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Some 630 million people representing two-thirds of all Africans have no access to electricity, which is identified as a key barrier towards further development. Three main electrification options are considered within our work: grid extensions, mini-grids and solar home systems (SHS). A methodology is applied to all sub-Saharan African countries to identify in high geospatial resolution which electrification option is appropriate taking into account datasets for night light imagery, population distribution and grid infrastructure. Four different scenarios are considered reflecting grid development and electrification constraints due to low population density. The results clearly indicate a dominating role of SHS for achieving a fast electrification of the not supplied people. The share of supplied people by mini-grids is found to be rather low while grid extension serves a large share of the population. The decisive factors for these distinctions are population density and distance to grid. We applied several scenarios and sensitivities to understand the influence of these key parameters. The highest trade-off happens between SHS and grid extension depending on the selected thresholds. Mini-grid deployments remain in the range of 8 to 21%.

For the past 40 years, the dominant ‘policy’ on cooking energy in the Global South has been to improve the combustion efficiency of biomass fuels. This was said to alleviate the burdens of biomass cooking for three billion people by mitigating emissions, reducing deforestation, alleviating expenditure and collection times on fuels and increasing health outcomes. By 2015, international agencies were openly saying it was a failing policy. The dispersal of improved cookstoves was not keeping up with population growth, increasing urbanisation was leading to denser emissions and evidence suggested health effects of improved stoves were not as expected. A call was made for a new strategy, something other than ‘business as usual’. Conventional wisdom suggests that access to electricity is poor in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), that it is too expensive and that weak grids prevent even connected households from cooking. Could a new strategy be built around access to electricity (and gas)? Could bringing modern energy for cooking to the forefront kill two birds with one stone? In 2019, UK Aid announced a multi-million-pound programme on ‘Modern Energy Cooking Services’ (MECS), specifically designed to explore alternative approaches to address cooking energy concerns in the Global South. This paper outlines the rationale behind such a move, and how it will work with existing economies and policies to catalyse a global transition.

Sub-Saharan Africa, especially its rural areas, faces significant challenges in achieving universal electrification despite its abundant renewable energy resources. The region has the highest population without access to electricity, largely due to economic, infrastructural, and geographical barriers. Energy poverty is a critical issue that hinders sustainable development and exacerbates inequalities. Namibia’s sustainable energy policy aligns with the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 7, which aims to provide affordable and reliable modern energy access for all. The policy emphasizes mini-grids and decentralized power systems as key strategies for rural electrification. However, despite increased deployment of mini-grids, these solutions often struggle with long-term sustainability. This research explores cost-effective electrification strategies through scenario-based modeling to reduce energy poverty and expand energy access in Namibia’s rural communities, focusing on the existing mini-grids in Tsumkwe and Gam. Using a comprehensive methodology that incorporates HOMER Pro for mini-grid capacity expansion and MS Excel for evaluating main-grid extensions, this study aims to identify the most feasible and economical electrification solutions. The analysis compares electricity supply, total net present cost, and the levelized cost of electricity across these systems. The findings will offer insights into addressing energy poverty in Namibia and provide recommendations for sustainable and scalable rural electrification across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Access to electricity is a key indicator of a country’s development. In developing nations like Ethiopia, this metric is particularly crucial for assessing progress. Currently, about 45.8% of Ethiopia’s population lacks access to electricity, with rural areas experiencing even higher rates, reaching 57.2%. The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s (SNNP) region faces the greatest challenge, with 62.1% of its population lacking electricity. Ethiopia aims to achieve universal electricity access by 2030, and microgrid (MG) development is expected to play a pivotal role in meeting this goal. This study employs a multi-tier framework (MTF) to categorize village households based on electricity access, considering factors like income level and willingness to pay, to support the MG development process. Three villages—Toba, Koza, and Womba—in the SNNP region were selected for optimal MG sizing. Sensitivity variables such as global horizontal irradiance (GHI) variation, photovoltaic (PV) and battery prices, battery usage limits, and capacity shortage levels were analyzed for their impact on net present cost (NPC), initial capital cost, and cost of energy (COE) using HOMER Pro software. For example, in the Toba MG, increasing the capacity shortage from 0 to 10% reduced the COE from 0.1195 $/kWh to 0.09104 $/kWh, a 23.82% decrease. Additionally, fluctuations in PV and battery prices had a direct impact on the system’s NPC. The study also explored the impact of clustering the microgrids by interconnecting the three individual systems and conducting a techno-economic analysis. The comparison between standalone MG operation and clustered microgrids revealed that, despite the added cost of interconnection, the benefits in terms of technological, economic, and reliable operation of the clustered system were comparable to standalone microgrids. Finally, a feasibility study was conducted for the potential grid extension of the Toba MG, which is located 130 km from the nearest substation in Sawla.

One of the challenges in supplying electricity to remote areas is deciding whether to use standalone systems or extend the grid line. This article investigates a standalone hybrid renewable system versus extending the grid line to meet a proposed residential load demand of 6000 kWh/day, in a case study located 145 km from the grid. The study identifies the optimum possible grid extension distances, taking into account environmental factors such as carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) penalty and CO 2 emissions during the optimization process. Results indicate that, at the current distance from the grid, grid extension is not an economical solution. Instead, a standalone hybrid renewable energy system (HRES)—comprising photovoltaic (PV), wind turbine (WT), diesel generator (DG), and battery—is the optimal energy supply option, with net present cost (NPC) and cost of energy (COE) values of$4.55 M and $ 0.136/kWh, respectively. For the system considered, the optimal grid extension distance is 12 km. Load demand, grid extension cost, and distance from the grid are discussed as three main parameters affecting grid extension feasibility. Increasing load demand raises the optimal grid extension distance, while capacity shortage (CS) has a greater influence on this distance. Additionally, when the grid extension cost is held constant, a higher CS reduces the optimal grid extension distance.

Increasing Uganda’s low electrification rate is one of the country’s major challenges. Power service is essential to achieve socioeconomic development and poverty reduction, especially in rural areas. This paper shows the advantages of using an integrated (grid and off-grid) electrification model with high geospatial, temporal, and customer-class granularity as the Reference Electrification Model (REM). In universal electrification strategies, REM will help better ascertain the role of minigrids, jointly with grid extension, solar kits, and stand-alone systems. REM has been applied to the Southern Service Territory (SST) to determine the least-cost mix of electrification modes—grid extension, off-grid minigrids, and standalone systems—that satisfies the hourly demand requirements of each customer—residential, commercial, or industrial—considering its individual location. REM incorporates the existing grid layout, the hourly solar local profile, and the catalogs of actual components for network and generation designs. The paper shows that minigrids can provide grid-like service at a significantly lower cost in many circumstances and to a considerable extent. Therefore, minigrid strategies should play a more important role in electrification planning, both transitorily and on a permanent basis, particularly when the central grid suffers from frequent and prolonged blackouts.

One of the biggest issues impeding a country’s progress is the lack of power. To overcome this issue, hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) play an important role. Due to rising consumption and diminishing resources globally, sustainability has recently attracted more attention. Bangladesh has access to renewable energy sources, including solar, micro-hydro, biomass, wind, and others. The objective of this research is to minimize the net present cost (NPC), cost of energy (COE), and CO2 emissions of the suggested electricity network using the Hybrid Optimization Model for Multiple Energy Resources (HOMER) Pro Software. This investigation explores the possible use of a hybridized energy system (i.e., solar, wind, and diesel) with battery storage in Bangladesh’s northern area. Utilizing HOMER Pro software, an optimal grid-connected system is chosen after evaluating the techno-economic viability of several configuration options. For the Rangpur metropolitan region, seven distinct grid-connected solutions with stationary renewable sources are simulated. The HRES is designed to meet demands for hospital, diagnostic, school, and operation theatre loads of 3250.00 kWh, 250.00 kW maximum requirement, and 570.00 kWh, 71.25 kW maximum electricity demand, respectively. Multivariate linear regression (MLR) is used to assess the suggested optimal combination in terms of system size, cost, technical performance, and environmental stability. The findings show that the metric real-time rate (annual) has emerged as the most advantageous option since economic criteria like total NPC and COE are preferred above others.

Myanmar’s electricity supply relies mainly on hydropower and gas-fired generation, yet rural electrification remains limited, with national access at approximately 60%. The National Electrification Plan (NEP) aims for universal access via nationwide grid expansion, but progress in remote areas is constrained by financial limits and suspended external funding. This study evaluates the techno-economic feasibility of decentralized microgrids as an alternative to conventional grid extension under current budgetary conditions. We integrate a terrain-adjusted MV line-cost model with (i) PLEXOS capacity expansion and chronological dispatch for centralized supply and (ii) HOMER Pro optimization for PV–diesel–battery microgrids. Key indicators include LCOE, NPC, CAPEX, OPEX, reliability (ASAI/max shortage), renewable fraction, and unserved energy. Sensitivity analyses cover diesel, PV, and battery prices, as well as discount rate variations. The results show microgrids are more cost-effective in terrain-constrained regions such as Chin State, particularly when accounting for transmission and delayed generation costs, whereas grid extension remains preferable in flat, accessible regions like Nay Pyi Taw. Diesel price is the dominant cost driver across both regions, while battery cost and discount rate affect Chin State more, and PV cost is critical in Nay Pyi Taw’s solar-rich context. These findings provide evidence-based guidance for rural electrification strategies in Myanmar and other developing countries facing similar financial and infrastructural challenges.

This paper is a review of research undertaken, and subsequent policy change enacted, in the years 2018 to 2022 regarding the integration of cooking loads and needs into modern energy planning. Building on an earlier paper which described how the dominant global approaches to tackling the enduring problem of biomass-fuelled cooking was failing, and how a new UK Aid programme (Oct 2018) would be seeking to intentionally change international energy policy towards cooking and enable a significant transition in energy use, in this paper we review whether this strategy is being adopted by researchers, governments, and the private sector across the world and whether it is likely to make a significant contribution to the fulfilment of Sustainable Development Goal 7. In particular, the call is for integrated planning of modern energy inclusive of cooking loads—the potential ‘Mutual Support’ that both can lend to each other. The review considers the international commitments made by donors and governments to this end, the research that positions the use of modern energy as a cost-effective proposition, the urbanisation and societal changes reinforcing such planning, and positions the review in the light of climate change and the need to reach net zero carbon by 2050.

Water is the most fundamental need for better yield in agriculture. Worldwide, diesel and electricity are typically used to pump water which contributes to atmospheric pollution. Besides, a power outage affects the irrigation process badly. Without water, the crop may wither away, causing a substantial economic loss. This paper discusses the resilience of a solar PV system during a power outage. HOMER Pro software was used to perform the techno-economic analysis of solar-based irrigation for four major divisions of Bangladesh, while 1-hour power outage was assigned in REopt lite to model the survivability of the system against the grid outage. The simulation outcomes showed that the energy cost is $0.1496/kWh, $0.1502/kWh, $0.1557/kWh, and $0.1576/kWh for Rajshahi, Sylhet, Dhaka, and Chattogram, respectively. About 45% of excess electricity can be stored after fulfilling all requirements. The system is more economical than a microgrid-based water pumping system and a diesel-based system, and the photovoltaic system is technically and economically suitable to pump water if the nearest grid connection is impossible. When connected to the main utility grid, the system can survive without grid power for several hours, subject to daytime outages.