Improvement of the energy supply and energy efficiency of St. Theresa's catholic medical center in Cameroon

The concept of sustainable energization in rural energy planning, adopting the Advanced Local Energy Planning (ALEP) methodology, is applied within this thesis on a group of facilities located in Bafut, a rural area of Cameroon. The goal of this research is to improve the energy supply and efficiency of the study area through four specific objectives: assess the current energy situation of the study area, assess the energy resources locally available, identify the strategies to improve the energy efficiency and the energy supply and propose a more sustainable energy system for the study area. The total primary energy consumption amounts to 186.2 GJ/month, corresponding to 53.37 toe/year, losses are equal to 70% and final energy of 56.2 GJ/month (16.01 toe/year) is consumed to provide the main services. Three energy drivers are present in the control volume: domestic, public and artisan. The energy sources currently used are firewood, electricity from the national grid, LPG, diesel, and kerosene. The RES locally available are: hydro,wind, solar and biogas. Hydropower annual potential from a nearby river was 140.7 GJ. Wind annual potential was equal to 0.005 GJ/m2 of swept area, while solar potential was 0.02 GJ/m2. The feedstocks assessed for biogas - human, animal, kitchen and agricultural waste - give an expected production equal to 44.85 GJ/month. Energy solution planning was based on matching energy demand with local available RES. Electricity planning was developed by simulating a new supply system with the software HOMER® in Off-grid and Grid-RES options both including hydropower. Grid-RES optimal solution was favorable respect to Off-grid presenting a lower NPC and LCOE. Thermal planning was based on ad-hoc solutions: installation of biogas stoves,ICS and improved bakery oven. In the suggested scenarios TPES was equal to 133.1 GJ/month (38.15 toe/year), losses reduced to 38% and a new service is provided, water heating using biogas boilers and solar thermal collectors, therefore the final consumption increased to 87.2 GJ/month (24.99 toe/year).