Everyone deserves to have proper power and energy, including those small communities in rural areas in Africa. According to the United Nations, six hundred million people in Africa lack access to energy that is essential to provide lighting for their households or facilitate business operations. Since the national transmission grid provides unpredictable power supply, mini grid can be the solution for more reliable energy. Based on World Bank, 140,000 mini grids are required in Africa to provide electrical power.
This group of small-scale electricity generators is responsible for supplying electricity to a particular group of customers and spanning from a minimum of kilowatts to 10 megawatts.
Mini grids are essential not only for households, but also commercial business, agriculture, semi-industrials, and other sectors. The players of the development and operation of mini grid can include communities, NGOs, state utilities, private companies, among others. Mini grids can operate using renewable energy such as solar PV, wind, and others, or it can be energized by diesel.
Because of its importance, there has been a rising demand for this technology in Africa. According to a research firm, Africa minigrid market size would see a significant growth over the coming years due to the rising demand for reliable power supply and the initiatives taken by the governments to supply energy to rural regions.
Why is It So Important?
Mini grids offer several benefits that can make them important to ensure power supply in Africa.
Reliable and flexible
Mini grids can be a reliable and flexible solution to supply power. It can be very expensive and with technical complexity to provide national grid to remote locations such as mountains or islands. Therefore, mini grids can be a less complex method to be installed in any place and can be designed according to the conditions in the location.
Accommodate varying electrical needs
Even though mini grids are smaller compared to national grid, they can provide similar energy. Not only able to provide power for lighting, television, or phone charging, but mini grids can provide energy for all electrical needs, including cooling, milling, welding, and other electrical necessities.
Reduce power losses
Power losses commonly happen during the process of generating, transmitting, and distributing power across vast distances. This technical energy wastage can lead to financial drains for many power companies. Mini grids offer the solution to be deployed in the place where they are actually needed, thus can reduce the risk of power losses if compared to the national electricity network. In addition, this short-distance process can also ensure the security and quality of the power supply.
Integration with the national grid
Even though this is not always the case, mini grids can be integrated with the national electrical network. However, there are various regulations, and the mini grids should be designed according to ideal requirements.
Cost-saving
In remote locations, applying mini grids will be much more cost-efficient compared to extending the national electricity network, which can be much more expensive.
Less impact on environment
It has been recognized that mini grids can generate minimal environmental impact and enhance community health and safety, especially the mini grids that are powered by renewable energy.
Its Versatility
One of the key advantages of MiniGrid is its versatility. It offers a variety of environments with different levels of difficulty, from simple tasks like navigating to a goal to more complex scenarios involving memory, decision-making, and planning.
What are The Features?
There are several features involved in the mini grids energy production system.
The technology of energy generation
The mini grids should involve technologies that can generate energy. That includes solar PV, diesel generators, wind turbines, and other power generators. Not only using a single energy source, but mini grids may also utilize hybrid power generators. It can combine mixed sources, whether it is renewable or non-renewable energy.
Inverters
When users require a different sort of energy than what is produced, inverters can be crucial in converting energy. Direct current and alternating current are the two forms of energy. As a consequence, depending on the type of power needed and produced, we discovered that the inverters can convert AC to DC and vice versa.
Management system
Management systems are also required to monitor, measure, and control the electrical flows. To maximize performance, there can also be smart metering and power management tools that allow operators to control the system remotely. In addition, data analytics regarding energy use can be collected and processed for better and informed decision making.
Storage
Mini grids can also need energy storage, for example, a battery. Mini grids that use renewable energy such as solar or wind, need storage to keep the energy as the sources are not always available. By keeping the energy in the storage, the mini grids can still be used to provide power even when the resources are not available, therefore ensuring the availability of the power. However, not all mini grids need storage, especially the systems that run on diesel generators or other non-renewable energy sources.
