Electricity access in Sub-Saharan Africa — Case for renewable energy sources microgrid

Universal electricity access is a discourse that is essential for the overall socio-economic development of the world. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 56.9% of her population (589 million people) is without access to electricity, a situation that has affected the socio-economic development of the region. Meeting universal electricity access through grid extension has faced challenges such as high cost of transmission grid extension, transmission losses, CO₂ and other greenhouse gas emissions and high operation and maintenance cost of transmission lines. This paper assesses the potential of renewable energy sources against grid extension in Sub-Saharan Africa to meet her electricity demand, even in the face of a growing population. Renewable energy technology microgrids is proposed as a better solution for universal electricity access in unelectrified areas where the cost of grid extension exceeds the cost of a microgrid, which is the case for most rural areas. Using microgrids with renewables will further reduce the risk to life caused by CO₂ and other greenhouse gas emissions.