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State of art review of Ghana Power System from the perspective of smart grid implementation
... In terms of dependable capacity, the total power generation mix is 4975.25 MW. Hydropower represents 28%, thermal power comprises 70% and other renewable sources make up 2% of the dependable capacity [69]. Introducing a reactor with a power capacity of 1200 MW would result in a mismatch and adversely afect power supply in the country. ...
This review paper delves into Ghana’s pursuit of nuclear energy as a pivotal component for sustainable development. It highlights the potential benefits of nuclear power in bolstering energy security, stimulating economic growth and advancing environmental sustainability, framed around three core development pillars: economic progress, social advancement and environmental conservation. The paper also discusses the major challenges and critical considerations for nuclear energy adoption, such as financing nuclear projects, managing radioactive waste, upgrading the national electric grid and addressing the social and environmental risks associated with nuclear energy. Through detailed analysis, the study presents the challenges and opportunities that Ghana faces in leveraging nuclear energy for sustainable growth and offers strategic recommendations to guide policymakers and relevant stakeholders.
... A favorable external environment can strengthen this relationship, making it more likely that stakeholders will adopt blockchain solutions, while inadequacies in these external factors can weaken the perceived usefulness and adoption intention. Thus, if external factors are inadequate, such as when there is a lack of regulatory clarity or technological support, they can weaken this relationship, making users less likely to adopt blockchain despite its perceived benefits (Ibrahim et al., 2023). Therefore, for blockchain to be effective in the preventive fight against corruption, it is hypothesized that ...
This study examines the adoption and use of blockchain technology as a proactive tool against white-collar crimes in Ghana, using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a framework. A survey of professionals from regulatory bodies, financial institutions, and anti-corruption agencies was conducted to gather quantitative data. The analysis focused on key TAM constructs—Perceived Usefulness (PU), Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU), Attitude Toward Use (ATU), and Behavioral Intention (BI)—to evaluate their impact on Actual System Use (AU). Findings indicate that PU and PEOU significantly influence BI, while ATU and BI strongly affect AU. External factors, such as regulatory frameworks and technological infrastructure, had limited influence, underlining the importance of perceived utility and ease of use in driving blockchain adoption. This research provides critical insights for policymakers and organizations, highlighting the need to promote positive perceptions of blockchain to en-courage its adoption in anti-corruption initiatives. It uniquely assesses Ghana’s readiness for blockchain integration in combating corruption, addressing gaps in the literature on technology adoption in less regulated environments. The study offers actionable recommendations for enhancing transparency, accountability, and the efficacy of anti-corruption efforts through blockchain technology.
... Ref. [16] found that transparent communication by Jordan's Electricity Company increased customer loyalty by 25%, suggesting similar strategies for subsidy distribution. Ghana's community-led solar campaigns, which boosted adoption by 45% through local champions [44], offer a replicable model for enhancing trust. ...
This article provides a comprehensive analysis of Jordan’s energy transition, integrating regulatory, infrastructural, and social aspects to advance the nation’s journey toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in clean energy, innovation, and infrastructure. Utilizing regression analysis and data from 447 households, this study defines the interdependence of policy and infrastructure in solar energy adoption, identifying tariff structures as a primary influencer. The current net metering policy, which limits compensation to 80% of exported energy, results in lengthy payback periods, contrasting with Morocco’s successful 100% feed-in tariff model and its shorter payback period. This comparative perspective, examining Morocco, Egypt, and the UAE, identifies effective renewable strategies. Those underline this study’s global relevance, particularly in promoting equitable access and infrastructural modernization. The article’s practical dimension is another major asset. Beyond diagnosing challenges such as deficiencies in battery storage and urban–rural disparities in subsidy access, the authors propose concrete reforms like licensing simplification, tariff indexing, and energy storage development. That dual academic and applied value positions this study as a crucial resource for shaping Jordanian energy policy and aiding other developing nations in their renewable energy pursuits. By filling a research gap, this article quantitatively assesses the interaction between regulatory policy and infrastructure, which are often separately studied, while the use of random sampling enhances the validity of its statistical inferences. Overall, this research contributes significantly to the broader discourse on renewable energy transitions within the MENA region and beyond, aligning policy, technology, and equity to support Jordan’s sustainable energy efforts.
... Currently, the electric power sector is dependent on the availability of natural oil sources that cause the emission of environmentally destructive waste such as CO2 gas. At the same time, moving to carbon removal to preserve the environment create a sustainable energy system, and provide the increasing demand for electrical load requires a higher level of communication networks to maintain the safety and security of the network [1,2]. Smart grids (SGs) technology has been introduced to broadly improve energy production efficiency, improve the electric grid system, and encourage the combination of different energy generation sources into a single system where the combination of smart meters (SMs) and sensors in the power grid allows real-time access to energy demand [3,4]. ...
... Again, retaining the viewpoint of uniqueness of each country is paramount. Country-level policy on on-grid versus off-grid electrification may differ markedly; Ghana is an example of a country that has historically insisted on maximising grid buildout as opposed to relying on off-grid solutions (and reaching comparatively high access rates in the process) (Ibrahim et al 2023); whereas Mali, for instance, has a higher share of people using off-grid electricity than people relying on the grid, though also a much lower overall electrification rate than Ghana (Logan and Han 2022). ...
This paper reviews the state-of-the-art of research on African energy transitions and pinpoints critical questions that require answering to allow science-based policymaking. It both highlights unique elements of energy transitions research in the African context, and explains why these need deeper investigation to enable decisions informed by clear and objective country-specific analysis. In doing so, it pinpoints clear areas of future study that are urgently needed at the country level to enable science-informed policy.
Despite global warming, renewable energy has gained much interest worldwide due to its ability to generate large-scale energy without emitting greenhouse gases. The availability and low cost of wind energy and its high efciency and technological advancements make it one of the most promising renewable energy sources. Hence, capturing large amounts of wind energy is essential today. The large-scale integration of wind power sources must be evaluated and mitigated to develop a
sustainable future power system. Wind energy research and the government are working together to overcome the potential barriers associated with its penetration into the power grid. This paper reviews the social, environmental, and cost-economic impacts of installing large-scale wind energy plants. A valuable review of wind energy technology and its challenges is also presented in this paper, including the efects of wind farms on nearby communities, generation uncertainty, power quality issues, angular and voltage stability, reactive power support, and fault ride-through capability. Besides, socioeconomic, environmental, and electricity market challenges due to the grid integration of wind power are also investigated. Finally,
potential technical challenges to integrating large-scale wind energy into the power grid are reviewed regarding current research and their available mitigation techniques.
Thermochemical techniques have emerged as promising and sustainable approaches for converting diverse waste materials into valuable products, including chemicals and fuels. This study critically assesses the strengths and limitations of various thermochemical processes, focusing on their potential for large-scale implementation and commercial viability. The investigation encompasses a comprehensive examination of processes such as pyrolysis, gasification, and liquefaction, aiming to compare them based on crucial parameters including energy efficiency, product yield, product quality, and environmental impact. Through this comparative analysis, the study aims to identify the most suitable thermochemical treatment for specific waste materials, thereby facilitating the development of sustainable and economically feasible waste management strategies. By providing valuable insights into the selection and optimization of thermochemical processes, this research contributes to the advancement of waste-to-value technologies and supports the transition towards a circular economy.
Successive failures in power transmission lines can cause cascading failures in the power grid, which may eventually affect large parts of the power grid and even cause the power grid system to go down. Collecting and transmitting primary equipment information and issuing load-shedding action commands in the power grid depend on the power communication network. With the help of the power communication network, we can better observe the situation of the power grid in real time and provide a guarantee for the regular working of the power grid. However, the communication network also has the problem of communication delay causing latency in load-shedding action. On the premise of preserving the key physical properties and operational characteristics of the power grid, this paper uses the IEEE 14 and 30 bus systems as examples to establish a direct current (DC) power flow simulation environment. We establish a communication network model based on the power grid topology and the corresponding communication channels. For the problem of cascading failures occurring in the power grid after transmission line failures, a load-shedding strategy using soft actor-critic (SAC) based on deep reinforcement learning (DRL) was developed to effectively mitigate cascading failures in the power grid while considering the impact of communication delay. The corresponding communication delay is obtained by calculating the shortest communication path using the Dijkstra algorithm. The simulation verifies the feasibility and effectiveness of the SAC algorithm to mitigate cascading failures. The trained network can decide on actions and give commands quickly when a specific initial failure is encountered, reducing the scale of cascading failures.
The smart prepaid meters are in accordance with the Electricity Company of Ghana’s (ECG) new Meter Management System (MMS), which integrates all smart meters into a single platform, allowing consumers to purchase prepaid credit from anywhere in the nation and allowing the company to remotely monitor the meters. This article identifies the various implementation and usage challenges associated with the current smart metering system in Ghana. The paper also proposes some mitigation techniques to overcome the underlined challenges.
Off-grid hybrid power systems with renewable energy as the primary resource remain the best option to electrify rural/remote areas in developing countries to help attain universal electricity access by 2030. However, deploying these systems in West Africa faces several challenges and regularly fail to transition from pilot, donor-sponsored projects to sustainable large-scale implementations. The study examined the drivers and challenges by conducting a review of previous studies done in the region and a short survey in Ghana. Using Political, Economic, Social, Technical, Legal and Environmental dimensions, the review and survey showed that economic challenges have the worst impacts on the sustainable development of off-grid renewable energy-based power systems in WA. Further, the analysis revealed patterns and linkages among the challenges that make it detrimental to focus solely on the most pressing challenges.
This paper aims to perform a literature review and statistical analysis based on data extracted from 38 articles published between 2018 and 2023 that address hybrid renewable energy systems. The main objective of this review has been to create a bibliographic database that organizes the content of the articles in different categories, such as system architecture, energy storage systems, auxiliary generation components used, and software employed, in addition to showing the algorithms and economic and reliability criteria for the optimization of these systems. In total, 38 articles have been analyzed, compared, and classified to provide an overview of the current status of simulation and optimization projects for hybrid renewable energy systems, highlighting clearly and appropriately the relevant trends and conclusions. A list of review articles has also been provided, which cover the aspects required for understanding HRESs.
This study investigates powering Ghana’s future: unraveling the dynamics of electricity generation and the path to sustainable energy by estimating endogenous parameters and employing an unrestricted Vector Autoregression (VAR) model. The model examines the linear lead–lag relationships between variables in the Ghanaian electricity sector and power consumption, using data from 2002 to 2021. The results reveal structural long-and-short-run headwinds for the unrestricted models and indicate that the growth rate of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and electricity from fossil fuels are directly correlated. Granger causality analysis highlights a feedback relationship between GDP growth rate and electricity from fossil fuel sources. The impulse response function reveals that the GDP growth rate is sensitive to exogenous shocks with lasting effects. Variance decomposition results show that renewable energy without hydropower explains a minimal variance due to shocks, while total global greenhouse emissions account for a significant proportion of the variance due to headwinds. Electricity from fossil fuel sources explains a substantial part of the variance due to headwinds, suggesting Ghana’s overreliance on conventional energy sources. The study forecasts that installed renewable energy capacity will experience considerable growth by 2036, accounting for most of the energy mix. To promote a sustainable energy future, the study recommends implementing fiscal instruments that incentivize renewable energy consumption, gradually diversifying the energy mix towards natural gas as a medium-term transition fuel for grid electricity generation and shifting entirely to renewables in the long time. This research contributes valuable insights into the dynamics of electricity generation in Ghana and provides policy recommendations for sustainable energy development.
Ghana's electricity generation mix does not include utility-scale wind power plants to contribute to its power supply. Thus, the country is yet to harness the potential benefits that wind energy could offer, such as diversification of the energy mix, promoting a low-carbon economy, and increasing power generation capacity. This study evaluated wind turbines suitable for developing wind power plants in Adafoah using multicriteria decision-making methods. After that, RETScreen software was employed to perform and evaluate the techno-economic viability of deploying a 10 MW utility-scale wind power plant for electricity generation. The results showed that wind turbines ranging from 1 MW to 1.5 MW are suitable for the study site. Also, developing a 10 MW wind power plant would generate about 93 GWh of electricity annually with a capacity factor of 22%. The findings also reveal that a feed-in tariff (FiT) lower than US0.143/kWh. In addition, deploying the wind power plant saves about 33% of carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions compared to the utility grid. The sensitivity analysis also demonstrates that the project's financial indicators are resilient to capital subsidies, inflation, discount rate, FiT, and wind speed variations. The study's findings suggest that wind energy development in Adafoah and similar locations can improve energy access, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and promote sustainable development. This study's findings are useful to decision-makers, stakeholders, and investors in developing the wind power sector in Ghana.
Demand-side management, a new development in smart grid technology, has
enabled communication between energy suppliers and consumers. Demand side
energy management (DSM) reduces the cost of energy acquisition and the associated
penalties by continuously monitoring energy use and managing appliance schedules.
Demand response (DR), distributed energy resources (DER), and energy efciency
(EE) are three categories of DSM activities that are growing in popularity as a result
of technological advancements in smart grids. During the last century, the energy
demand has grown signifcantly in tandem with the increase in the global population.
This is related to the expansion of business, industry, agriculture, and the increasing
use of electric vehicles. Because of the sharp increase in global energy consumption,
it is currently extremely difcult to manage problems such as the characterization of
home appliances, integration of intermittent renewable energy sources, load categorization, various constraints, dynamic pricing, and consumer categorization. To address
these issues, it is critical to examine demand-side management (DSM), which has the
potential to be a practical solution in all energy demand sectors, including residential,
commercial, industrial, and agricultural. This paper has provided a detailed analysis
of the diferent challenges associated with DSM, including technical, economic, and
regulatory challenges, and has proposed a range of potential solutions to overcome
these challenges. The PRISMA reviewing methodology is adopted based on relevant
literature to focus on the issues identifed as barriers to improving DSM functioning.
The optimization techniques used in the literature to address the problem of energy
management were discussed, and the hybrid techniques have shown a better performance due to their faster convergence speed. Gaps in future research and prospective
paths have been briefy discussed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the
current DSM implementation and the potential benefts it can ofer for an energy management system. This comprehensive review of DSM will assist all researchers in this
feld in improving energy management strategies and reducing the efects of system
uncertainties, variances, and restrictions.
This paper provides a comprehensive review of the applications of smart meters in the control and optimisation of power grids to support a smooth energy transition towards the renewable energy future. The smart grids become more complicated due to the presence of small-scale low inertia generators and the implementation of electric vehicles (EVs), which are mainly based on intermittent and variable renewable energy resources. Optimal and reliable operation of this environment using conventional model-based approaches is very difficult. Advancements in measurement and communication technologies have brought the opportunity of collecting temporal or real-time data from prosumers through Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). Smart metering brings the potential of applying data-driven algorithms for different power system operations and planning services, such as infrastructure sizing and upgrade and generation forecasting. It can also be used for demand-side management, especially in the presence of new technologies such as EVs, 5G/6G networks and cloud computing. These algorithms face privacy-preserving and cybersecurity challenges that need to be well addressed. This article surveys the state-of-the-art of each of these topics, reviewing applications, challenges and opportunities of using smart meters to address them. It also stipulates the challenges that smart grids present to smart meters and the benefits that smart meters can bring to smart grids. Furthermore, the paper is concluded with some expected future directions and potential research questions for smart meters, smart grids and their interplay.
Since Facebook officially changed its name to Meta in Oct. 2021, the metaverse has become a new norm of social networks and three-dimensional (3D) virtual worlds. The metaverse aims to bring 3D immersive and personalized experiences to users by leveraging many pertinent technologies. Despite great attention and benefits, a natural question in the metaverse is how to secure its users' digital content and data. In this regard, blockchain is a promising solution owing to its distinct features of decentralization, immutability, and transparency. To better understand the role of blockchain in the metaverse, we aim to provide an extensive survey on the applications of blockchain for the metaverse. We first present a preliminary to blockchain and the metaverse and highlight the motivations behind the use of blockchain for the metaverse. Next, we extensively discuss blockchain-based methods for the metaverse from technical perspectives, such as data acquisition, data storage, data sharing, data interoperability, and data privacy preservation. For each perspective, we first discuss the technical challenges of the metaverse and then highlight how blockchain can help. Moreover, we investigate the impact of blockchain on key-enabling technologies in the metaverse, including Internet-of-Things, digital twins, multi-sensory and immersive applications, artificial intelligence, and big data. We also present some major projects to showcase the role of blockchain in metaverse applications and services. Finally, we present some promising directions to drive further research innovations and developments towards the use of blockchain in the metaverse in the future.
Ghana is experiencing an increase in energy demand as a result of increased industrialization activities. Nonrenewable energy sources, such as combustible fuels like petroleum, are the primary source of energy. Nonrenewable energy resources are associated with a number of issues, including environmental pollution. Renewable energy is a sustainable source of energy that is critical to the energy sector and the economy’s progress. Hydropower, biomass, solar energy, and wind energy are among the renewable energy resources available in Ghana. In Ghana, key institutions are responsible for the management and development of energy sources in the renewable energy sector. Among these institutions is the Ministry of Energy, which is responsible for the formulation and implementation of laws and policies, for instance, the Renewable Energy Act of 2011. Volta River Authority (VRA), Ghana Grid Company (GGC), and Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) are among the institutions under the Ministry of Energy. There are also regulatory agencies established by parliamentary act to ensure that all actors in the sector are working properly. Among these are the Energy Commission, the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PUR), and the National Petroleum Authority. Active nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), research institutes and universities, and industry are also involved in renewable energy activities.
Renewable energy sources (RES) dominance in Uganda's electricity mix is challenged by affordability and theft. To assess electricity affordability, the study proposed a probabilistic method to quantify the households into different electricity categories for both urban and rural areas. Alternative electricity billing schemes based on Scenarios A to D for the households to enhance legal connection and consumption of electricity were proposed. The study established that the utility registers the highest electricity theft losses in rural households. The monthly utility revenue collected in urban areas was about 2.9 times that collected in rural areas because of the higher number of legally connected households with a monthly consumption of 1.5 times than that of rural households. From the monthly income spendable on electricity, rural and urban households could only afford 25.07 kWh and 38.29 kWh, respectively, which are less than the average household electricity consumption for Uganda. Also, the initial connection fee to the power grid is very high for the households to afford it in a single down payment. Of the proposed alternative billing schemes, Scenario B and Scenario D yield the least monthly utility revenue collected for the urban and rural households, respectively.
Hydropower is a renewable source of electricity generation that is a common feature of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), especially in developing countries. However, far from benign, research shows that significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions emanate from shallow reservoirs when they are sited in the tropics. Ghana provides a case study for exploring the implications of hydro reservoir emissions within a future energy system consistent with the Paris climate objectives. Being a fast-developing country, Ghana needs to generate significant amounts of low-carbon electricity to meet growing demand over the coming 30 years. Analysis of existing Ghanaian dams (Akosombo, Kpong and Bui) and the forthcoming Pwalugu dam suggests that their average emissions intensities (gCO2/kWh) are similar to those of coal-fired power stations during the first 30 years of their operating lifetime. The case study demonstrates that cumulative (post-2020) carbon dioxide emissions from the planned and identified hydro resources will consume 40 % of Ghana's Paris-compliant carbon budget, yet provide just under 1 % of its future energy demand (under Paris-compliant scenarios). The analysis suggests that new hydropower in the tropics can significantly reduce the emission space available for other sectors such as transport and industry when faced with a highly restricted emissions budget. In conclusion, for Ghana specifically, rather than constructing more dams, energy efficiency and diversifying renewable energy supply options, including floating solar power, would deliver an energy transition for Ghana that is much more closely aligned with the Paris goals.
This study presents the energy assessment of 49 different crops in India, Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Iran, Turkey, Australia, Nigeria and Thailand. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), these crops were selected from the Indicative Crop Classification (ICC) i.e. cereals, vegetables, fruits, oilseeds, legumes/pulses, fiber and tobacco. The data regarding energy consumption of these crops were collected from articles published between 2001 and 2021. The amounts of energy utilized in diversified crop operations such as tillage, sowing, interculture, fertilization, irrigation, chemical applications, harvesting, threshing and transportation have been discussed. The energy input in terms of direct (manual and animal energy and fuel/diesel) and indirect (fertilizers, pesticides, machinery and seed energy) energy sources for various cropping systems is presented here. Various researchers have extensively examined different operations or sources utilizing more than recommended energy worldwide. In several countries, farmers are in practice utilizing more fertilizers and pesticides than their permitted levels. The energy consumption pattern in wheat production showed Turkey (35 737 MJ ha⁻¹) to be the highest user and Australia (10 900 MJ ha⁻¹) to be the lowest energy user. In rice production, Iran (64 158 MJ ha⁻¹) applied substantially higher while the Philippines applied (12 800 MJ ha⁻¹) slightly lower energy in contrast to other countries, whereas, in millet production, India (7000 MJ ha⁻¹) was the highest and Nigeria (3283 MJ ha⁻¹) was the lowest energy consumer. However, in overall crop production, sugarcane was the highest energy utilizing crop (148 020 MJ ha⁻¹), while wheat (259 000 MJ ha⁻¹) was the highest energy-generating crop. The energy ratio, specific energy and energy productivity of various crops varied between 0.76–29.4, 0.15–26.73 MJ kg⁻¹ and 0.04–6.67 kg MJ⁻¹, respectively.
Renewable energy (RE) is the key element of sustainable, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective electricity generation. An official report by International Energy Agency (IEA) states that the demand on fossil fuel usage to generate electricity has started to decrease since year 2019, along with the rise of RE usage to supply global energy demands. Researches on RE technologies are continuously growing in order to enhance the performance of RE generation, especially in term of energy conversion efficiency. The aim of this review paper is to understand and study further the current RE technologies such as solar energy, hydro energy, wind energy, bioenergy, geothermal energy, and hydrogen energy. Several hybrid RE technologies have been also studied and compared, to improve the overall performance of RE in generating electricity. Lastly, suggestions are provided for the purpose to solve and overcome the challenges and limitations of RE technologies in terms of economy, technical, and energy conversion efficiency.
We estimate that the recent surge in international fossil fuel prices will raise European households’ cost of living in 2022 by close to 7 percent of consumption on average. Household burdens vary significantly across and within countries, but in most cases they are regressive. Policymakers have mostly responded to the shock with broad-based price-suppressing measures, including subsidies, tax reductions, and price controls. Going forward, the policy emphasis should shift rapidly towards allowing price signals to operate more freely and providing income relief to the vulnerable. The surge in energy prices will encourage energy conservation and investments in renewable energy, but the manyfold rise in natural gas prices could lead to a persistent switch towards coal. To ensure steady progress towards carbon emissions reduction goals, authorities could use the opportunity to strengthen carbon pricing when global fossil fuel prices decline in the future. Non-price incentives for investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy should also be enhanced, as envisaged in the RePowerEU plan.
Economic crises face a new foe worldwide, along with the fact that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is facing problems to sustain its role in international energy prospects due to unavoidable domestic challenges caused by a fast-growing population. The challenges are unemployment for the youngsters, two-thirds of the total population, and emerging demand for energy consumption at the domestic level at unsustainably high rates. Besides this, KSA spends a considerable amount, around 9% of the GDP, to subsidize the energy sectors (oil products and electricity). All these aspects call for a selective study to pinpoint the factors which can directly or indirectly influence to sustain the Saudi economy in the long run.
To help cater to the growing demand for rigorous study on areas for energy rationalization in the Qassim region, the objectives of this work are to perform a thorough study of energy and exergy analysis of various electrical household appliances and exergy analysis of the residential sector (RS). In this study, an independent survey of 100 dwellings was conducted to collect data related to essential parameters of residential energy consumption. The collected data has been analyzed to determine energy consumption indicators and perform exergy analysis. The average monthly and yearly energy consumption per dwelling was between 30,832 to 36,166, and 1500 to 4500kWh, respectively. The average hourly electrical energy consumption during the working days was 4.12kWh, and during the curfew due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) 4kWh. The breakdown of this end-use of residential energy is mainly distributed for air conditioning, water heating, lighting, and all other domestic appliances with 67.34%, 9.31%, 8.18%, and 15.17%, respectively. The calculated total energy efficiency of 142.9% for KSA in this study showed a significant discrepancy compared to the previously reported value of 77.52%. Calculated total exergy efficiency falls between 11.13% and 11.38% for the Qassim region. Energy policymakers can use clear energy consumption indicators and exergy efficiency present in this study. They can help to establish energy efficiency standards to be used for various economic sectors.
Due to the rapid progress of urbanization in China, the percentage of residential energy consumption out of total energy consumption has increased. This paper uses statistical data from 30 Chinese provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) from 2000 to 2020 to analyze the impact of urbanization on residential energy consumption and construct an econometric model to test the mechanism. The empirical tests show that the consumption of direct energy (energy that exists in nature in its original form and has not been transformed) is positively U-shaped about the urbanization rate. Furthermore, the impact of economic development on direct and indirect energy consumption is significantly positive. In contrast, the effects of population agglomeration on immediate energy consumption are adverse, and the indirect energy consumption is positive.
The world is rapidly adopting renewable energy alternatives at a remarkable rate to address the ever-increasing environmental crisis of CO2 emissions. Renewable Energy Systems (RES) offers enormous potential to decarbonize the environment because they produce no greenhouse gases or other polluting emissions. However, the RES relies on natural resources for energy generation, such as sunlight, wind, water, geothermal, which are generally unpredictable and reliant on weather, season, and year. To account for these intermittencies, renewable energy can be stored using various techniques and then used in a consistent and controlled manner as needed. Several researchers from around the world have made substantial contributions over the last century to developing novel methods of energy storage that are efficient enough to meet increasing energy demand and technological breakthroughs. This review attempts to provide a critical review of the advancements in the Energy Storage System (ESS) from 1850 – 2022, including its evolution, classification, operating principles and comparison.
Cloud computing is one of the significant facilitators of the health information revolution in the healthcare business. The global exchange of records in the health sector through electronic media is facilitated by cloud computing. In healthcare, this technology increases safety and creates innovation. Communication with the health matrix throughout the world makes feasible by the application of this technology. Cloud computing has been utilised in health care for many years and has evolved in conjunction with developments in business. This technology establishes standard accessible hardware for diverse healthcare applications via a network connection. Cloud computing and processing ensure safe communication, and the cloud servers secure all essential data. Doctors can counsel their individuals on their health and broadcast their patient's daily health regimes, typically keeping their minds and bodies healthy. Psychologists and psychiatrists can use videoconferencing that makes patients comfortable with their patients. This paper discusses cloud computing and its need for healthcare. Major key advantages, barriers, and challenges of Cloud computing for the healthcare industry are identified. Finally, it discusses the significant applications of cloud computing for healthcare. Today more and more healthcare suppliers are providing Internet of Things (IoT) enabled gadgets to patients, and patient data are instantly communicated to their doctors by linking such devices to the cloud system of hospitals. As a result, cloud computing, in conjunction with fast-expanding technologies such as Big Data analytics, artificial intelligence, and the internet of medical things, improves efficiencies and expands the number of ways to streamline healthcare delivery. It improves resource availability, improves interoperability, and reduces costs.
Energy solutions that address developmental issues related to economic growth, environment, and social equity are simultaneously needed by developing nations. Despite major barriers limiting the implementation of renewable energy (RE) sources on a large scale, the friendliness of REs to the environment makes them well accepted for electricity generation. The electricity grid worldwide has undergone modifications to become resilient, environmentally friendly, efficient, and reliable to large-scale deployment of RE sources. Therefore, the study embarked on the qualitative assessment of the roles REs can play in the sustainable development of Ghana. The research unearths some findings through keyword searches in the most prominent search engines to supplement peer-reviewed scholarly literature. It was revealed that Ghana's agenda to a green economy requires the mobilization of US$ 22.6 billion investments to implement ten years (2020 and 2030) Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). RE sources for Ghana come in handy to electricity security while saving the devastating impacts of CO2 emissions and keeping the earth's temperature below 2°C. Hence, REs can be a novel alternative to the future predicament of Ghana's energy solutions in a low carbon economy. Thus, Ghana must adjust the existing policy mechanisms for RE penetrations while understudying the stories surrounding the ease of higher market investments of REs. However, such means should not be overshadowed by misconceptions.
Energy is essential to the development of a country, and several studies have been carried out on the production and use of energy by industrialised countries. However, little research and development has been carried out in developing countries on renewable energy. Also, the importance of traditional fuels such as biomass has not been emphasised in developing countries like Ghana, which rely on fossil fuels. Ghana relies heavily on imported petroleum fuel obtained from fossil fuels. However, fossil fuels are faced with many limitations including environmental pollution and an escalating price. Hydropower, biomass, biofuel, wind, and solar energy are the major renewable energy resources expected to be fully exploited in the future. This study, therefore, assesses the sources of the main renewable energy in relation to policy, the conditions of the market and food security. The government of Ghana has put in place a favourable business environment for the renewable energy sector by setting explicit feed-in tariffs (FITs). In addition, various acts and legislation have been passed and formulated by the relevant institutions (Renewable Energy Act (832) of 2011). The study revealed that there is an increase in the exploitation and use of energy from renewable resources when compared with the past decades. However, this exploitation is still limited due to barriers such as the cost of technologies, financing issues, and scientific and technical barriers.
Non-technical loss of electricity (comprising theft, fraud, non-payment and billing irregularities) is a significant issue, particularly in developing countries, and represents a large financial burden on utility companies, governments and society as a whole. This paper takes a wholistic and global view of the challenge and provides a broad perspective of the interrelated issues. Media reports and public perception of non-technical losses tend to focus on residential consumers, particularly those with limited financial resources, whereas review of more robust literature indicates that the largest proportion of non-technical losses is often due to industry, state-owned enterprises and relatively well-off residential consumers. Measures to reduce non-technical losses focusing on average residential consumers, such as pre-paid metering, therefore have limited effect on overall losses. Strengthening of legal and regulatory frameworks, particularly with regard to those larger users, and installing high security tamper-resistant metering systems for commercial consumers may have more effect. The reasons for non-technical losses, especially theft, are complex, but the customer–utility relationship is a key determinant. Improvement of this relationship through local participation in development of renewable energy schemes, such as rooftop solar photovoltaics, could bring benefit if challenges such as financing, design of the distribution system, utility company codes and standards and competence in post installation maintenance can be overcome.
Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires ensuring universal energy access. Yet, governments of low-income countries face significant budget constraints for the capital-intensive infrastructure required to reach the hundreds of millions of households and businesses without grid electricity. In this context, private investors are the key actors capable of channelling such large capital requirements. Compared to the previous decades, the 2010s witnessed a growing mobilization of private funding in the off-grid electricity access sector, including some success stories. Nonetheless, with less than ten years left until the SDGs horizon, off-grid companies systematically struggle to ensure the financial sustainability of projects, as the industry still seeks to demonstrate its maturity and profitability. In this paper, we critically review the main business approaches adopted by private decentralised electricity access service providers. The aim of the analysis is to identify the main drivers of risk and failure which have been hindering sectoral investment. We then propose and discuss four potential game-changing factors that could foster the next generation of private investment in decentralised electricity solutions: (i) anchor-businesses-community (ABC) models; (ii) the design of integrated business models centred around income generation; (iii) the growing role for “local” financiers; (iv) the securitization of assets. Our paper targets private infrastructure developers and financiers aiming at fostering investment in financially sustainable decentralised electricity access projects.
Persistent low electricity access continues to plague Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and has been made more obvious due to the precarious nature of adopted energisation schemes across the region. The absence of resilient elec- trification schemes within most countries in SSA portends grave danger for the region. Regional cooperation (like the integrated European Union (EU) electricity market) can guarantee stable, secure, and affordable electricity supply across regions when properly regulated. However, such a template as is obtainable in Europe may be impossible to replicate within SSA owing to the peculiar problems, local controversies and very wide variation in regional electrification statistics that exist within the region. This research work pertinently examines the power pools within SSA and argues that improved regional cooperation, especially in tackling the issue of energy poverty and achieving “universal energy access (SDG 7)”, should be pursued on the platform of national energy sufficiency. This argument draws extensively from the geopolitics within the region by different actors and the impact of national interests on regional cooperation. While we do not seek to oppose regional cooperation in electricity trading, we emphasize the need for nations within the region to strive for some level of national energy security through carefully crafted policies and road maps that resonate with their local realities. Regional cooperation should strive to standardise electricity access benchmarks and facilitate technology transfer through existing or improved instruments rather than pushing for more integrated electricity networks.
In order to meet the requirements of high-tech enterprises for high power quality, high-quality operation and maintenance (O&M) in smart distribution networks (SDN) is becoming increasingly important. As a significant element in enhancing the high-quality O&M of SDN, situation awareness (SA) began to excite the significant interest of scholars and managers, especially after the integration of intermittent renewable energy into SDN. Specific to high-quality O&M, the paper decomposes SA into three stages: detection, comprehension, and projection. In this paper, the state-of-the-art knowledge of SND SA is discussed, a review of critical technologies is presented, and a five-layer visualization framework of the SDN SA is constructed. SA detection aims to improve the SDN observability, SA comprehension is associated with the SDN operating status, and SA projection pertains to the analysis of the future SDN situation. The paper can provide researchers and utility engineers with insights into the technical achievements, barriers, and future research directions of SDN SA.
Energy communities (ECs) are considered an important element of the current energy transition. Most studies have focused on how to specifically engage citizens in such communities. In this paper, the emphasis is on the objectives of other stakeholders. Only by taking all motivations and interests into account can a successful project be established.
In our study, relevant stakeholders, their objectives for joining an EC and the importance of each of these objectives were determined in a participatory manner through four Flemish pilot cases. The results provide an overview of general and context-specific elements that need to be taken into account when designing an EC as well as when setting up policy initiatives to stimulate large-scale EC roll-out. For potential members, financial incentives are the main drivers of participation but often not the decisive objectives. Their decision to join is influenced by a variable combination of social, economic, technical and environmental motivations. Local governments mainly want an EC to bring social and environmental advantages, and the local distribution system operator (DSO) only supports ECs when they can bring added value to their main grid and society as a whole and can help avoid major grid investments.
The problem of energy losses, both nationally and internationally, is a leading cause for the financial collapse of most utilities. A quantitative research approach was adopted for this study where a questionnaire was used to collect information from the participants. A total of 113 City of Tshwane (CoT) employees within the electricity division participated in the study. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistical methods were used to analyse the outcome of the survey. The study found that technical and non-technical losses are the major cause of revenue loss. Non-technical losses are caused either by inefficiencies in managing losses or by end-users being unwilling to pay for electricity. The study found that power theft through meter tampering, incorrect billing by employees, and cable theft were also major causes of energy losses. Illegal connections were found to be the major cause of energy losses, along with power theft and lack of resources. Deficiencies in infrastructure maintenance were found to be the main cause of technical losses. The study found that management of CoT is committed to managing energy losses, being aware of their impact on the financial well-being of the municipality. There is an established policy of managing energy losses and there is a plan to replace ageing infrastructure. Employees are continuously trained in accurate billing and metering as part of efforts to curb energy losses. The municipality is also engaged in efforts to put educational programmes in place to inform communities about electricity theft.
Renewable energy minigrids hold significant prospects for Africa’s energy sector and its economic development in general. The government of Ghana has established pilot renewable minigrids in five off-grid communities as a testing ground for the electrification of over 600 existing rural communities that cannot be electrified via the national grid. Although there is evidence on willingness to pay (WTP) values for renewable-generated electricity in some developing countries, little is known about households’ WTP for renewable-based electricity in Ghana and, in particular, about renewable minigrids for rural electrification. This paper provides one of the first WTP estimates for renewable-based electricity for rural electrification in a developing economy context such as Ghana. Using data from a contingent valuation survey undertaken in all five pilot renewable minigrid project communities, we found that rural households are willing to pay an average of 30 GHC/month (≈5 USD/month) for high-quality renewable-powered electricity services, which is twice the amount they are currently paying based on the Uniform National Tariffs. The hypothetical bias is addressed by conducting a survey among active users of the minigrids. The starting point bias is reduced by employing random starting bids. The respondents are willing to pay between 9 and 11% of their discretionary incomes to cover the cost of accessing reliable renewable-powered electricity in the rural, off-grid communities in Ghana. The paper concludes by discussing the policy implications of these findings regarding the development of tariff regulations and business models for renewable minigrids in the rural, off-grid sector.
In rural sub-Saharan Africa, the global poverty hotspot, smallholder farmers account for 80% of agricultural production, with 90% of cropland being exclusively rainfed. A key obstacle to rural development and poverty elimination is the lack of electricity access: less than one in three dwellers have electricity at home. The main barrier to rural electrification is the capital-intensiveness of energy supply infrastructure among sparse communities with low demand density and insecurity of payment. While public governments have largely been unable to channel the required resources, private players are often unwilling to pursue risky and unprofitable household electrification programs. In this context, this perspective argues that the paradigm of rural electrification should be centred around an integrated approach aiming at increasing agricultural productivity and profitability. These bear the necessary potential to enable local income generation and thus also provide an incentive for private energy investment, including in the residential sector. A framework for the integrated approach is proposed and the crucial synergetic role of data modelling and business and policy research to pursue this paradigm is discussed.
Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all is one of the Sustainable Development Goals. Some countries have therefore invested significantly in wind energy, but emissions, which is a common measure for sustainability in this context, have not fallen significantly. Reductions between 20% and 40% are typical. We therefore test the hypothesis that wind energy reduces emissions compared to using gas turbines when life-cycle emissions are included. The Irish grid is studied due to its record-high wind penetration. The model is based on high resolution grid data covering four years and input from 828 Life-Cycle Assessment cases to allow detailed analysis of demand, supply, life-cycle emissions and their changes due to the increased ramping of gas turbines and increased grid reserves required to maintain grid reliability when wind is deployed. Indirect effects are included to some extent. The model is sampled 10,000 times using Monte Carlo simulations. The results show that emissions are reduced by 10–20%, which supports the hypothesis. However, with an average wind penetration of 34% in 2019, reaching many times the 65% limit for non-synchronous generation set by the system operator to maintain grid reliability, such modest reductions logically imply that achieving an affordable, low-carbon grid using wind together with fossil energy balancing is infeasible with today’s technology, emissions and costs. This key finding is transferable to other grids where wind has large penetration and requires fossil energy balancing. Thus, wind energy is not sustainable when balanced by fossil fuel generators.
In Ghana, the Pwalugu Dam in the Upper East is in the final planning stage. Whereas promoters of Ghana's first dams emphasized the need for generating electricity to modernize and industrialize the new nation, the planners of Pwalugu have focused on water issues. Due to climate change, droughts have had a devastating impact on local agriculture. The dam's primary purpose is an irrigation scheme and flood control. This essay historicizes these concerns by revisiting the Akosombo Dam, Ghana's largest hydroelectric dam, completed in 1965. The discussion juxtaposes personal recollections of dam-affected communities with reports by administrators, biologists, and social scientists. The essay draws on government records, scientific studies about Volta Lake, and oral histories. Ultimately, it argues, builders and administrators of the Akosombo Dam failed to address most water issues, despite ample knowledge about their existence. One hopes that these shortcomings will not be repeated in the Pwalugu project.
The integration of distributed renewable energy sources into the conventional power grid has become a hot research topic, all part of attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emission. There are many distributed renewable energy sources available and the network participants in energy delivery have also increased. This makes the management of the new power grid with integrated distributed renewable energy sources extremely complex. Applying the technical advantages of blockchain technology to this complex system to manage peer-to-peer energy sharing, transmission, data storage and build smart contracts between network participants can develop an optimal consensus mechanism within the new power grid. This paper proposes a new framework for the application of blockchain in a decentralised energy network. The microgrid is assumed to be private and managed by local prosumers. An overview description of the proposed model and a case study are presented in the paper.
This study provides the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) with an assessment of the potential of sustainable fuels to decarbonise the transport sector, and help the sector achieve the 2050 decarbonisation goals. It assesses their potential for use in maritime, aviation and road transport, considering their technology readiness, feedstock availability, sustainability of supply, resource and energy efficiency, and the most appropriate match-making between fuels and applications.
In the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem, devices will predominate, using it in a manner similar to how people used it. Devices will cooperating in a multicast network to collect, share, and forward information way while interacting with one another autonomously and without centralised supervision. The building of an intelligent environment the capability of real-time collection of data, which is crucial for maximising the value of the IoT, will make this possible. A typical electric grid is made up of many power plants that use various power generating units, such as coal-based units, gas-based units, hydro units, etc. The majority of the infrastructure and wires that make up the conventional electricity grid have been in existence for a long time, it should be mentioned. They require significant investments, so providing them could take years. As a result, many grid components are outmoded and must be maintained and monitored on a regular basis to keep power flowing. A sophisticated technology is the smart grid (SG) system that makes it easier to integrate green technology and environmental considerations. The SG cyber–physical system was implemented thanks to the advancement and use of communication technologies in the conventional power system. The Internet of Things (IoT) and essential devices are both present in the complicated architecture of the SG systems. The traditional electric grids are been transformed into smart and efficient grid known as “Smart grid”. The Internet of Things’ smart grid allows for two-way communications among connected devices and technology that can recognise and respond to human needs. The cost and reliability of a smart grid are superior to that of conventional power infrastructure. Through use and data maintenance, smart grid technology will assist in reducing energy use and costs. One of the primary contributions made to grids is the integration of IoT with producing facilities using sustainable energy at various levels. To enhance the smart grid for bidirectional information exchange, improve power quality, and increase reliability Internet of Things (IOT) devices are becoming an important part of smart electric grid. IOT Infrastructure (IOTI) provide a flexible, efficient and secure platform providing strategic management for monitoring and controlling of different operations under different working conditions. This paper discusses cyber security on IOT based infrastructure for electric power systems. A comprehensive study is highlighted which includes type of IOTs, architecture used for smart grid, and future challenges.
Ghana's electricity generation mix does not include utility-scale wind power plants to contribute to its power supply. Thus, the country is yet to harness the potential benefits that wind energy could offer, such as diversification of the energy mix, promoting a low-carbon economy, and increasing power generation capacity. This study evaluated wind turbines suitable for developing wind power plants in Adafoah using multicriteria decision-making methods. After that, RETScreen software was employed to perform and evaluate the techno-economic viability of deploying a 10 MW utility-scale wind power plant for electricity generation. The results showed that wind turbines ranging from 1 MW to 1.5 MW are suitable for the study site. Also, developing a 10 MW wind power plant would generate about 93 GWh of electricity annually with a capacity factor of 22%. The findings also reveal that a feed-in tariff (FiT) lower than US0.143/kWh. In addition, deploying the wind power plant saves about 33% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions compared to the utility grid. The sensitivity analysis also demonstrates that the project's financial indicators are resilient to capital subsidies, inflation, discount rate, FiT, and wind speed variations. The study's findings suggest that wind energy development in Adafoah and similar locations can improve energy access, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and promote sustainable development. This study's findings are useful to decision-makers, stakeholders, and investors in developing the wind power sector in Ghana.
Motivated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) recent direction and ever-growing interest in cloud adoption by power utilities, a Task Force was established to assist power system practitioners with secure, reliable and cost-effective adoption of cloud technology to meet various business needs. This paper summarizes the business drivers, challenges, guidance, and best practices for cloud adoption in power systems from the Task Force's perspective, after extensive review and deliberation by its members, including grid operators, utility companies, software vendors, and cloud providers. The paper begins by enumerating various business drivers for cloud adoption in the power industry. It follows with the discussion of the challenges and risks of migrating power grid utility workloads to the cloud. Next, for each corresponding challenge or risk, the paper provides appropriate guidance. Notably, the guidance is directed toward power industry professionals who are considering cloud solutions and are yet hesitant about the practical execution. Finally, to tie all the sections together, the paper documents various real-world use cases of cloud technology in the power system domain, which both the power industry practitioners and software vendors can look toward to design and select their own future cloud solutions. We hope that the information in this paper will serve as helpful guidance for the development of NERC guidelines and standards relevant to cloud adoption in the industry.
Current global climate change mitigation programs have been unable to meet the Paris Agreement's targets, and Ghana's situation is no exception. There is, therefore, an increased need for intensification of renewable energy deployment programs with an emphasis on solar energy as it constitutes about 90% of Ghana's installed renewable energy generation capacity. The study demonstrates how appropriate renewable energy policy can drive solar energy development in Ghana. Electricity demand scenarios were developed using historical data from 2000 to 2018, after which projections were made up to 2030 based on the average year-on-year electricity growth rate. Of the three electricity demand categories, residential demand experienced a steeper growth rate in comparison with the special load tariff, non-residential, and street lighting sectors. On the supply side, low, moderate, and visionary supply scenarios had increased solar penetration of 5 %, 10 %, and 15 % of the installed generation capacity respectively. While appreciable gains were made in the low and moderate supply scenarios, the visionary supply scenario could meet the renewable energy target with solar energy by 2030; leading to universal access to electricity while offsetting over 13 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide in the process.
High consumption and ever-increasing demand for electricity at commercial, residential, and industrial levels have attracted the research community to look for new technologies for the future grid. A smart grid is an advanced technology-enabled electrical grid system with the incorporation of information and communication technology. The smart grid also enables two-way power flow, and enhanced metering infrastructure capable of self-healing, resilient to attacks, and can forecast future uncertainties. This paper surveys various smart grid frameworks, social, economic, and environmental impacts, energy trading, and integration of renewable energy sources over the years 2015 to 2021. Energy storage systems, plugin electric vehicles, and a grid to vehicle energy trading are explored which can potentially minimize the need for extra generators. This study shows that the integration of renewable energy sources, plug-in electric vehicles, and energy storage systems provide long-term economic and environmental benefits and have identified challenges, opportunities, and future directions. This study is expected to serve as a potential source of guidance for the researchers to explore various aspects of the smart grid over the last 06 years which shows them the future directions. This survey will also serve as a guiding source for transmission and distribution systems operators while showing them the right path to transform their traditional grids into smart grids.
Minibus taxi public transport is a seemingly chaotic phenomenon in the developing cities of the Global South with unique mobility and operational characteristics. Eventually this wide-spread fleet of minibus taxis will have to transition to electric vehicles. This paper examines the impact of this inevitable evolution on a city-wide scale in Kampala, Uganda. We present a generic simulation environment to assess the grid impact and charging opportunities, given the unique paratransit mobility patterns. We used floating car data to assess the energy requirements of electric minibus taxis, which will have a knock-on effect on the region’s already fragile electrical grid. We used spatio-temporal and solar photovoltaic analyses to assess the informal and formal stops that would be needed for the taxis to recharge from solar PV in the region’s abundant sunshine. The results showed that the median energy demand across all simulated days of the fleet of taxis was 220 kWh /d. This ranged to a maximum of 491 kWh /d, with a median charging potential (stationary time) across taxis of 8 h /d to 12 h /d. The median potential for charging from solar PV ranged from 0.24 kWh/m² to 0.52 kWh/m² per day, across the taxis. Our simulator and results will allow traffic planners and grid operators to assess and plan for looming electric vehicle roll-outs to the most-used mode of transport in Africa.