Electricity Production Cost Research Articles

Thermo-economic investigation of solar-biomass hybrid cogeneration systems based on small-scale transcritical organic Rankine cycles

• An innovative small-scale solar/biomass hybrid system is investigated. • A novel transcritical organic Rankine cycle is studied at full and partial loads. • The comparison with single-source systems shows the advantages of the hybrid solution. • Biomass and solar source integration assures cost decrease and clean production. • Biomass saving (–32.8%) and better solar exploitation (+8.8%) are reached. The present study aims at investigating the energy, exergy, and economic performance of an innovative multi-source renewable hybrid energy system for small-scale combined heat and power (CHP) applications. The system is based on a transcritical organic Rankine cycle (ORC) able to exploit solar and biomass sources, through a concentrated solar power unit and a biomass boiler. A thermo-economic model has been developed and a parametric analysis has been implemented to define the proper configuration of the hybrid system balancing energy and economic purposes. The investigation, performed for a residential complex in Southern Italy, highlights that the suitable hybridisation of biomass and solar energy increases the useful production and system flexibility compared to the single-source configurations. The proposed small-scale system guarantees a 48.9% decrease in the biomass consumption compared to the corresponding biomass-only apparatus, increases the exploitation (+8.8% of electric production) of low solar radiations that are not adequate to feed a full-solar ORC, also overcoming the stochastic and intermittent characteristics of the solar source. The comparison with the conventional scenario, where the electric grid and natural gas boilers satisfy the energy demands, separately, demonstrates that the suggested solar/biomass hybrid ORC system guarantees a 24.2% primary energy saving, a 53.5% decrease in the unit electric and thermal production costs, and a 57.7% drop in greenhouse gas emissions, with a payback period equal to 7.5 years.

Study of the Economic and Environmental Effects of Photovoltaic Resources Location in the Electricity Network Using PSO (Particle Swarm Optimizers) Algorithm

Background: Currently, electricity producers are mainly concerned with finding solutions that make it possible to produce electricity with a low fuel cost and minimize toxic gas emissions into the atmosphere. Objective: This paper aims to demonstrate the economic and environmental impact of connecting photovoltaic plants on the electricity grid to reduce the cost of electricity production and the emissions of toxic gas into the atmosphere. Methods: The study was carried out under the MATLAB environment using the PSO algorithm (Particle Swarm Optimizers), which makes it possible to optimize the cost function and the gas emissions function in two cases: In the first case, the electricity network is considered without photovoltaic generation; and in the second case with the addition of photovoltaic generation. Results: After connecting the photovoltaic plant to the electricity network, we obtained a remarkable reduction in the cost of production and the quantity of emission of toxic gases. Conclusion: The economic and environmental impact of the photovoltaic plant on the electricity grid has been well demonstrated by applying the method of particle swarm optimization (PSO). We compared the results obtained before and after connecting the photovoltaic plant to the electricity grid; we obtained good results in terms of reduction in production costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

Analisa Efesiensi Bahan Bakar Dan Dampak Lingkungan Emisi Gas Buang Pembangkit Listrik Tenaga Diesel (Pltd) Terhadap Pembangkit Listrik Mesin Gas (PLTMG)

The need for electrical energy is a primary human need at this time, the need for electricity is almost a necessity for both industry, offices, and the general public. The main problem of the power generation industry today is the use of oil as fuel for power generation which will increase the cost of electricity production. One of the government's efforts to reduce the use of fuel oil is to use oil fuel with the consideration that natural gas is more effective and efficient, its use is more practical and its emissions are more environmentally friendly when compared to solar power. (Harumsari, 2012). From these problems arose the idea of calculating the efficiency between a diesel-fired power plant (PLTD) and a gas engine power plant (PLTMG) powered by LNG (Liquedfied Natural Gas) and the resulting emission measurement results. The study conducted an efficiency analysis by carrying out a 50% and 75% load test of installed capacity and analyzing its environmental friendliness by taking the emission test results.

Environmental externalities of wood pellets from fast-growing and para-rubber trees for sustainable energy production: A case in Thailand

Wood pellets are one of biomass-based energy carriers considered important as renewable energy source. This study considers wood pellets for heat and power generation from fast-growing Leucaena and Acacia trees and para-rubber trees in a life cycle perspective. The objectives of this study are to estimate the actual cost (including environmental externalities) of heat and electricity production from wood pellets, and comparison with the external cost of fossil fuels, as well as forecasting the external cost arising from the increase in wood pellet demand. For both heat and electricity production, it was seen that when external costs are included, wood pellets are cheaper than lignite and fuel oil although the latter are cheaper when only internal costs are considered. Four recommendations for reducing the external costs of wood pellet production are: 1) to support sustainable agriculture for para-rubber trees and fast-growing trees, 2) to consider clean transportation in the supply chain, 3) wood pellet factory zoning, including good logistics, and 4) considering the external cost of wood pellets for polluter pays principle. These results and recommendations of the study can provide important information to consider towards adjusting the national energy plan and to have strict measures for avoiding problem shifting from the use of non-renewable resources (fossil fuels) to issues related to the use of biomass-based fuels (use of agro-chemicals, forest encroachment, and so on).

Technical and economic aspects of coke gasification in the petroleum refining industry

Petcoke has applications as an energy source in the industry, serving as fuel for power generation or through the Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) system for the production of syngas and electricity. This kind of technology prioritize the production of electric energy efficiently through a combined cycle integrated with a gasification system. The novelty of this work is the consideration of the use of petcoke for increasing electricity potential generation in the refinery regarding Brazilian conditions. In this paper, it is studied the application of the petcoke gasification in an actual refinery located in the Vale do Paraiba region, São José dos Campos city. In this analysis, thermodynamics studies are carried out on the potential for electricity production and the global efficiency of the process using IGCC technology in the Brazilian oil refinery. Also, economic analysis is applied for the determination of the electricity production cost, the annual saving expected and the payback period of the system. As conclusions, the studies showed a net efficiency in the electricity production of 41.2% with a production capacity of 260 MW. It was found that the specific investment cost of the system was US$ 2719.2/kW and the cost of energy production tends to stabilize at US$ 0.083/kW, and the payback is between 7 and 10 years when the cost of electricity is considered as US$ 0.109/kWh.

Time series aggregation-based design and operation optimization of a solar-driven organic Rankine cycle incorporating variation of environmental temperature and solar radiation

The efficient utilization of renewable energy, e.g., solar energy, has become a major requirement to build a clean and efficient energy system and achieve the goal of carbon neutrality. Organic Rankine cycle (ORC) is one of the most promising technologies for converting solar energy into power. However, life-span low operation performance is still a barrier to the wide-spread application of ORC. Design and off-design operation optimization is significant in improving the life-span performance of ORC. In the routine methods, the ORC system is usually designed under a specific rated condition. However, the ORC mostly operates under off-design conditions. The conventional method separates the off-design operation process from the design process and typically loses solution optimality. In the present study, the off-design operation conditions are incorporated into the design process. A time series aggregation-based method for design and operation optimization of a solar driven ORC is proposed. K-means algorithm is applied to achieve the optimal aggregation operating points for the environmental temperature and solar radiation. The design and operation optimization model incorporating the off-design component performance is developed. The optimal design and operating schemes are achieved based on the aggregated operating points, and the effectiveness of the proposed method is validated. The results indicate that the ORC obtained by the proposed method features a 37.37% lower electricity production cost compared with the conventional method.

Energy System Optimization for Net-Zero Electricity

A novel and fast-converging cost minimization model using non-linear constrained mathematical programming (NLP) has been developed to optimize renewable and bioenergy generation and storage systems’ capacities for transitioning to an electricity system with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. Running this temporal and spatial multi-scale model gives an in-depth understanding of realistic electricity mixes in sustainable transitioning. The model comprises three interactive modules 1) analytics and visualization of data inputs, climatic and demand time-series, and design configurations, and output results, optimal electricity mix, and storage characteristics, 2) mathematical models of renewable generation systems using non-linear climate-dependent capacity factor time-series and energy system components, and 3) NLP to minimize the total cost. Hourly and total energy balances are the crucial constraints influencing the speed and efficacy of the solution. Fast-converged solutions of the NLP model are updated considering battery energy storage with a few hours dispatch time for attainable optimum net-zero electricity (NZE) mix. The NLP optimization model is tested on the energy-intensive UK South. The feasible optimum regional solutions characterized as high renewable supply-medium-to-high-demand (South West), low-supply-medium-demand (Greater London), and high-supply-high-demand (South East) scenarios are projected to the UK national level. The inputs to the NLP model are wind speed and solar radiation with annual hourly resolutions curated from the Centre for Environmental Data Analysis, process economic parameters (investment, fixed, operating, and resource costs, weighted average cost of capital, and life in years of processes) from the LUT energy system model, and global warming potential impacts from our archived literature. 2020-2050 electricity mixes are analyzed with varying costs and demands. The NLP optimization followed by energy storage feasibility analysis gives the following attainable optimal energy mixes: wind: 55%, solar: 29%, hydro: 0.5%, geothermal: 0.4%, and bioenergy: 1% (high-supply-medium-to-high-demand); wind: 52%, solar: 32%, hydro: 0.5%, geothermal: 0.5%, and bioenergy: 1% (low-supply-medium-demand); and wind: 45%, solar: 23%, hydro: 0.7%, geothermal: 0.7%, and bioenergy: 10% (high-supply-high-demand). Energy storage (13.5 TWh in the UK South) with 13-22% contributions of load demand (80 TWh in the UK South) costs 14% of the levelized cost of electricity production, 120-190 EURO/MWh. The high-supply-medium-to-high-demand scenario, providing the UK NZE projection of wind: 40GW, solar: 21GW, bioenergy and other renewables: 5GW, nuclear: 6GW, and gas with carbon capture, utilization, storage, and sequestration (CCUS): 5GW by 2050, mirrors the government's NZE plan. The additional wind (currently at 8.65GW), solar (currently at 1.5GW), and CCUS (currently there is none) capacities require £23 billion, £4 billion, and £1 billion investment costs.

Polycrystalline Silicon Membranes for Solar Cells Fabricated Using Water-soluble Sacrificial Layers

During the fabrication of crystalline silicon solar cells, kerf-loss caused by the wire-sawing of silicon ingots to produce thin wafers inevitably limits the reduction of electricity production cost. To avoid the kerf-loss, direct growth of crystalline silicon wafers of 50-150 μm with a porous separation layer that can be mechanically broken during the exfoliation process, has been widely investigated. However, several issues including flattening of the surface after the exfoliation remain unsolved. In this work an alternative method that utilizes a water-soluble Sr3Al2O6 (SAO) sacrificial layer inserted between the mother substrate and the grown crystalline silicon layers is introduced. Polycrystalline silicon layers were grown on SAO/Si by plasma-enhanced CVD process and silicon membranes could be successfully obtained after the dissolution of SAO in the water. Same process could be applied to obtain flexible amorphous silicon membranes. Further research is being conducted to increase the size of the exfoliated wafer, which expects to reduce the production cost of crystalline silicon solar cells effectively.

ТЕХНІКО-ЕКОНОМІЧНА ОЦІНКА ВИКОРИСТАННЯ СИСТЕМИ АКУМУЛЮВАННЯ ЕЛЕКТРОЕНЕРГІЇ ДЛЯ СТАБІЛІЗАЦІЇ РОБОТИ СОНЯЧНОЇ ЕЛЕКТРОСТАНЦІЇ

The article considers the problems that arise during the operation of high-power photovoltaic solar power plants as part of integrated power systems. The necessity of using energy storage systems to stabilize the operation of solar power plants is described and the calculated mathematical model of their joint operation is given. A study of the operation of a solar power plant with a fixed capacity of photovoltaic modules of 20 MW together with the energy storage system and determined the capacity of batteries needed to stabilize the power supply of electricity to the grid. For the day with the largest volumes of electricity production, in order to fully stabilize the operation of a solar power plant, it is necessary to release 41% of all generated electricity directly into the grid, and other volumes must be accumulated with subsequent discharge. Connecting batteries to a solar power plant allows to reduce the installed capacity of inverters from 18 to 3-5 MW, which reduces the cost of electricity production by 13-16%. According to the data on capital investment and operating costs during the entire period of operation solar power plants together with the energy storage system for the built in 2020 and 2040, the levelized cost of energy, storage and supply into the grid was determined. References 12, figures 5, table 1.

Influence of vapor generator design on thermodynamic and techno-economic performances of transcritical organic Rankine cycle

Transcritical organic Rankine cycle is of great potential in converting low-grade heat into electricity. Due to sharp variations in fluid thermophysical properties, accurate design of vapor generator in transcritical cycle remains challenging. This work aims to investigate the influence of vapor generator design on both component and system levels. Vapor generator employing supercritical R134a or R1234yf was designed by two models. One is more accurate and the other is more commonly used but may be less accurate. A multi-factor evaluation method was developed to comprehensively analyze the system thermo-economic performance. Results show that two design models led to a difference up to 36% in the size of vapor generator Avapor, but only 1% change in system electricity production cost (EPC). The increase of turbine inlet temperature caused a 10% change in Avapor, while the change with operating pressure was only 1%. In the case of multi-objective optimization, two designs gave 16%∼36% deviation in Avapor and less than 2.5% changes in four performance indicators, but differences in their optimal operating conditions caused 2%∼8% deviations between design condition and the assumed real condition. Quite consistent results were obtained for two working fluids, and a linear correlation was found between uncertainties in Avapor and EPC.

Climate change, extreme winter weather and electricity production costs

We analyze the characteristics of the Northeast US’s PJM wholesale electricity market production cost and supply curve during the most extreme winter weather event in modern meteorological history within the PJM territory. It is seemingly ironic that the cause of such extremely cold weather events is global warming. The experience from this event demonstrates that the annual-summer-peak-centric nature of the PJM capacity planning process does not address the adequacy of supply during the winter. The PJM production cost curve is estimated and compared across recent winter season peak months to understand how large the price responsiveness to load changes can be during extreme winter weather events and how winter weather events can reduce system reliability for a summer-capacity-planning-centric power market. Therefore, PJM and other power pools (such as ERCOT in Texas) have not considered secondary peak seasons in capacity planning.

Decarbonisation of islands: A multi-criteria decision analysis platform and application

In this paper the REACT-DECARB energy planning platform, designed to assist with the assessment of decarbonisation scenarios for islands’ electricity grids, is fully presented and applied to eight (8) EU islands. The scenarios were developed in the context of a Horizon 2020 EU project employing a renewable energy production forecasting and an optimisation mixed-integer linear programming model. The platform employs energy and economic modules, life-cycle assessment and multi-criteria decision analysis to facilitate the integrated evaluation of scenarios and enables decision makers to fully grasp the technical, environmental, economic and social aspects of energy systems’ decarbonisation. Results indicate that island electrical autonomy should be considered with caution and can be a valid option only if cost criteria are not prioritised. Further, it was determined that seeking autonomy in countries with low carbon costs for electricity production may be not be environmentally beneficial. A number of inter-island comparisons have been made and have shown that the REACT-DECARB platform can assist planners and decision-makers to identify the best available scenarios, define the sensitivity issues with respect to the criteria weights and, together with local communities, come to a common ground in order to establish a roadmap for the transition towards a decarbonised energy future for islands.

Techno-economic analysis of e-waste based chemical looping reformer as hydrogen generator with co-generation of metals, electricity and syngas

Chemical looping reforming (CLR) is an efficient technology to convert hydrocarbon fuels into CO 2 and H 2 using metal oxide based oxygen carriers. The novelty of the present study is to utilize electronic waste such as printed circuit board (PCB) to generate high quality syngas and metallic components for the CLR process. A portion of the syngas generated during e-waste pyrolysis is used with coal and polypropylene for effective combustion. A techno-economic analysis is performed for the production of hydrogen and electricity in the CLR method. The levelized costs for electricity (LCOE), hydrogen (LCOH), syngas (LCOS), and metal (LCOM) production using e-wastes are estimated as 92.28 $/MWh, 3.67 $/kg, 0.0034 $/kWh, and 24.32 $/ton, respectively. The LCOH is found to be the least of 2.90 $/kg under the co-feed conditions of PCB syngas-PP. The integration of the e-waste based CLR with a steam turbine system achieved a net efficiency of 50%. • E-waste based chemical looping reformer (CLR) is proposed for hydrogen generation. • Mixture of PCB based syngas, coal, and polypropylene (PP) is used as feedstock. • Techno-economic analysis is conducted for CLR integrated steam turbine system. • Levelized costs for hydrogen, electricity, syngas and metal oxides are assessed. • PCB syngas with coal and PP produced a net efficiency of 48.8% with LCOH of 3 $/kg.

Integration of membrane technology for decarbonization of gasification power plants: A techno-economic and environmental investigation

• Integration of membrane technology for decarbonization of gasification power plants. • Techno-economic and environmental assessment of decarbonized gasification plants. • Membrane-based CO 2 capture system increases the overall plant energy efficiency. • Membrane reduces capital cost (9%), operational cost (10%) and electricity cost (7%). • Decarbonized gasification plants are economic viable for current 75 €/t carbon tax. Membrane technology is one promising technology for CO 2 capture from industrial gases. The application of membrane system in gasification-based power plants is particularly appealing considering the elevated pressure of syngas subject to decarbonization resulting in lower energy and economic penalties for CO 2 capture. As key novelty element of this work, the membrane technology was evaluated in both alone and hybrid configuration with gas-liquid absorption in view of decarbonization of Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle power plants. Assessed decarbonized gasification-based power plant concepts produce about 450 MW net output with 90% CO 2 capture rate. An integrated techno-economic and environmental evaluation methodology (based on modelling, simulation and process integration) was applied to quantify the most important plant performance indicators. For comparison, similar IGCC designs without decarbonization feature or with decarbonization by chemical and physical gas-liquid absorption were also analysed. The overall conclusion is that the membrane technology has important techno-economic benefits in comparison to chemical and physical absorption e.g. greater overall net energy efficiency (up to about one net percentage point), lower specific capital investment costs (down to 9%), lower operational & maintenance costs (down to 10%), lower electricity production costs (down to 7%), lower CO 2 capture costs (down to 50%).

Thermoeconomic analysis of a low-temperature waste-energy assisted power and hydrogen plant at off-NG grid region

In this study, thermoeconomic analysis of a CO2 power cycle and PEM hydrogen system using ultra-low temperature waste heat from a milk production facility is conducted. In the transcritical CO2 cycle, low-temperature LNG evaporation is used for cooling the condenser to increase the temperature difference enabling low temperature waste heat use. In addition, a PEM electrolyzer produces hydrogen to reduce the LNG requirement at the plant. A CO2-water exchanger has been designed to recover the pasteurized water's excess heat and evaporate the CO2 using Simcenter-Flomaster software. The inlet mass flow rates and outlet temperatures of the heat exchanger were optimized by performing thermoecomic analysis, and the thermal and economic performance of the facility was examined. The power cycle has 14% higher efficiency when LNG is used as the heat sink compared to ambient temperature condensation with an electricity production cost range at 0.05–0.11 $/kWh, and the hydrogen generation cost is between $2.6–5.20 kg−1. It is found that the plant could only be economically feasible when less than 50% of the power produced is used for hydrogen generation. Consequently, the proposed system can co-generate power and on-demand hydrogen in off-NG grid regions with reasonable investment and product costs.

Multi-objective optimization and off-design performance based on thermodynamic -economic-environmental analysis of organic Rankine & Kalina cycles for roller kiln waste heat recovery

ABSTRACT Heat recovery from roller kiln’s flue gas and cooling gas is interest topic to make ceramic tile production cleaner and more sustainable. Comparatively, the parallel double-evaporator regenerative organic Rankine cycle (PD-RORC) & Kalina cycle (PD-KC34 (Kalina cycle 34)) provide a good solution for a roller kiln’s low-temperature double heat sources utilization. In this research, the off-design performance of the multiobjective optimized PD-RORC & PD-KC34 based on thermodynamic-economic-environmental model is investigated to provide dependable assessment for the roller kiln’s waste heat recovery. Firstly, the multiobjective optimization of PD-RORC & PD-KC34 is carried out considering thermodynamic, economic and environmental factors, and TOPSIS method is used to select the optimal Pareto solution. Then, the influences of the roller kiln’s operating conditions and heat sink on the off-design performances of PD-RORC & PD-KC34 are further explored. The results show that, under the optimal condition, PD-RORC has superior exergy efficiency () and environmental performance with of 49.76% and environment impact load () of 0.096 mPEChina,90/kWh while PD-KC34 has better net power output () and economic behavior with of 250.72 kW and electricity production cost () of 0.090 $/kWh. In addition, excess air coefficient has the greatest impact on , , and for PD-RORC and PD-KC34. On the whole, PD-KC34 has higher sensitivity on and while PD-RORC shows greater sensitivity on and .

Technical and economic optimization of the hydrogen-thermal energy storage at nuclear power plant

The article discusses and optimizes the system developed by the authors based on closed-cycle hydrogen-thermal storage using external and built-in hydrogen-oxygen steam generator. On the basis of the finite element method with the use of the ANSYS software package, the process of starting up and entering the operating mode of the steam generator was simulated. The distribution dynamics of temperature fields and thermomechanical stresses in the walls of the combustion chamber are shown. When using the built-in combustion chamber, the maximum wall temperature after reaching the operating mode was 391°C and for 179°C for the external combustion chamber. The distribution dynamics of thermomechanical stresses fields practically corresponds to the distribution dynamics of temperature fields. In this case, the thermomechanical stresses for the built-in combustion chamber amounted to 219MPa, for the external – 195MPa. Taking into account the estimation of the calculated lifetime, an optimization technical and economic analysis of the efficiency implementation of hydrogen-oxygen steam generator was carried out. The use of built-in hydrogen-oxygen steam generator makes it possible to increase the efficiency of off-peak electricity use by 14.76% and to reduce the cost of peak electricity production by 18.4%, taking into account the lifetime.

Critical Assessment of Feed-In Tariffs and Solar Photovoltaic Development in Vietnam

Vietnam became the world’s third largest market for solar photovoltaic energy in 2020. Especially after the Vietnamese government issued feed-in tariffs for grid-connected solar photovoltaic systems, the installed capacity of solar photovoltaic applications exploded in 2019. From studies carried out in the relevant literature, it can be said that support policies are highly important for the initial development of the renewable energy industry in most countries. This is especially true in emerging countries such as Vietnam. This paper reviews the feed-in tariffs issued and deployed in different regions of Vietnam for grid-connected solar photovoltaic applications. Moreover, the paper takes a closer look at the costs of electricity production from these systems in relation to the feed-in tariffs issued in Vietnam. The results show that the gap between the levelized cost of electricity and the feed-in tariff for solar photovoltaic electricity is relatively high, particularly in regions with a lower irradiation potential.

Аналіз інноваційної активності в розвитку сонячної енергетики та її вплив на енергетичну безпеку України

The presented article analyzes innovative activity in the development of solar energy and its impact on the energy security of Ukraine. In particular, the innovative processes taking place in the global alternative energy sector and their impact on the management of the Ukrainian energy complex are researched. It is emphasized that innovations in the technological process of manufacturing polycrystalline silicon and increasing the volume of its production made it possible to exponentially reduce the cost of production of photocells from polycrystalline silicon (C-si). An evaluation of the current state of innovation activity and its management in the global alternative energy sector as a tool for ensuring Ukraine’s energy security, competitiveness and economic independence of the country is provided. The world total installed capacity of photovoltaic power plants is outlined with a forecast until 2025. The current legislation of Ukraine on alternative energy, energy conservation, efficient use of energy resources, development of renewable and alternative energy sources is analyzed. It is underlined that today the high self-cost of electricity production is a serious problem of the Ukrainian electric energy sector, so the current trend of reducing the cost of solar electricity production against the background of a constant increase in nominal prices is a positive signal for investors. The outlined statistics of increasing energy production from renewable sources indicate that the government sees its independence in the development of renewable energy sources, and companies developing solar energy are becoming competitive owing to the rapid reduction in the cost of electricity production compared to traditional types of energy, which is a promising direction of work in today’s conditions. The investment attractiveness of electricity production using silicon solar panels is emphasized.

Comparison of Two Methods for Optimizing the Electricity Production Cost for Rural Electrification: Case of PV/Biogas Generator Hybrid Power Plant in Burkina Faso

In fossil fuels depletion and climate change context, converting renewable energies into electricity is an asset for the electrification in West Africa rural areas. However, the massive production of electricity from renewable energies still comes up against a high cost per kWh of electricity produced. The optimization method choice is essential in the feasibility study of electrification projects with a view to achieve a cost per kWh of electricity that is bearable for both, the users and the project implementation structure. In this study, the optimization methods of genetic algorithm and that of the Homer software are compared in order to determine which is the best for the production cost optimization of an hybrid power plant at the Dori site, located in the Sahelian zone of Burkina Faso, in West Africa. The electricity production cost optimization on this site, by the two methods showed that the genetic algorithm method is the best indicated with kWh cost of $0.589 against a kWh cost of $0.620 for the Homer software. With both methods, the amount of CO₂ equivalent avoided from being emitted into the atmosphere is the same, i.e. 161127 tons per year. The genetic algorithm optimization method is best suited for the study of rural electrification projects in the Sahelian zone of Burkina Faso.