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There are currently more than 500 million people without access to electricity on the African continent alone. With an expected strong population growth and the global goals for reducing carbon emissions, the challenge of providing electricity for all is tremendous. We present an approach that tackles electrification bottom-up in a decentral approach from so-called electrification seeds: Business owners or public institutions that invest in an electricity system to ensure reliable electricity supply for themselves may serve as a seed by also selling electricity in their surroundings via mini- or microgrids. This approach will allow for cheaper solutions due to economies of scale. While private households can also be addressed by simple solutions e.g. solar home systems, the power of the “electrification seed” approach is that it can also provide enough secure power for small and medium enterprises (SME) and thus drive economic development. It is important to address the individual environment of the respective electrification seed, since there is no standard solution. To do so, the method includes an entire toolchain from estimating demands and structures with satellite data and Geographic Information System (GIS) software over employing an energy system model for finding the optimal technological design. As a last step, the viability of the electrification seed concept is verified with an exemplary business plan. The results show positive business cases for the electrification seed and a reduction of electricity costs for end-customers by 11.3 %. Altogether, this gives a very optimistic outlook of the suggested approach to support the great challenge of sustainable electrification for economic growth in developing countries.

In order to reach the goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, a stepwise reduction of energy related greenhouse gas emissions as well as an increase in the share of renewable energies is necessary. For a successful realization of these changes in energy supply, an integrated view of multiple energy sectors is necessary. The coupling of different energy sectors is seen as an option to achieve the climate goals in a cost-effective way. In this paper, a methodical approach for multi-modal energy system planning and technology impact evaluation is presented. A key feature of the model is a coupled consideration of the sectors electricity, heat, fuel and mobility. The modeling framework enables system planners to optimally plan future investments in a detailed transition pathway of the energy system of a country, considering politically defined climate goals. Based on these calculations, in-depth analyses of energy markets as well as electrical transmission and distribution grids can be performed using the presented optimization models. Energy demands, conversion and storage technologies in households, the Commerce, Trade and Services (CTS) area and the industry are modeled employing a bottom-up modeling approach. The results for the optimal planning of the German energy system until 2050 show that the combination of an increased share of renewable energies and the direct electrification of heat and mobility sectors together with the use of synthetic fuels are the main drivers to achieve the climate goals in a cost-efficient way.

Innovative Solutions for Energy Transitions / Edited by Jinyue Yan, Hong-xing Yang, Hailong Li, Xi Chen 10th International Conference on Applied Energy, ICAE2018, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 22 Aug 2018 - 25 Aug 2018; Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, Energy Procedia 158, 3482-3487 (2018). doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2019.01.923, Published by Elsevier, Amsterdam [u.a.]