Techno-economic assessment of 10 MW centralised grid-tied solar photovoltaic system in Uganda

There is increasing interest in solar PV installations in Uganda, however, there is little or no information available on performance of solar PV systems in Uganda. Since solar PV performance is site specific, there is need to provide stakeholders with information that could help them in making informed decision. Therefore, this paper presents a performance analysis of a 10 MW solar-photovoltaic plant installed in Soroti City, in Eastern Uganda (latitude 1.N, longitude 33.E). Energy production data for this solar power plant over a 3-year period between January 2017 and December 2019 were collected and analysed using IEC standard 61724-1. It was found that the average annual energy generation by the plant is 16702 MWh and specific energy output of 1670.2 kWh/kW. Furthermore, the daily final yield, annual performance ratio, annual capacity factor and energy yield per unit area are found as 4.58 h/day, 75.84%, 19.07%, and 121.4 kWh/m(2). respectively. Based on the assumption used in this study and approved feed-in tariff, the estimated discounted payback period (9.28 years), profitability index (1.51), and internal rate of return (10.55%) showed that it is economically viable. The estimated levelized cost of energy of US$ 0.1087/kWh, is within range of values reported for similar projects.

Automated summary

There is increasing interest in solar PV installations in Uganda, however, little information is available on the performance of solar PV systems in the country. This paper presents a performance analysis of a 10 MW solar-photovoltaic plant in Soroti City, Eastern Uganda, showing that it is economically viable.