Integration of the Solar PV Power plant into the Grid: Case of Matebe Power Plant in GOMA/DRC

Abstract

Energy access has become a great issue for humanity. The world population is growing much faster, this implies the increase in need of energy. Electrical energy is one of the indispensable energies for the human being. In DRC, electricity represents only 2% of the energy consumed while biomass takes a great percentage. It was found according to data collection that the total power demand of Mugunga area is around 10.9 MW. To solve this issue, the use of renewable energies for generating electricity is mostly solicited. In this thesis, a large 12 MW grid-connected solar photovoltaic system was designed. This last was also found after collecting the Mugunga quarter data related to its electrical loads which were subdivided according to the activity type. Since there was no census done in the 4 past years, some estimated values were used in the calculations. To conduct this research, the methodology consisted of site selection, which was analyzed and studied. We also defined a suitable area for solar installation. The choice was made for Mugunga. As we don’t have its specific meteorological data due to the inexistence of weather forecast institution, the entire city of Goma was been considered. The system performance to model was calculated through the performance parameters as the specific yield, the capacity factor and the performance ratio. The results from calculations led to a total investment of 14564357 US Dollar. By calculating the AEP (Annual Energy Production) of the plant, which was 21670.98 MWh, the economic analysis showed its rentability. An interest of 12524368 US Dollar was found after calculating the LCC (Life Cycle Cost). The simulation was made using the engineering software's PV syst and MATLAB. The results obtained were not so far from the one got from calculations. In calculation, we have found the specific yield and the performance ration at 1516 kWh/kWp and 85.3% respectively. The PVsyst software calculated these values at 1501 kWh/kWp and 84.3%. The PV is performant and can supply the electricity need for the Mugunga quarter in the city of Goma.