IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v135y2019icp41-54.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Comparative analysis of hybrid renewable energy systems for off-grid applications in Southern Cameroons

Author

Listed:
  • Muh, Erasmus
  • Tabet, Fouzi

Abstract

Cameroon is blessed with a vast potential of renewable energy resources: solar, biomass, hydropower, wind and geothermal energies. These resources are currently poorly valorized. The country depends mainly on hydropower for its electricity supply and traditional biomass for its energy consumption. This dependency on hydropower causes acute power shortage nationwide, especially in remote communities where grid access is limited. Rural electrification is mainly conducted through costly grid extensions, small hydro and diesel plants with enormous health and environmental effects. This study assesses the feasibilities of hybrid renewable power systems for remote applications in Southern Cameroons using the climate data of Wum. HOMER was used to perform the comparative analysis. Nine hybrid systems were considered in this study based on the following components: PV module, wind turbine, micro-hydro turbine, diesel generator, battery, charge controllers, and inverters. Two energy sources and storage battery characterized each system. The PV/diesel/small hydro/battery was found to be the most viable economic system for Southern Cameroons with a 0.443$/kWh energy cost. The optimum system was proven to be very resilient to variations in streamflow, interest rate, fuel price, and PV cost. This outcome was found to be highly relevant to policy makers and investors in Cameroon.

Suggested Citation

  • Muh, Erasmus & Tabet, Fouzi, 2019. "Comparative analysis of hybrid renewable energy systems for off-grid applications in Southern Cameroons," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 41-54.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:135:y:2019:i:c:p:41-54
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2018.11.105
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148118314241
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2018.11.105?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wirba, Asan Vernyuy & Abubakar Mas'ud, Abdullahi & Muhammad-Sukki, Firdaus & Ahmad, Salman & Mat Tahar, Razman & Abdul Rahim, Ruzairi & Munir, Abu Bakar & Karim, Md Ershadul, 2015. "Renewable energy potentials in Cameroon: Prospects and challenges," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 560-565.
    2. Nfah, E.M. & Ngundam, J.M. & Tchinda, R., 2007. "Modelling of solar/diesel/battery hybrid power systems for far-north Cameroon," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 832-844.
    3. Akikur, R.K. & Saidur, R. & Ping, H.W. & Ullah, K.R., 2013. "Comparative study of stand-alone and hybrid solar energy systems suitable for off-grid rural electrification: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 738-752.
    4. Ackom, Emmanuel K. & Alemagi, Dieudonne & Ackom, Nana B. & Minang, Peter A. & Tchoundjeu, Zac, 2013. "Modern bioenergy from agricultural and forestry residues in Cameroon: Potential, challenges and the way forward," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 101-113.
    5. Ashok, S., 2007. "Optimised model for community-based hybrid energy system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1155-1164.
    6. Dalton, G.J. & Lockington, D.A. & Baldock, T.E., 2008. "Feasibility analysis of stand-alone renewable energy supply options for a large hotel," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 1475-1490.
    7. Muh, Erasmus & Amara, Sofiane & Tabet, Fouzi, 2018. "Sustainable energy policies in Cameroon: A holistic overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 3420-3429.
    8. Ghasemi, Abolfazl & Asrari, Arash & Zarif, Mahdi & Abdelwahed, Sherif, 2013. "Techno-economic analysis of stand-alone hybrid photovoltaic–diesel–battery systems for rural electrification in eastern part of Iran—A step toward sustainable rural development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 456-462.
    9. Tamo Tatietse Thomas & Kemajou Alexis & Diboma Benjamin Salomon, 2010. "Electricity Self-Generation Costs for Industrial Companies in Cameroon," Energies, MDPI, vol. 3(7), pages 1-16, July.
    10. Khare, Vikas & Nema, Savita & Baredar, Prashant, 2016. "Solar–wind hybrid renewable energy system: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 23-33.
    11. Bekele, Getachew & Tadesse, Getnet, 2012. "Feasibility study of small Hydro/PV/Wind hybrid system for off-grid rural electrification in Ethiopia," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 5-15.
    12. Abanda, F.H., 2012. "Renewable energy sources in Cameroon: Potentials, benefits and enabling environment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(7), pages 4557-4562.
    13. Mas’ud, Abdullahi Abubakar & Vernyuy Wirba, Asan & Muhammad-Sukki, Firdaus & Mas’ud, Ibrahim Abubakar & Munir, Abu Bakar & Md Yunus, Norhidayah, 2015. "An assessment of renewable energy readiness in Africa: Case study of Nigeria and Cameroon," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 775-784.
    14. Deshmukh, M.K. & Deshmukh, S.S., 2008. "Modeling of hybrid renewable energy systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 235-249, January.
    15. Nfah, E.M. & Ngundam, J.M., 2009. "Feasibility of pico-hydro and photovoltaic hybrid power systems for remote villages in Cameroon," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 1445-1450.
    16. Chauhan, Anurag & Saini, R.P., 2014. "A review on Integrated Renewable Energy System based power generation for stand-alone applications: Configurations, storage options, sizing methodologies and control," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 99-120.
    17. Nfah, E.M. & Ngundam, J.M. & Vandenbergh, M. & Schmid, J., 2008. "Simulation of off-grid generation options for remote villages in Cameroon," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 1064-1072.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mandelli, Stefano & Barbieri, Jacopo & Mereu, Riccardo & Colombo, Emanuela, 2016. "Off-grid systems for rural electrification in developing countries: Definitions, classification and a comprehensive literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1621-1646.
    2. Kenfack, Joseph & Nzotcha, Urbain & Voufo, Joseph & Ngohe-Ekam, Paul Salomon & Nsangou, Jean Calvin & Bignom, Blaise, 2021. "Cameroon's hydropower potential and development under the vision of Central Africa power pool (CAPP): A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    3. Siddaiah, Rajanna & Saini, R.P., 2016. "A review on planning, configurations, modeling and optimization techniques of hybrid renewable energy systems for off grid applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 376-396.
    4. Bahramara, S. & Moghaddam, M. Parsa & Haghifam, M.R., 2016. "Optimal planning of hybrid renewable energy systems using HOMER: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 609-620.
    5. Tiam Kapen, Pascalin & Jeutho Gouajio, Marinette & Yemélé, David, 2020. "Analysis and efficient comparison of ten numerical methods in estimating Weibull parameters for wind energy potential: Application to the city of Bafoussam, Cameroon," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 1188-1198.
    6. Muh, Erasmus & Amara, Sofiane & Tabet, Fouzi, 2018. "Sustainable energy policies in Cameroon: A holistic overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 3420-3429.
    7. William López-Castrillón & Héctor H. Sepúlveda & Cristian Mattar, 2021. "Off-Grid Hybrid Electrical Generation Systems in Remote Communities: Trends and Characteristics in Sustainability Solutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-29, May.
    8. Yilmaz, Saban & Dincer, Furkan, 2017. "Optimal design of hybrid PV-Diesel-Battery systems for isolated lands: A case study for Kilis, Turkey," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 344-352.
    9. Bernal-Agustín, José L. & Dufo-López, Rodolfo, 2009. "Simulation and optimization of stand-alone hybrid renewable energy systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(8), pages 2111-2118, October.
    10. Trotter, Philipp A. & McManus, Marcelle C. & Maconachie, Roy, 2017. "Electricity planning and implementation in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 1189-1209.
    11. Bundhoo, Zumar M.A., 2018. "Renewable energy exploitation in the small island developing state of Mauritius: Current practice and future potential," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 2029-2038.
    12. Chauhan, Anurag & Saini, R.P., 2014. "A review on Integrated Renewable Energy System based power generation for stand-alone applications: Configurations, storage options, sizing methodologies and control," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 99-120.
    13. Erdinc, O. & Uzunoglu, M., 2012. "Optimum design of hybrid renewable energy systems: Overview of different approaches," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 1412-1425.
    14. Rezzouk, H. & Mellit, A., 2015. "Feasibility study and sensitivity analysis of a stand-alone photovoltaic–diesel–battery hybrid energy system in the north of Algeria," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 1134-1150.
    15. Aliyu, Abubakar Sadiq & Dada, Joseph O. & Adam, Ibrahim Khalil, 2015. "Current status and future prospects of renewable energy in Nigeria," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 336-346.
    16. Javed, Muhammad Shahzad & Ma, Tao & Jurasz, Jakub & Amin, Muhammad Yasir, 2020. "Solar and wind power generation systems with pumped hydro storage: Review and future perspectives," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 176-192.
    17. Salas, V. & Suponthana, W. & Salas, R.A., 2015. "Overview of the off-grid photovoltaic diesel batteries systems with AC loads," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 195-216.
    18. Kougias, Ioannis & Szabó, Sándor & Monforti-Ferrario, Fabio & Huld, Thomas & Bódis, Katalin, 2016. "A methodology for optimization of the complementarity between small-hydropower plants and solar PV systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(P2), pages 1023-1030.
    19. Mbaka, Nfah Eustace & Mucho, Ngundam John & Godpromesse, Kenne, 2010. "Economic evaluation of small-scale photovoltaic hybrid systems for mini-grid applications in far north Cameroon," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 2391-2398.
    20. Perera, A.T.D. & Attalage, R.A. & Perera, K.K.C.K. & Dassanayake, V.P.C., 2013. "A hybrid tool to combine multi-objective optimization and multi-criterion decision making in designing standalone hybrid energy systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 412-425.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:135:y:2019:i:c:p:41-54. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.