Analysis of Niger's Renewable Energy Potential

Abstract

In this study, we conduct an analysis of Niger's energy potential and electricity production capacity. We are interested in the potential of renewable energies in order to see if an electric production using renewable energies, more precisely solar and wind energies, are viable for Niger. In order to achieve results that are closer to reality, we used the HOMER PRO program, which allows us to simulate the energy production of several types of power plants while having the possibility of changing the wind speed parameters as well as solar radiation, and also to introduce the installation, maintenance and operation costs in order to establish a better economic and optimal energy analysis. We have therefore proceeded to the simulation of different scenarios of photovoltaic and wind power plants for the city of NIAMEY where the highest human density of Niger is located. According to our results and based on installation and maintenance costs only we note that the solar electric potential is much higher than that of the wind energy for the city of Niamey. The energy cost of the solar photovoltaic power plant is lower than that of the wind power plant although the initial investment of the PV is higher than the wind power plant. In the same way, solar panels have a better electrical output under the climatic conditions of Niger than wind turbines because of a good solar irradiation in the city of Niamey.