Technical and Economical Investigation of a Centralized and Decentralized Hybrid Renewable Energy System in Cadaado, Somalia

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the feasibility of a wind–solar hybrid system on and off-grid power system for electricity generation at a selected location in Somalia using the renewable energy optimization software HOMER. The simulation model was successfully applied to find the best simulation results based on the energy-efficient system for the specific load. The technical and economic performance of an on-grid and stand-alone combination of 25 kW wind power and 60 kW solar photovoltaic was investigated. Since the city of Cadaado has not yet installed its own standard modern electricity grid and due to the great need to reduce energy costs in Somalia, a feasibility study was conducted on how to supply electricity to a sampled residential consumption. Based on the basic characteristics of renewable energy sources in central Somalia, the on-grid wind and solar photovoltaic systems could be economically feasible.