An Economic Performance Overview of Microgrids for Limpopo Province Rural Areas

Abstract

A review of the economic viability of microgrids has been of high significance, considering the readiness of the global community to advance alternative energy generation resources from fossil fuels. Rural areas have been a critical point of various renewable energy studies due to electrification challenges in most rural areas worldwide. This review is driven by the fact that limited access to electricity affects rural communities' daily economic activities and social empowerment security. This limited access is due to a lack of electrification and generation capacity shortage as electricity demand increases due to population growth. We are conducting this study to explore new ways to bring affordable and dependable electricity to the rural areas of Limpopo province. This paper presents an economic review of implementing population size-dependent microgrids in the province. Four random rural areas with different population sizes have been selected. These areas have almost the same global solar horizontal irradiance and temperatures. The study areas are Ga-Masekwa, Ka-Dzingidzingi, Duthuni, and Mookgopong NU. The Herman-Beta method for peak load estimations and Homer Pro software have been employed to estimate location load profiles and simulate microgrid configurations. The study analyzed different solar power configurations, including solar PV/grid, solar PV/battery, and solar PV/grid/battery, to determine the best microgrid for each area. The results showed that the solar PV/grid configuration is the most cost-effective, with the least net present cost (NPC), levelized cost of energy (LCOE), and high returns of investments. The NPC of study areas sequentially is $284211, $4M, $7.3M, and $13.2M, respectively, and their levelized cost of energy is 0.124$/kWh, 0.068$/kWh, 0.065$/kWh, and 0.064$/kWh, respectively. This study gives scope to the economic standpoints of other locations with the same population characteristics.