The Gambia's future electricity supply system: Optimizing power supply for sustainable development

Access to a modern, reliable electricity in The Gambia is limited and unsecure as it relies on old and undiversified electricity supply system. To diversify this system several options are feasible, including electricity imports from neighboring countries, which is expected to commence by 2020. In this study, an optimization of the national electricity supply system with (EDD-Electricity Dependent Scenario) and without (EID-Electricity Independent Scenario) hydroelectricity imports for 2030 horizon commencing 2015 is presented and analyzed. The results showed that the EDD scenario (desired scenario) will displace about 349 GWh (2020) and 216 GWh (2030) of oil based generation with hydroelectricity imports, which will lead to the avoidance of 142.69 kT on average CO2 emissions. Also, it can save up to USD $23 million and USD $0.0206/kWh on average annually of total system cost and unitary electricity production cost compared to the EID scenario. In addition, the EDD scenario was tested for its sensitivity to delays in commencement of the hydroelectricity imports. The further the delay causes more generation (216 GWh annually) expected from new oil power plants, and this is equivalent to the annual amount of hydroelectricity. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.