Low voltage electrification approach in rural areas: arbitration between on and off-grid solutions

Abstract

In the context of the SE4all objective to achieve universal electricity access by 2030, power sector stakeholders are looking for low-cost and sufficient-quality electricity supply solutions. At low voltage (LV) scale, in some isolated rural villages, individual solutions such as solar home systems (SHS), solar lanterns or isolated generators can be economically feasible compared with electricity network connection and are considered as efficient temporary solutions to reach the defined target. The proposed paper presents a new optimization methodology developed to evaluate the best electrification solutions at LV scale within villages, combining both the grid reticulation and the individual solutions for the potential customers. In this matter, the optimization minimizes the total cost of electrification of the concerned villages while using intensively the geospatial dimension.