Improving reliability of the power distribution system in Goma (DRC) using solar distributed generation

Abstract

The existing power distribution system of the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has many problems, including the scarcity of electric energy, power unreliability, the low access rate of electrification, poor flexibility in the network topology, and lack of demand response, which lead to shedding of load, unbalancing and overloading the system. The reliability of the Goma power distribution system is very poor by international standards. The major cause of this is the lack of adequate energy supply to meet demand. To mitigate the power reliability problem, a solar-based distributed generation (DG) is modelled and evaluated in this study. Each feeder has been considered separately with an appropriately designed DG. The work has evaluated initial investment cost and life cycle cost of the investment to assess the feasibility of the proposed solution. Based on the unserved energy and electricity tariff, an economic analysis was conducted. The reliability indices are computed and the modelled solution is designed for each feeder in PV syst software and simulated using ETAP, whose simulation results show that the reliability can be improved by up to 76%.