Large-Scale Integration of Wind Power Generation in Ethiopia – LastWind

Grant and Period

Project period: 2023 - 2026.

LastWind is sponsored by The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and supported by Danida Fellowship Centre.

Project No- 23-M01-AAU.

Summary

Ethiopia has a large renewable energy generation potential based upon its natural resources, such as hydro, wind, solar and geothermal. The estimated wind resource of the country reaches 1,350 GW. Currently, only 44 % of Ethiopian residents have access to energy. Ethiopia has set an ambitious target to supply 100% of its domestic energy demand by 2025, combining on- and off-grid electrification, as well export demand to the East Africa Power Pool countries, through renewable energy by 2030. Ethiopia’s current electrical energy supply system encompasses 90% of the total installed capacity from hydropower plants, 8% from wind farms, and the remaining 2% from diesel generators, waste-to-energy and geothermal power plants. Thus, as most of the current electricity generation in Ethiopia is sourced from hydropower, the supply stability is therefore affected due to major power outages in the dry season – latest experienced in the spring of 2019.

LastWind aims at assessing and proposing novel solutions to the large-scale integration of WPPs into the Ethiopian grid, in order to achieve unprecedented levels of wind power penetration while endowing to the grid stability, robustness, and flexibility. The scope of LastWind is control, modelling, stability analysis, and power quality enhancement of large integration of WPPs to maximize the power supply mix into the Ethiopian power grid in a secure and reliable manner. LastWind will propose and develop planning tools, grid-forming controllers for WPPs and their ancillary services, modelling for stability analysis, harmonics and resonance mitigation solutions, and coordinated control strategies. The research outcomes will be based in real data from the Ethiopian power system and meteorological agencies, such that the findings will impact the Ethiopian energy sector and provide worthwhile information for the renewable energy road map of Ethiopia and all decision makers and stakeholders, including energy authorities, electrical grid operator, and potential investors. Moreover, LastWind will give an impetus to applied research for both Ethiopian and Danish partner universities and therefore will result in technical resource development in the area of wind-power coordination, integration, and management.

LastWind is related with the following sustainable development goals: SDG7 (affordable and clean energy) and SDG 13 (climate action). The project will align to the Strategic Sector Cooperation (SSC) project and Enhanced Danish-Ethiopian Energy Partnership, but more in deep in research and addressing technical challenges.