Analysis of village hybrid systems in Chile
- and others
Chile recently began a major rural electrification program to electrify those 240,000 families (about half of the rural people) who lack electricity access. In this paper, we discuss a pilot project to electrify three remote villages in Chile`s Region IX using wind/genset/battery hybrids. The intent of this project is to demonstrate the reliability and cost-effectiveness of wind/genset/battery hybrids and to encourage replication of these types of systems in Chile`s electrification program. For each village, electricity connections are planned for several residences, and also schools, health posts, community centers, or chapels. Projected average daily loads are small, ranging from 4 to 10 kWh. Using the optimization program HOMER and the simulation program Hybrid2, we evaluated options to maximize technical performance, minimize costs, and gain experience with a variety of systems and components. We find that wind/genset/battery hybrids will be able to provide cost-effective, reliable power for these sites. More importantly, their inherent flexibility allows for variations in load and resource without greatly affecting the cost of energy.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-83CH10093
- OSTI ID:
- 256417
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/TP-440-21275; CONF-960630-1; ON: DE96007934; TRN: 96:004035
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Windpower `96: American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) conference, Denver, CO (United States), 23-27 Jun 1996; Other Information: PBD: Jun 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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