Open Access
ARTICLE
Microgrids-as-a-Service for Rural Electrification in Sub-Saharan Africa
Qi Liu1, 3, Kondwani Michael Kamoto2, *, Xiaodong Liu3
1 School of Computer and Software, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing,
210044, China.
2 Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China.
3 School of Computing, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, EH10 5DT, UK.
* Corresponding Author: Kondwani Michael Kamoto. Email: .
Computers, Materials & Continua 2020, 63(3), 1249-1261. https://doi.org/10.32604/cmc.2020.05598
Received 03 January 2020; Accepted 15 January 2019; Issue published 30 April 2020
Abstract
The majority of the population on the African continent is unable to access basic
electricity services, this despite the abundance of renewable energy sources (RESs). The
inability to adequately tap into these RESs has led to the continued dependence on nonrenewable energy sources such as coal for electricity generation, and kerosene for cooking
and lighting, the resulting use of which is poor health conditions. The use of Microgrids
(MGs) is being extensively researched as a feasible means of tackling the challenge of
electrification, especially in rural and remote areas. Recent times have seen an increasing
number of research works focusing on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), which is one of the regions
with the lowest electrification rates in the world. MGs provide the most suitable means to
integrate RESs into the electricity generation process, paving the way towards clean energy
for the African continent. This paper presents a review of recent literature on the usage of MG
technology for rural electrification, with a specific focus on the applicability of MGs in the
SSA context. The paper additionally presents the challenges and opportunities to date.
Research findings indicate that SSA has already begun the transition towards clean energy via
implementation of RES-based MGs. However, two resonating challenges in the literature are
adequate support via policy, and proper planning of project implementation. These two major
barriers are needed to be overcome in order to fully utilize MGs for rural electrification in
SSA. The key methodology derived from this study is that any effort towards rural
electrification requires a sufficient amount of investigation, incorporating both the
technological and socio-economic aspects into a suitable design for the target location.
Keywords
Cite This Article
Q. Liu, K. Michael Kamoto and X. Liu, "Microgrids-as-a-service for rural electrification in sub-saharan africa,"
Computers, Materials & Continua, vol. 63, no.3, pp. 1249–1261, 2020.