Browsing by Author "Mekdem Tesfamariama"

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    Techno Economic Feasibility Analysis of Mini-Grid Using Hybrid Renewable Energy System for Off-grid Community: a case of Shima Kebele North Shoa Ethiopia
    (Addis Ababa University, 2024-06) Mekdem Tesfamariama; Fitsum Salehu (PhD)
    Lack of clean and sustainable energy access is the biggest challenge for developing countries like Ethiopia. Many Ethiopian rural areas are not suitable for grid connections due to their geographical location and low number of residents. Rural communities utilize kerosene and biomass resources to meet their household energy demand, and the farmers employ large-scale irrigation schemes using diesel pumps. This causes a reduction in their profit gain and increases their expenses, including the cost of diesel pump maintenance and diesel oil transport. This study aims to assess the techno-economic feasibility of mini-grid solar energy for Shima Kebele, North Shoa, Ethiopia, which can provide reliable energy to the village. The energy demand of the study area is determined by conducting a questionnaire, a site visit, and using CROPWAT 8.0 software to determine the water requirement for irrigation. Onion water requirement is 8.65 mm/day and Tomatoes water requirement is 11.04 mm/day, which is equivalent to 4,922.5 m3/day required to irrigate 50 hectares. HOMER software is used to compute the techno-economics of various system configurations. The daily energy demand of the kebele is 1,568 kWh, where, around 67 % of the load is irrigation. The proposed optimal system consists of 343 kW of solar PV and a 60 kW generator. The proposed system NPC is USD 494,107 and the COE is USD 0.0885/kWh. The cost benefit analysis for irrigation was also done. The electricity saves around $36,000 per annum when compared to diesel. The system will improve the lives of rural communities in several ways. The result of the study can help encourage the different stakeholders to invest in mini-grids to tackle the socio-economic problems of the rural community, which will be a feasible and environmentally friendly solution.