Abstract
Approximately 1.4 billion people around the world lack access to electricity, of which 85% are rural dwellers, mostly living in Sub-Saharan Africa. In South Africa, 55% of rural dwellers lack access to electricity. The Umhlabuyalingana Local Municipality is the least electrified municipality in the country with an electrification rate of 20%. It is therefore taken as a case study, investigating the implementation of a Renewable Energy Sources (RES) microgrid compared to grid extension. HOMER software was the tool used to carry out the simulation, optimization and sensitivity analyses in this research. It was discovered that a Photo Voltaic (PV) with Battery system is the optimal microgrid combination for the proposed microgrid yielding $0.378/kWh cost of electricity, 0 kg/person CO2 emission, 100% renewable penetration compared to $0.328/kWh cost of grid electricity, 8.9 kg/person CO2 emission from grid extension and 0% renewable penetration from the national grid. The microgrid had a standalone breakeven Electric Distance Limit of 34 km less than the 150 km transmission powerline required for Umhlabuyalingana. This microgrid design is proposed as a better solution to electricity access in unelectrified areas of Umhlabuyalingana local municipality than grid extension.