Hybrid mini-grid systems - distributed generation systems for communities based on renewable energy resources

Abstract

To date, the South African electrification programme has been highly successful from a policy, institutional, planning, financing and technical innovation perspective. The focus on electrification and energisation, though, has moved from chasing numbers of connections mainly in the urban areas, to one of achieving sustainable economic and social benefits in the rural areas. This paper describes the three year investigative project in the Eastern Cape Province, the formulation of an integrated energy/economic framework and describes the CSIR's role in the formulation of South Africa's first hybrid mini-grids and the lessons learnt. The hybrid mini-grid systems can also be classified as distributed generation systems.