification rate of 47% in 2016 [1]. Looking at the current energy situation, there are still many challenges and weaknesses that affect the energy supply sector in Kenya. The main ones are: (i) low access to modern energy, especially for cooking, leading to high pressure on biomass resources; (ii) high cost of energy; (iii) energy demand increasing faster than the additional generation installation rate; (iv) high cost of rural electrification through grid extension due to the scattered nature of settlements; (v) frequent power outages and high system losses; and (vi) high dependence on imported petroleum fuels [2]
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