A techno-economic feasibility study of low carbon mini-grid for rural electrification in Myanmar | |
| Author | Khin Mon Thet |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.SE-23-05 |
| Subject(s) | Microgrids (Smart power grids)--Burma Rural electrification--Burma Renewable energy sources--Burma |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering Sustainable Energy Transition |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Myanmar has abundant renewable resources and the government aims to electrify the whole country by 2030. In order to implement that, 90% will be a grid-based system and 10% will be mini-grid or off-grid options. In Gyaint Gyi village, nearly 60% of the households are connected to PV/diesel/battery hybrid mini-grid systems. Although that mini-grid has positive impacts on their social life and economy, it has some drawbacks in an economic and environmental perspective. Carbon emissions from diesel generators and frequent increases in diesel fuel prices would be major issues. Aiming to be carbon neutral, this study is mainly intended to propose an optimal low-carbon mini-grid system for Gyaint Gyi village. Therefore, this study mainly focuses on eight different mini-grid scenarios, five systems related to battery storage including existing system, and three schemes coupled with hydrogen storage. Hereby, the HOMER Pro designing tool which was developed by NREL is used to perform optimization, sensitivity analysis, and emission analysis. Among battery storage scenarios, PV/WT/Battery combination is the best optimal system because resulted LCOE is 9.8%-10.4 % lower than that of the existing system and has zero emission. Among hydrogen storage scenarios, PV/WT/H2 combination is more economical rather than using either solar or wind alone. For current demand, PV/WT/EL/HT/FC is more favorable than H2 coupled with reformer. If the natural gas price will increase to 0.58 $/m3 in future demand scenario, PV/WT/H2 using electrolyzer would become more competitive than reformer. In the current cost scenario, the cost of energy adopting H2 storage in a mini-grid is very expensive, ranging between 0.501 $/kWh and 0.730 $/kWh, pretty much far away from the user’s affordable cost range (≤0.17 $/kWh). Therefore, addition of hydrogen storage and fuel cell is not economically applicable for focused village at current condition. |
| Year | 2023 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Sustainable Energy Transition (SE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Weerakorn Ongsakul |
| Examination Committee(s) | Ha, Thanh Dong;Singh, Jai Govind |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Loom Nam Khong Pijai (Greater Mekong Subregion) Scholarships |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2023 |