Locating solar and wind parks in South-Eastern Nigeria for maximum population coverage: A multi-step approach

Power outages in the most populous country in the continent of Africa, Nigeria, is one issue that has woefully defied almost all known hypotheses for centuries, as enormous investments over the years have provided no palpable result. Considering that electricity plays a vital role in modern society, the electrical power outage has become a major impediment for Nigeria's development. Introduction of Solar Parks (SPs) as well as Solar and Wind-Assisted Parks (SWAPs) (i.e., parks that generate both solar and wind energy) will be a robust and environmentally friendly way of generating electricity. The goal of this research is to develop a multi-step approach - including mathematical programming - to design a capacitated network of SPs and SWAPs in South-Eastern Nigeria, taking into account geographical and demographical characteristics. Meteorological data will also be taken into consideration for preferred wind power generation. To test and validate our approach, we select as case study the state of Anambra, since this is the first state in Nigeria to embrace structural planning for its cities. Moreover, Anambra is currently depending on neighboring states for its electricity supply. We design a capacitated energy network which is powerful enough to cover almost the entire energy requirement of Anambra. The density of the network is such that the majority of households are within reasonable distance (at most 30 km) from the nearest energy park. This way the state will be self-supporting energy-wise in a sustainable way.