Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emission Generated by Thermal Power Plants with Solar Power on the Uganda's Electricity Grid

Abstract

Electricity generation emits half of carbon dioxide emissions globally. This has contributed to increasing global warming. The aim of this paper is to determine the quantity of carbon dioxide generated by grid connected thermal power plants in Uganda and estimate the solar power required to lower the emission to recommended levels. The installed and effective generation capacities of the thermal and solar power plants were obtained from Uganda electricity regulatory authority. The Carbon dioxide emission from electricity generation was estimated using emission factor. The net present worth method was used to evaluate economics of replacing thermal power with solar. Thermal power plants emitted an average of 60021 tonnes of Carbon dioxide per year. Replacing the 100 MW produced from thermal power plants will require investing in solar to achieve the same capacity while reducing carbon dioxide. The economic analysis indicated a positive net present worth USD24.7 million after 25 years and a breakeven point of 8 years.