Conference Papers/Proceedings

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    Optimization of rural network development
    (IEEE, 2024-11-08) Kádár, Péter; Sendegeya, Al-Mas
    A huge area with enormous number of inhabitants isn’t electrified in Africa. Although the electricity generation and distribution technology is given, the speed of network development and construction is limited by financial, material and human resources. A short term decision has to be done where to develop the network that should fit also in the long term plans. On one hand the high voltage (HV) network can be developed step by step but in this case the remote territories will be electrified decades later and masses of people will migrate to the metropoles. It has huge financial and social costs as well. Another possibility to set up independent small scale microgrid-minigrid but it is not a competitor of the bulk net in large scale. It should be connected soon or later to the national grid. Mapping the problem to an optimization task we can find the optimal ratio between the bulk- and microgrid developments at a given resource constraints. We find that the HV network should reach the neighbouring areas meanwhile the microgrids should be set up at the fares region.
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    A study on the design and financial viability of solar pv plants in Rwanda
    (IEEE, 2023-07) Morris, Kayitare; Gace, Athanase Dalson; Al-Mas, Sendegeya
    Solar PV systems are believed vital to provide reliable and eco-friendly energy to remote villages. However, a lack of information on the load demands, lack of information on factors of energy loss, and scarcity of information on the potential financial benefits of PV plants in rural areas hinder the optimal development of PV plants and investments in PV plant development. This study addresses these issues by assessing the load requirements for electrification and farming activities in remote areas in Rwanda, identifying energy loss factors for PV plants, and estimating the financial gains from such systems. The study shows that despite factors such as temperature-induced energy losses, the regions have enough solar resources to meet the villages' load demands. The economic evaluation reveals that solar PV plants can be beneficial to investors, with the cost of energy dropping significantly and benefiting consumers.
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    Analysis of the development and installations of renewable energy-based mini-grids: case study Uganda
    (IEEE PES/IAS PowerAfrica, 2020-08) Cartland, Richard; Sendegeya, Al-Mas; Hakizi, Jean de Dieu Khan
    The provision of energy to all citizens has been an outstanding need in most developing countries in order to meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Uganda as a developing country has put mechanisms in place to provide electricity to her people and be able to realize the national vision of 2040 and be able to address other SDGs by 2030. Solar PV mini-grids are emerging as popular alternatives to address rural electrification shortfall after other renewable energy mini-grid types proved desirable for some period. Uganda's expectations of renewable mini-grids are high with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, the World Bank, and the Government of Uganda showing much interest to support the mini-grid development. This paper, therefore, looks at general mini-grid development and operation models and finds out arguments making renewable energy mini-grids popular at the expense of non-renewable based mini-grids. The methodology focuses on exploring ideas and formulating a hypothesis by summarizing, categorizing, and interpreting both the primary and secondary data. The paper concludes looking at the strength, benefits, and challenges of renewable mini-grids.