CRESUM-HYRES

Photo by Jason Blackeye on Unsplash

Summary

Can we electrify rural areas in developing countries with low-cost, resilient solutions? In this project we investigate the techno-economic aspects of developing resilient Microgrids for the electrification of rural communities in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs).

The research follows an integrated approach to ensure that the systems designed are maintainable, have good longevity with low cost, meet diverse community energy needs and are resilient to natural hazards. We will try to enable the development of sustainable and resilient energy distribution grids in rural communities of Tanzania, Uganda and Republic of the Congo, where currently at most 10% of the rural population has access to electricity. We will achieve this by designing a scalable low-cost MG infrastructure based on a novel planning methodology that incorporates real-time operational strategies and sustainable generation flexibility at the system design stage to reduce the investment requirements and increase sustainability.

For more information, look at the project website.