Smarter Micro Grid for energy solution to rural Ethiopia

Use of modern energy, like electricity, is a key factor to economic development, poverty reduction, improved health and cleaner environment for a society. Moreover, if the electricity is generated with Renewable Energy (RE) resources the benefit will be profound. Unlike the developed countries though, developing countries have little access to electricity. The African continent for example covers 15% of the world land and has a population of about 13.4% of the total world population and is rapidly growing. But it has only 2% of the world´s industrial capacity. This fact is closely tied to a limited access to modern energy, like electricity. When it comes to Ethiopia, the population who has access to electricity is less than 10% and of this figure 1% of it accounts for the rural areas where the majority of its population live. Hence it is critical to devise a method that can increase access to electricity especially in rural areas where the national grid does not reach. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a method of Distributed Generation (DG) of electrical power units operated entirely by RE sources and a typical micro grid structure for a local village network. The DG and Local Micro Grid (LMG) layout allows reaching out for remote locations and efficient distribution in island mode. In effect, the electricity would be made available locally instead of being transported such a long distance with inevitable loss and huge capital investment. Then different village´s LMGs are interconnected in ring and form a Micro Grid (MG) to increase the reliability and efficiency of electric power delivery. This MG network will be capable of interconnecting to the national grid as well as work in the ring system or autonomously at the local distribution level with a concept of Smarter Micro Grid Controller (SMGC). The longer term benefit of this system also supports the main national grid with a power network in distributed villages in order to lessen the peak hour demand sur- e. This essential set of investment will change the current distribution problem of electrical energy in Ethiopia and permit access to electricity more efficiently, reliably and affordably to by all sectors of the society.