This feasibility study analysed more sustainable options for the energy supply system of an dessert village in Upper Egypt. At the starting point the village power supply was provided by an decentralised diesel mini-grid consisting of 3 diesel generator with 55 kVA which correspond to an installed capacity of 123 kW. However, such diesel based system have high running cost and are difficult to maintain. Therefore, EcoThinking conduced a comparative analysis with the following three more sustainable system options:
- PV-Wind Hybrid System
- PV-Diesel Hybrid System
- Solar Home Systems (SHS).
In order to compared these options with the existing diesel minigrid, EcoThinking had to design and simulate these three energy systems using the advanced simulation software tools. The green house gas (GHG) emissions from the newly proposed renewable based energy system are up to 87% lower than the existing diesel based system. Also life cycle cost are lower and reliabilit is higher. The findings can be summarised as followed: The ecological assessment shows the best results for the SHS system and PV-Wind system. However, the PV-Diesel system reaches an average performance. Compared to the existing Diesel mini-grid all other solutions have large advantages in reducing GHG emissions and protecting the environment. From the socio-economic point of view both hybrid systems (PV-Wind and PV-Diesel) reveals a very good preference compared to the other option due to the high quality and security of electricity provision. In the economic assessment the PV-Diesel system shows the best performance in virtue of reduced consumption of fossil fuels and moderate investment cost for the PV generator. However, all other options are situated in a small range between average and good performance. Cost disadvantages of renewable energy technologies from the business management point of view are balanced through their high potential for economic development. Summarising all aspects of the comparison, the hybrid systems can be considered as the most suitable electrification option for this dessert village.
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