Electricity access options appraisal in Malawi: Dedza district case study

Aran Eales, Damien Frame, Peter Dauenhauer, Blessings Kambombo, Philimon Kamanga

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)
343 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

An energy audit has been conducted for the Dedza district in Malawi, which required the development and implementation of a multidisciplinary options appraisal methodology involving a literature review; solar, wind and hydro resource assessment; household and business surveys; focus group discussions and expert interviews. A decision making tool was developed to score and rank renewable energy technologies based on defined input criteria. Due to low income levels and limited capacity, small scale, low access, technologies such as pico-solar products were found to have the highest potential for widespread uptake over the district. Other innovative uses of solar energy including solar home systems and productive uses of solar also score highly due to good solar
resource in the district, modularity and ease of implementation. Wind and hydro systems are ranked lower due to limited resource and lack of local capacity to implement.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages6
Publication statusPublished - 27 Jun 2017
Event2017 IEEE PES PowerAfrica Conference: Harnessing Energy, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for Affordable Electrification of Africa - GIMPA Conference Centre, Accra, Ghana
Duration: 27 Jun 201730 Jun 2017
http://sites.ieee.org/powerafrica/

Conference

Conference2017 IEEE PES PowerAfrica Conference
Country/TerritoryGhana
CityAccra
Period27/06/1730/06/17
Internet address

Keywords

  • geographic information systems
  • renewable energy sources
  • rural areas
  • social factors
  • technology planning

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