Load profile assessment and techno-economic analysis of decentralized PV in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract: Access to electricity might in some parts of the world seem evident. However, Ethiopia struggles to provide its large and growing population with electricity. Although around all the households in the capital Addis Ababa are connected to the electricity grid, the grid is unreliable and results in daily outages. As the photovoltaic (PV) potential in Addis Ababa on the other hand is great, this thesis examines the feasibility and profitability of decentralized PV adoption with battery and hydrogen storage respectively. Based on an ongoing construction project in the sub-city Yeka, Addis Ababa, a reference building was used to simulate the PV systems with battery and hydrogen storage. Furthermore, a load profile based on time-use diaries was developed and used in the simulations, as data on household electric consumption was non-existent. The load profile resulted in an average daily use of 1341 kWh and a 165 kW peak for all of the 130 apartments in the reference building. The results of the simulations indicated that neither of the two systems were feasible nor profitable to implement on the reference building. The PV-system with battery storage was cheaper and required less installed PV capacity, however the cost of energy for both systems was significantly higher than the current cost of energy in Ethiopia. The installed PV capacity of both systems exceeded the maximum capacity that was feasible on the reference building.