Technical-Economic Analysis of Photovoltaic and Small-Scale Wind Turbine Hybrid System for Rural Health Centers : A Case Study in South Benin

Abstract

The Republic of Benin, like other West African countries, has a low rate of rural electrification (less than 20%). Therefore, all rural health centers operate without electricity. It is necessary to develop solutions to empower rural health centers. Integrated hybrid renewable energy solutions have demonstrated their ability to provide reliable and cost-effective electricity to health centers. This article is part of a technical and economic study of different solutions of mixed renewable energy systems to meet the needs of rural health centers. To determine the electrical load of the rural health center, we used a method that consists of monitoring the electricity consumption of a standard center for 92 days. Using a power meter data logger, health center consumption was recorded for the entire period. The monitored load of the rural health center consists mainly of lighting and electrical appliances such as the freezer. Consumption is monitored with a five minute time step so the data can be used to generate any level of load profile detail. Then a 15 minutes step load profile is generated for each day and the daily profiles are repeated to create a load profile for the whole year by applying a small stochastic variation function. Regarding our results, we noted a technical-economic optimization of a small-scale wind-photovoltaic (PV) battery system with a concern for reliability and a comparison with a grid extension solution. Then, we presented the results of monitoring the load of a rural health center and the results of the extension of the network and the hybrid system. Reliability and cost aspects are analyzed. The results obtained showed that despite the scarcity of wind resources, the complementarity of wind and solar potentials increases the efficiency of the system for a break-even point of 1 km to 5 km for wind-PV-battery systems.