Somali region generates 90% electricity from renewables
In Garowe, northeastern Somalia, a microgrid upgrade has enabled a region to meet 90% of its electricity demand from a combination of renewables and energy storage. The upgrade was commissioned by the National Energy Corporation of Somalia (NECSOM), and completed in just 30 days by the French energy storage developer and system integrator Electro Power Systems (EPS).
The upgrade involved the addition of 0.75MW of wind turbines and 400kWh of additional energy storage, as well as 3.1MW of generators — building on 1MW of solar PV generation capacity and 1.4MWh of energy storage already added in 2016. NESCOM claims the project could save 1 million litres of diesel fuel annually.
So what?
The project’s success shows the potential of ‘intelligent microgrid management’ to enable the rapid scaling of renewables. EPS claims its Hybrid Energy Storage System (HyESS) did not need any alteration to cope with the added capacity.
EPS also claims that electricity demand had grown in the region since the first phase of the project in 2016, a possible indicator of how the microgrid may have contributed to economic and social development.
— Signal spotted by Anna Warrington // written by Anna Simpson
Sources
EPS’ Somali microgrid upgrade which helps city hit 90% renewables completed in less than 30 days
This article was first published on the Futures Centre on 8 Sep 2017.
