Summary

The 'Mini-grid sizing guidebook’ aims at proving a quick understanding of the ruling principles of electricity demand assessment and mini-grids system sizing. While planning mini-grids implementation for rural areas, adequate load assessment and demand forecast, as well as subsequent system sizing, are essential for an appropriate design. The economic viability of mini-grid projects depends on the size of the installed assets - and thus the investments - which need to be backed by a payable demand in the years after commissioning. A wrongly configured system (too small or too large) will either not serve its purpose or not recover the cost required to set it up. Those off-grid areas with no access to electricity are also known as ‘greenfield’ sites.

A mini-grid is a set of small-scale electricity generators and possibly energy storage systems interconnected to a distribution network that supplies electricity to limited number of customers. The combination of photovoltaic(PV) systems with a diesel genset and/or storage system is a flexible and usually least-cost solution for the electrification of rural communities. Thus, this technology is able to tap the solar energy potential, to provide rapid, cost-effective and high quality electrification, and to allow a profit investment on renewable energy sources.

In Africa ‘greenfield’ sites represent the larger share in terms of rural electrification opportunities. Thereby, while fostering an effective implementation of a PV-diesel-battery-hybrid mini-gridpower plant, this guidebook will also contribute to the ultimate goal of sustainably enhancing rural electrification in sub-Saharan Africa.

This guidebook, is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1 gives a basic introduction and overview about sizing mini-grids. Chapter 2 describes the sizing procedure for mini-grids, including a description of required data and information. The methods for the assessment of energy demand are explained in detail, and the correction of the assessed demand to the effective demand is discussed. Furthermore, forecasting energy demand and recommendations on system sizing are addressed. Chapter 3 gives an overview of existing system sizing tools, focusing on the mini-grid builder and HOMER (Hybrid optimization of multiple energy resources). Chapter 4 entails a conclusion and some final recommendations to users of the tools and handbook.

Bibliography

Fricke, D. (2015): “Qinous Energy Solutions: PV Hybrid in Off-Grid and Mini-Grid
solutions”. Presentation given in Manila, October 2015.

GIZ (2015): Mini-grid builder: Web-Based Mini-Grid Tool. Available from
http://www.minigridbuilder.com/ [accessed 21 June 2016]

HOMER (2016): Homer Energy Support Knowledgebase.
http://support.homerenergy.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/272/90/10070---dispatch-strategy [Accessed: 17th June 2016]

IEA (2015): World Energy Outlook 2015. International Energy Agency, Paris, France.
Available from http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/weo2015// [accessed: 17
December 2015]

IEA (2014): Africa Energy Outlook 2014. International Energy Agency, Paris, France.
Available from http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/africa/ [accessed 15 June
2016]

IEA (2013): Rural Electrification with PV Hybrid Systems. International Energy
Agency, Paris, France. ISBN: 978-3-906042-11-4

IEA and World Bank (2015): Sustainable Energy for All 2015—Progress Toward
Sustainable Energy 2015. World Bank, Washington, DC. Available from
http://www.se4all.org/sites/default/files/l/2013/09/GTF-2105-Full-Report.pdf
[accessed 15 June 2016]

IRENA (2015): IRENA Off-grid Renewable Energy Systems: Status and methodological
issues. International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Innovation and
Technology Centre, Bonn, Germany

NRECA (2011): Guides for Electric Cooperative Development and Rural Electrification,
NRECA International, http://www.nreca.coop/what-we-do/internationalprograms/

RECP (2014): Mini grid policy toolkit. European Union Energy Initiative Partnership
Dialogue Facility (EUEI PDF), Eschborn, Germany

SDGH (2014): Solar/Diesel Mini-Grid Handbook. Power and Water Corporation
(PWC), Darwin, Australia

World Bank (2016): Current Activities and Challenges to Scaling up Mini-Grids in
Kenya. Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP). World Bank,
Washington, DC.

Licensing

I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: This file is licensed under the Creative CommonsAttribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. You are free: to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work to remix – to adapt the work Under the following conditions: attribution – You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). share alike – If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one. www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0 CC-BY-SA-3.0 Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 truetrue