Case Study for Three Rural Villages using HOMER Simulation

This paper considers the feasibility of developing Solar (photovoltaic)-Wind-Diesel hybrid power systems for supplying electricity to off-grid rural communities in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. Using wind resource assessment and solar potential-based data from the National Meteorological Agency of Ethiopia, a case study of three sites in Tigray is presented – Serawet (645 households), Feleg Daero (338 households) and Adi Mesanu (55 households) – which typify, respectively, large, medium and small off-grid communities. The energy demand was determined through a field survey and previous historical data of similar villages electrified through grid extension. The Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER) was used to simulate and generate feasible solution through combinations of photovoltaic, Wind Turbines and Diesel Generators with a minimum levelised cost of electricity. The simulations indicate that a hybrid system option, compared to a diesel only system, is feasible for each of the three villages