Taha Selim Ustun

By Andrew Hubble and Taha Selim Ustun

Rural electrification in developing countries—especially Sub‐Saharan Africa—has trailed urban development drastically. The extreme costs associated with expanding traditional grid networks, and the relatively few people they serve, have proved to be a serious economic barrier. Being able to generate and distribute electricity at an affordable rate is crucial in order to effectively power homes, schools, health clinics, and private business. Through this continued cycle and lack of access to electricity, poverty only continues. If given access, quality of life increases through more educated, longer, and healthier lives as well as through developed entrepreneurship and business growth. Unfortunately, because of the remoteness of many communities they are often dismissed as unreachable. Furthermore, microgrids help address another global need: increased renewable energy penetration. Small‐scale energy production lends itself to solar installations, but depending on the location and available resources, wind and hydropower can also play an important role.

Part of the book: Development and Integration of Microgrids

By Taha Selim Ustun

Energy sector is a big source of carbon emissions. Traditionally, it is built, almost entirely, on fossil fuels with the exception of hydro and nuclear power plants. In line with the global mobilization toward tackling global warming by reducing carbon emissions, energy sector is trying to transition its generation portfolio to clean and sustainable energy sources. Renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and wave provide energy without carbon emissions and provide a good alternative to traditional fossil fuels such as coal or natural gas. Another opportunity lies at the intersection of energy with transportation sector, another big contributor to carbon emissions. When electrified with renewables, transportation sector can both reduce its carbon emissions and provide support to electrical grid via novel solutions such as smart charging. However, these benefits come at a price. Non-dispatchable nature of renewable energy sources and their low inertia create operational and planning issues that make it hard to ensure demand is always met and the system operates in a healthy way. This chapter covers how renewable penetration can be increased while mitigating these issues with novel solutions. These include novel optimization ideas based on nature and new devices such as smart inverters.

Part of the book: Reducing Carbon Footprint in Different Sectors for Sustainability