Status of Micro/Mini-Grid Systems in a Himalayan Nation: A Comprehensive Review
Nepal is a Himalayan country with its 83% of its geography being composed of hills and mountains. Around 22% of the Nepalese population is not receiving electricity through the national power utility and is forced to identify alternative approaches to electrification. The Micro/Mini-Grid (MG) system...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IEEE
2020-01-01
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| Series: | IEEE Access |
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| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9133062/ |
| _version_ | 1818428876247793664 |
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| author | Ashish Shrestha Yaju Rajbhandari Nasib Khadka Aayush Bista Anup Marahatta Rojesh Dahal Jiwan Kumar Mallik Anup Thapa Barry P. Hayes Petr Korba Francisco M. Gonzalez Longatt |
| author_facet | Ashish Shrestha Yaju Rajbhandari Nasib Khadka Aayush Bista Anup Marahatta Rojesh Dahal Jiwan Kumar Mallik Anup Thapa Barry P. Hayes Petr Korba Francisco M. Gonzalez Longatt |
| author_sort | Ashish Shrestha |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Nepal is a Himalayan country with its 83% of its geography being composed of hills and mountains. Around 22% of the Nepalese population is not receiving electricity through the national power utility and is forced to identify alternative approaches to electrification. The Micro/Mini-Grid (MG) system is one of the promising approaches in terms of cost, reliability and performance for rural electrification, where electrification through national power utility is not techno-economically feasible. However, various issues must be identified and considered during the implementation of MGs in a rural community. In this paper, numerous technical, social and management issues are identified and discussed relating to the implementation and operation of reliable and stable MGs in the Himalayas. To our knowledge, this is the first scientific work that presents a comprehensive review of Himalayan MGs and their associated elements. This article reviews the available research articles, project documents, and Government reports on MG development, from which a clear roadmap is constructed. From the comprehensive study, it is observed that the existing MGs are not adequately designed for the specific area, considering the local resources and local information. Based on the identified issues, some practical and efficient recommendations have been made, so that future MG projects will address the possible problems during the design and implementation phase. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T15:08:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-21fcce9b02d74ba3880d32d4d7bcdbe3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2169-3536 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T15:08:35Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | IEEE |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IEEE Access |
| spelling | doaj.art-21fcce9b02d74ba3880d32d4d7bcdbe32022-12-21T22:56:38ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362020-01-01812098312099810.1109/ACCESS.2020.30069129133062Status of Micro/Mini-Grid Systems in a Himalayan Nation: A Comprehensive ReviewAshish Shrestha0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7915-7729Yaju Rajbhandari1Nasib Khadka2Aayush Bista3Anup Marahatta4Rojesh Dahal5Jiwan Kumar Mallik6Anup Thapa7Barry P. Hayes8Petr Korba9Francisco M. Gonzalez Longatt10https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7157-9844Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel, NepalDepartment of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel, NepalDepartment of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel, NepalDepartment of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel, NepalDepartment of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel, NepalChilime Hydropower Company Ltd., Kathmandu, NepalAlternative Energy Promotion Center, RERL Project, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu, NepalDepartment of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel, NepalSchool of Engineering, University College Cork, Cork, IrelandSchool of Engineering, Zurich University of Applied Science, Winterthur, SwitzerlandDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Information Technology and Cybernetics, University of South-Eastern Norway, Porsgrunn, NorwayNepal is a Himalayan country with its 83% of its geography being composed of hills and mountains. Around 22% of the Nepalese population is not receiving electricity through the national power utility and is forced to identify alternative approaches to electrification. The Micro/Mini-Grid (MG) system is one of the promising approaches in terms of cost, reliability and performance for rural electrification, where electrification through national power utility is not techno-economically feasible. However, various issues must be identified and considered during the implementation of MGs in a rural community. In this paper, numerous technical, social and management issues are identified and discussed relating to the implementation and operation of reliable and stable MGs in the Himalayas. To our knowledge, this is the first scientific work that presents a comprehensive review of Himalayan MGs and their associated elements. This article reviews the available research articles, project documents, and Government reports on MG development, from which a clear roadmap is constructed. From the comprehensive study, it is observed that the existing MGs are not adequately designed for the specific area, considering the local resources and local information. Based on the identified issues, some practical and efficient recommendations have been made, so that future MG projects will address the possible problems during the design and implementation phase.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9133062/Control managementdistribute generation systemisolated energy systemmini-gridrural electrification |
| spellingShingle | Ashish Shrestha Yaju Rajbhandari Nasib Khadka Aayush Bista Anup Marahatta Rojesh Dahal Jiwan Kumar Mallik Anup Thapa Barry P. Hayes Petr Korba Francisco M. Gonzalez Longatt Status of Micro/Mini-Grid Systems in a Himalayan Nation: A Comprehensive Review IEEE Access Control management distribute generation system isolated energy system mini-grid rural electrification |
| title | Status of Micro/Mini-Grid Systems in a Himalayan Nation: A Comprehensive Review |
| title_full | Status of Micro/Mini-Grid Systems in a Himalayan Nation: A Comprehensive Review |
| title_fullStr | Status of Micro/Mini-Grid Systems in a Himalayan Nation: A Comprehensive Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Status of Micro/Mini-Grid Systems in a Himalayan Nation: A Comprehensive Review |
| title_short | Status of Micro/Mini-Grid Systems in a Himalayan Nation: A Comprehensive Review |
| title_sort | status of micro mini grid systems in a himalayan nation a comprehensive review |
| topic | Control management distribute generation system isolated energy system mini-grid rural electrification |
| url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9133062/ |
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