Page - 30 - in Clean Water Using Solar and Wind - Outside the Power Grid

30 Clean Water Using Solar and Wind: Outside the Power Grid Renewable energy solutions, either off-grid or in mini-grid systems, are becoming economically feasible for many remote and rural areas  (IRENA, 2015a; Varadi et  al., 2018, Chapter 3) where electric grid extension is not economically feasible. Considering the pace of grid- extension efforts globally it is likely that nearly 60% of the additional electricity needs to come from off-grid solutions, to attain the goal of electric power for all in 2030 (IRENA, 2017a). Another reason for considering off-grid solutions is the relatively poor reliability of existing electric transmission lines. Around two- thirds of the sub-Saharan countries have transmission lines where at least half of the lines are more than 30 years old. Even in South Africa one-third of the transmission lines have been in operation more than 30 years. Aging infrastructure and lack of maintenance contribute to low reliability and common brown-outs or blackouts in sub-Saharan Africa (IRENA, 2016d). Furthermore, some systems are disrupted by wars and conflicts and it takes years to bring the systems back to full operation. Again, off-grid solutions can offer the end users opportunities to take control of their own energy supply. As shown by Varadi et  al. (2018), only a small fraction of people in Africa have access to the electrical grid. Population growth in sub-Saharan countries is the biggest in the world. This, together with rising standards of living in Africa, means that a lot of new investments in electric energy are required just to keep a balance between demand and supply. A mini-grid is defined as a structure of a size between an individual home system and a conventional power grid. Such a system may include a generation capacity in the range of around 1 kW to the order of 10 MW (sometimes power utilities call them “micro-grids” or “pico-grids”). They will supply electric power to several customers but operate in isolation from the national grid. In rural and remote areas, a mini-grid is often considered an attractive solution to provide lighting, water pumping and power for small production units. Based on calculations made in 2010 by the IEA, UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) and UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization), the additional electric generation required to achieve electric power for all by 2030 is 468 TWh for developing Asia, 463 TWh in Africa and 10 TWh in Latin America. Downloaded from https://iwaponline.com/ebooks/book-pdf/520710/wio9781780409443.pdf by IWA Publishing user