Energy-Water-Agriculture Nexus Mini-grids to Power Rural Productive Hubs in Sub-Saharan Africa : A case study of Walta Jalala village in Bedeno Woreda of Ethiopia

Abstract: The thrive to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7 is never been easy, and numbers are still showing that Sub-Saharan Africa is lagging in access to electricity index. Most of the energy poor communities residing in the rural part of the region, this by itself is a conundrum with multifaceted implications. The high capital expenditure for renewable energy technologies, the low paying ability of the society in Sub-Saharan Africa, the unavailability of anchor customer’s and so on needs new means of approaching the access problem. This study aims to enlighten policy makers on promoting energy as input to production than merely focusing on the access issue. In the report, a renewable mini-grid powering a local economic activity of a remote agrarian village in Ethiopia is discussed. Through a simulation study using PVsyst and Homer Pro tools, a yearly optimized PV diesel hybrid system with rounded up lowest LCOE of $0.17/kWh is obtained for the village in the case study. The LCOE of the mini-grid with lead acid battery and Li-ion battery is also studied at a yearly average operating temperature range of 10 to 40 ℃. The simulation-based study demonstrated that mini-grid systems with lead acid and Li-ion battery have fairly comparable LCOE between 10 to 20 ℃, however the Li-ion battery results in a lower LCOE for operating temperature beyond 25 ℃. The study has shown that mini-grids with productive energy can be cost effective option for powering areas where the grid-connection is cost and time intensive to address the energy poverty issue by 2030 or after.