ORCID
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7887-0167
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2958-2919
Abstract
Worldwide, it is imperative for citizens to have access to electricity. This applies to Congolese--rural and urban dwellers, and if possible, it should be guaranteed by government’s laws and policies. Howev er, the rural and urban areas of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) suffer majorly from lack of access to electricity. The major reasons are the high costs associated with connection to the national central grid and production insufficiency. Therefore, one feasible approach to electrify these areas is to use microgrids. This technolo gy is decent and viable option for energy revolution since it incorpo rates energy storage systems, distributed generators, and localized loads. This paper has taken to implement this solution by firstly ana lysing some cities located at the borders of large rivers or water courses (with known depth and width), such as the Congo River considered for hydrokinetic power (HKP). However, where the Congo River does not pass through, the paper will consider largest rivers passing in the area. For the case of photovoltaic electricity production, large cities are considered those with good sunshine and large population who have purchasing power for the photovoltaic electricity. The waste to energy power plans will consider the top ten densely populated cities in DRC. The proposed microgrids will op erate in isolation (islanded) mode. This paper proposed 44 projects to generate 795 690 kW total energy from the microgrids. These en ergies are divided as 661 000 kW from solar photovoltaic, 83 790 kW from waste to energy, and 50 900 kW from hydrokinetic genera tion. The urban share will be 94.9% and rural area share will be 5.1% of this generation. Further work needs to include biomass as a possible renewable energy to add in the mix.
Recommended Citation
Josue, N. O., & mushi, a. t. (2022). Renewable Energy Microgrids to Improve Electrification Rate in Democratic Republic of Congo: Case of Hydro, Municipal Waste and Solar. Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET), 41(2), 82-97. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.52339/tjet.v41i2.781
Publisher Name
University of Dar es Salaam