ASSESSMENT OF TECHNO-ECONOMIC HYDRO AND SOLAR POWER ENERGY POTENTIAL IN RURAL AREA OF KULFO CATCHMENT, RIFT VALLEY, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Renewable energy sources have come to dominate as important sources of electricity generation due to their numerous advantages. In Ethiopia, urban areas have access to electricity at a rate of more than 90%. However, the rural area, comprising 85% of the population, has electricity coverage only 36%. In the study area, the energy consumption of the community acquired from wood and kerosene. This study was conducted to assess techno-economic hydro and solar power energy potential in rural regions of the Kulfo catchment. To examine the villages’ electricity output and demand, hydrologic, meteorological, demographic, and ERA5 reanalysis data was gathered from various sources. In addition, the hourly and daily electrical loads of the community were obtained using survey data from selected households. The biases correction of precipitation and temperature Power transformation and variance scaling methods were applied. The selected potential sites have a scattered distribution, and the HBV-IHMS model was used to simulate and determine the stream flow at the site. Then, model performance efficiency indicators Nash Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) and relative volume error (RVE) were 0.69 and 4.56% for calibration and 0.63 and -1.07% for validation respectively, in the Kulfo stream flow analysis. This indicates a good agreement between the observed and simulated discharge values. For the possible configuration and evaluation of micro-hydro and solar hybrid systems, the simulation and optimization techniques of the Hybrid Optimization Model for Multiple Energy Resources (HOMER) models were used. The system was reconfigured to determine when the site load demand could be satisfied with a low Levelised cost of energy (LCOE) and the load could be carried out without causing any harm. Although the power output from the single system was insufficient to meet the community's load requirement. However, the LCOE of hydro is comparable and extremely affordable at the sites. The potential of micro-hydro and solar hybrid systems is both feasible and cost-effective for off-grid rural regions to provide electricity. To meet the energy needs of rural people while also supporting the Ethiopian government's economic policy, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and avoiding deforestation, off-grid energy systems must be widely adopted. Finally, we recommend, this title requires further study with sufficient data.