Network Cost Estimation for Mini-Grids in Large-Scale Rural Electrification Planning
Universal access to electricity is a crucial challenge in many developing countries. Establishing the electrification agenda of an underserved region is a complicated task where computer models play a critical role in calculating geospatial plans that efficiently allocate resources. Such plans shoul...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Energies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/21/7382 |
| _version_ | 1797512558978007040 |
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| author | Pedro Ciller Sara Lumbreras Andrés González-García |
| author_facet | Pedro Ciller Sara Lumbreras Andrés González-García |
| author_sort | Pedro Ciller |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Universal access to electricity is a crucial challenge in many developing countries. Establishing the electrification agenda of an underserved region is a complicated task where computer models play a critical role in calculating geospatial plans that efficiently allocate resources. Such plans should include—among other things—reasonable estimations of the designs and economic costs of standalone systems, mini-grids, and grid extensions. This implies that computer models need to estimate the network cost for many potential mini-grids. To that end, most planning tools apply quick rules of thumb or geometric methods that ignore power flows and electric constraints, which play a significant role in network designs. This paper presents a methodology that rapidly estimates any low-voltage mini-grid network cost without neglecting the impact of electrical feasibility in such cost. We present a case study where we evaluate our method in terms of accuracy and computation time. We also compare our method with a quick estimation similar to the ones most regional planning tools apply, showing the effectiveness of our method. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:02:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-44463490db27455bbc7ddc25cee72196 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:02:31Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-44463490db27455bbc7ddc25cee721962023-11-22T20:46:55ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732021-11-011421738210.3390/en14217382Network Cost Estimation for Mini-Grids in Large-Scale Rural Electrification PlanningPedro Ciller0Sara Lumbreras1Andrés González-García2Institute for Research in Technology (IIT), ICAI, Comillas Pontifical University, 28015 Madrid, SpainInstitute for Research in Technology (IIT), ICAI, Comillas Pontifical University, 28015 Madrid, SpainInstitute for Research in Technology (IIT), ICAI, Comillas Pontifical University, 28015 Madrid, SpainUniversal access to electricity is a crucial challenge in many developing countries. Establishing the electrification agenda of an underserved region is a complicated task where computer models play a critical role in calculating geospatial plans that efficiently allocate resources. Such plans should include—among other things—reasonable estimations of the designs and economic costs of standalone systems, mini-grids, and grid extensions. This implies that computer models need to estimate the network cost for many potential mini-grids. To that end, most planning tools apply quick rules of thumb or geometric methods that ignore power flows and electric constraints, which play a significant role in network designs. This paper presents a methodology that rapidly estimates any low-voltage mini-grid network cost without neglecting the impact of electrical feasibility in such cost. We present a case study where we evaluate our method in terms of accuracy and computation time. We also compare our method with a quick estimation similar to the ones most regional planning tools apply, showing the effectiveness of our method.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/21/7382energy accessrural electrificationgeospatial planningmini-gridnetwork designlinear regression |
| spellingShingle | Pedro Ciller Sara Lumbreras Andrés González-García Network Cost Estimation for Mini-Grids in Large-Scale Rural Electrification Planning Energies energy access rural electrification geospatial planning mini-grid network design linear regression |
| title | Network Cost Estimation for Mini-Grids in Large-Scale Rural Electrification Planning |
| title_full | Network Cost Estimation for Mini-Grids in Large-Scale Rural Electrification Planning |
| title_fullStr | Network Cost Estimation for Mini-Grids in Large-Scale Rural Electrification Planning |
| title_full_unstemmed | Network Cost Estimation for Mini-Grids in Large-Scale Rural Electrification Planning |
| title_short | Network Cost Estimation for Mini-Grids in Large-Scale Rural Electrification Planning |
| title_sort | network cost estimation for mini grids in large scale rural electrification planning |
| topic | energy access rural electrification geospatial planning mini-grid network design linear regression |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/21/7382 |
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