Eales, A., 2014. Locally Manufactured Small Wind Turbines in Ethiopia: Is the Levelised Cost of Energy Competitive with Alternatives for Rural Electrification, and if so, where? Centre for Alternative Technology, Graduate School of the Environment, Wales.

https://www.academia.edu/7865944/Locally_Manufactured_Small_Wind_Turbines_in_Ethiopia_Is_the_Levelised_Cost_of_Energy_Competitive_with_the_Alternatives_for_Rural_Electrification_and_if_so_where

Globally 1.5 million people do not have access to modern electricity supply, and in Ethiopia this is true for an estimated 86% of the population. In the right context, locally manufactured small wind turbines (LMSWT) can provide a low cost, low carbon source of off grid power for rural electrification projects. The locally manufactured aspect of the technology builds the in-country value chain, with component parts being purchased from local markets; it also has the potential to create local jobs and develop local economies having wider benefits to a developing country than just the electricity it provides. This study has investigated the implementation of LMSWT in Ethiopia for productive use of energy purposes. Optimisation software HOMER has been used to model LMSWT in hybrid systems with solar PV and diesel generators, to provide energy fora typical commercial centre in Ethiopia. System costs were found during primary fieldwork research in Ethiopia. Solar PV, generator and LMSWT components were found from local suppliers in Mercato, Addis Ababa and associated manufacturing,installation and business costs from interviews with renewable energy practitioners in Ethiopia. LMSWT lifetime and performance were obtained from other LMSWT groups worldwide through the global association Wind Empowerment. A range of wind and solar resource data used for the study were obtained from the International Renewable Energy Association, analysed and compared to studies from available literature. Sensitivity values were used to take into account uncertainty in any parameters. HOMER uses all given parameter values to output optimal systems in terms of lowest Levelised Cost of Energy and Net Present Cost for given solar and wind resources. The resulting surface plot shows that it is competitive to include LMSWT in an off grid system (with cost uncertainty multipliers of 1 for all parameters) for any solar resource in Ethiopia, when the wind speed is 5.5m/s or above. When the LMSWT cost uncertainty multiplier is a maximum of 1.43, the threshold wind speed increases to 5.8m/s. The operation and maintenance cost multiplier, based on the distance between installation site and location of service centre, indicates that when service technicians have to travel more than 7 hours to a site, it is uneconomical to include LMSWT in the system.The HOMER surface plot was used with GIS software to plot, on a grid layout of a national map of Ethiopia, the most cost effective system configuration given the wind and solar resource in that area. Additional GIS analysis was included such as national electricity grid (assuming connection to the grid is cheaper than an off-grid system), population and protected areas. It was found that for the majority of thecountry, solar PV/Generator systems (without LMSWT) are suitable. However in the South and East of Ethiopia high wind speeds make it competitive to include LMSWTin a hybrid system with solar PV, and in a limited number of locations a LMSWT/Generator system is most optimal. It was found that ideal locations forLMSWT implementation correspond to areas not currently connected to the national grid, with low population and also areas of high risk of civil unrest.