Application of 30 MWp Grid-Connected Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant for Djibouti Vision 2035

Abstract

Nowadays, like most of African countries, Djibouti is facing challenging energy access. The country was suffering a shortage of electricity for a long period until the government of Djibouti signed an agreement with the Ethiopia electric power cooperation (EEPCO) company in 2011. Thereby, the electricity consumption of the country is mainly from imported fossil fuels and the interconnection project. In order to realize Djibouti Vision 2035, the Republic of Djibouti signed an agreement with an Emirati company (AMEA) to build the first solar photovoltaic power plant in Grand Bara. In this paper, sizing, and simulation of the 30 MWp grid-connected solar photovoltaic power plant will be done using PVsyst 7.2 software. A 400 W bifacial monocrystalline panel and 160 kW string inverters are used in this study. The simulation results from PVsyst software are to acquire the system production, the performance ratio, and the various power losses such as losses due to irradiance level. The average global horizontal irradiance of the site is 2317.2 kWh/m2 while the average ambient temperature is 25.75° C. About 59.6 GWh of electricity power is injected into the grid with an average performance ratio of 83.21% in the year. This study is an example in terms of solar energy application in Africa and also its contributions to the socio-economic development of African countries will be observed in the near future