Perspectives for off-grid renewable energy applications for rural electrification in Bosnia and Herzegovina

In the second decade of 21^st century there are still too many households without electricity supply in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are situated in remote, sparsely populated, rural areas where distribution power lines were completely destroyed during the last war. The restoration requires large investments in power grid extension. The decreasing price of renewable energy installations and significant solar, wind and hydro energy potential in Bosnia and Herzegovina make a renewable energy based micro power system (MPS) worth considering as a feasible and cost-effective alternative. Optimal design of such system depends on several factors such as renewable energy sources (RES) potential for a specific site, load requirements, the required level of reliability, fuel price, etc. The paper investigates application possibilities of RES based MPS for rural electrification in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Four representative rural sites in different geographical and climatic regions were chosen to simulate load requirements and system production, based on a one year input data. Comparative analysis of wind and solar resources potential for each site is given as an input to the feasibility assessment of the MPS. The optimal design of MPS is proposed based on an energy production analysis and financial viability analysis for each site under investigation. A sensitivity analysis is conducted in order to determine how system parameters and total cost may change if the system is designed with different reliability criteria.