Feasibility and Econometrics Assessment of Standalone and Hybrid RE Facilities for Rural Community Utilization and Embedded Generation in North-West, Nigeria

This study assessed the feasibility and economic viability of renewable energy resources for power generation at rural communities of six sites in North-West Nigeria. A specific electric load profile was developed to suite the rural communities made up of 200 homes, a school and health centre. The required load was analysed as 358 kWh per day, with 46 kW primary peak load and 20 kW deferrable peak load. The employed data obtained from the Nigeria Meteorological Department, were those of daily mean wind speeds, daily global solar radiation, sunshine hours, minimum and maximum air temperature, and minimum and maximum relative humidity for 24 years spanning 1987-2010. The assessment of the design that will optimally meet the daily load demand with LOLP of 0.01 was carried out by considering 3 standalone applications of PV, Wind and Diesel, and a hybrid design of Wind-PV. The outcome showed that the most economically viable alternative for power generation at the different locations in Gusau, Kaduna and Yelwa was the hybrid system while wind standalone suffices for the other sites. The values of LCOE for the both the hybrid and standalone wind system are competitive with grid electricity