Analysis of the Technico-Economic Viability of an Electric Micro-Grid with Renewable Electricity Production Sources in Elokato-Bingerville, Cote d’Ivoire

Abstract

In this study, the technico-economic viability is studied, on the basis of different scenarios of electric micro-grids with renewable energy production sources, autonomous and supplied by the interconnected grid. HOMER Pro 3.13.3 Pro simulation and optimization software, Xlstat and Energy sentinel software are used for the evaluation of different technical and economic scenarios of system components, in order to obtain the most cost-effective configuration. To do this, the case study of the village of ELOKATO identifies the optimal options for the use of renewable energies for rural electrification in order to increase the electricity coverage rate. In our case study, after the various simulations, HOMER identified 13 scenarios and configurations deemed to be the most profitable, from the parameters and configurations without photovoltaic components have high COEs and very high initial investment costs in the order of several million US $. Renewable energy power generators require high initial investments and relatively low operating costs. The most important costs are generated by the battery park and then come the photovoltaic panels. The hybrid PV/wind/diesel/hydropower system is profitable if the distance from the village to the transformer station is greater than 1.90 km. The results show great potential for using these hybridized production sources with or without a generator to meet the electricity needs of a village.