Economics of Hydro-Kinetic Turbine for off-grid Application: A Case Study of Gumara River, Upper Blue Nile, Amhara, Ethiopia

Muluken Temesgen Tigabu, Dawit Diriba Guta, Bimrew Tamrat Admasu

Abstract


This paper examines the economics of Hydro-kinetic (HK) turbines to investigate the possibility of usage in rural areas, where the grid is not available. In support of the different efforts endeavored by the Ethiopian Government to make electricity available to all, the project is called `light for all'. This study was carried out in the Gumara River, upper Blue Nile, and Amhara Region Ethiopia. The energy demand of a representative household family is selected for this study. We implemented the most commonly used domestic home appliances for the model with a total wattage of 2.28 kW at base load and 4.147 kW at peak load. The total daily power demand of the typical household in the area is 19.26 kWh/day. Then to determine costs of HK we used the Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) methodology. The initial capital cost, replacement cost, and operating and maintenance cost were calculated to determine the economics of HK turbine. Then, we applied the HOMER software system design of 5 kW HK turbine and 2.5 kW diesel generator to estimate the economic cost of HK. In our study, we used $20 per metric ton of carbon emission penalty. The IRR was estimated to be 17.4% and the payback period of 5.6 years with a present worth of $4826, and the total Net Present Value of $89,764. The estimated Levelized cost of energy was about $0.42. Our finding indicates that the HK technology is economically and technically viable energy option for small scale o-grid electrification. This work also alludes to risk analysis on Hydro-kinetic turbines.

Keywords


Hydro Kinetic turbines (HK), Energy Economics, Levelized Cost of Energy, HOMER

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References


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DOI (PDF): https://doi.org/10.20508/ijrer.v9i3.9590.g7753

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