Nowadays, around 1 billion people in the world do not have access to electricity. Lack of energy access limits economic development and has a strong effect on security, health conditions, and education. Within the main barriers affecting rural electrification, the lack of sustainable planning approaches, financial incentives and low payment capacity stand out. In particular, cost is relevant obstacle in grid extension projects. One option to overcome this issue, while guaranteeing economic feasibility, is the implementation of off-grid solutions. Among the different components of isolated microgrids, the distribution network plays an important role, especially for the required investment in infrastructure, which has a considerable weight in the final cost of the project. The goal of this thesis is to develop from the ground up a model, namely RETEP Network, able to define and analyse an optimal distribution network topology leading to minimise the total cost of investment of isolated microgrids. The model connects all the users in the rural area under consideration using the Kruskal algorithm, which minimises the overall network length; reducing, therefore, the cost associated with materials, construction and O&M. Restrictions related to geographical conditions are considered to provide a solution for a realistic situation. When restrictions are highly relevant, the model is capable of separating the network in various microgrids, which represents a powerful feature as different network configurations can be explored to identify the best economic and technical solution. To test the performance of the tool three different study cases are analysed: One village in Ethiopia, with 141 households, and two located in Colombia, one in the shore of the Amazon river and the second in a Caribbean island. Additionally, a comparison with a simplified method was performed to identify the differences and advantages of the tool developed during this thesis. RETEP Network not only minimises the total length but reduces the total investment cost, as the LCOE and NPC result to be lower than those obtained with the simplified method for all the network configurations analysed in each study case.
Al giorno d'oggi, circa 1 miliardo di persone nel mondo non ha accesso all'elettricità. La mancanza di accesso all'energia limita lo sviluppo economico e ha un forte impatto sulla sicurezza, le condizioni di salute e l'istruzione. Tra i principali ostacoli che riguardano l'elettrificazione rurale, emergono la mancanza di approcci di pianificazione sostenibile, incentivi finanziari e bassa capacità di pagamento. In particolare, il costo elevato è un ostacolo rilevante nei progetti di estensione della rete. Un'opzione per superare questo problema, pur garantendo la fattibilità economica, è l'implementazione di soluzioni off-grid. Tra i diversi componenti delle microgrid isolate, la rete di distribuzione svolge un ruolo importante, in particolare per gli investimenti necessari nelle infrastrutture, che hanno un peso considerevole sulla valutazione del costo finale del progetto. L'obiettivo di questa tesi era quello di sviluppare da zero un modello, chiamato RETEP Network, in grado di definire e analizzare una topologia ottimale della rete di distribuzione che consenta di minimizzare il costo totale dell'investimento delle microgrid isolate. Il modello è in grado di ottimizzare la topografia della rete dell'area rurale in esame utilizzando l'algoritmo di Kruskal, che riduce al minimo la lunghezza complessiva della rete, riducendo i costi associati a materiali, costruzione e O&M. Il modello considera anche le restrizioni relative alle condizioni geografiche in modo da fornire una soluzione finale più realistica: quando le restrizioni sono altamente rilevanti, il modello è in grado di separare la rete in varie microgrid, il che rappresenta una potente funzionalità in quanto è possibile esplorare diverse configurazioni di rete per identificare la migliore soluzione economica e tecnica. Per testare le prestazioni dello strumento sono stati analizzati tre diversi casi di studio: un villaggio in Etiopia, con 141 famiglie, e due situati in Colombia, uno sulla riva del Rio delle Amazzoni e l'altro in un'isola dei Caraibi. Inoltre, è stato eseguito un confronto con un metodo semplificato per identificare le differenze e i vantaggi dello strumento sviluppato durante questa tesi. RETEP Network non solo ha ridotto al minimo la lunghezza totale ma ha ridotto il costo totale dell'investimento, in quanto LCOE e NPC sono risultati inferiori a quelli ottenuti con il metodo semplificato per tutte le configurazioni di rete analizzate in ciascun caso di studio.
Development and implementation of a distribution network planning tool for isolated micro-grids
SILVA RODRIGUEZ, LINA MARÍA
2018/2019
Abstract
Nowadays, around 1 billion people in the world do not have access to electricity. Lack of energy access limits economic development and has a strong effect on security, health conditions, and education. Within the main barriers affecting rural electrification, the lack of sustainable planning approaches, financial incentives and low payment capacity stand out. In particular, cost is relevant obstacle in grid extension projects. One option to overcome this issue, while guaranteeing economic feasibility, is the implementation of off-grid solutions. Among the different components of isolated microgrids, the distribution network plays an important role, especially for the required investment in infrastructure, which has a considerable weight in the final cost of the project. The goal of this thesis is to develop from the ground up a model, namely RETEP Network, able to define and analyse an optimal distribution network topology leading to minimise the total cost of investment of isolated microgrids. The model connects all the users in the rural area under consideration using the Kruskal algorithm, which minimises the overall network length; reducing, therefore, the cost associated with materials, construction and O&M. Restrictions related to geographical conditions are considered to provide a solution for a realistic situation. When restrictions are highly relevant, the model is capable of separating the network in various microgrids, which represents a powerful feature as different network configurations can be explored to identify the best economic and technical solution. To test the performance of the tool three different study cases are analysed: One village in Ethiopia, with 141 households, and two located in Colombia, one in the shore of the Amazon river and the second in a Caribbean island. Additionally, a comparison with a simplified method was performed to identify the differences and advantages of the tool developed during this thesis. RETEP Network not only minimises the total length but reduces the total investment cost, as the LCOE and NPC result to be lower than those obtained with the simplified method for all the network configurations analysed in each study case.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Thesis Lina Silva.pdf
accessibile in internet solo dagli utenti autorizzati
Descrizione: Thesis document
Dimensione
3.72 MB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
3.72 MB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri |
I documenti in POLITesi sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
https://hdl.handle.net/10589/148695