An Integrated Methodology for Regional Energy Planning in Isolated Areas: Application in the Cape Verde Islands

Isolated areas face significant power supply problems, due to the lack of domestic conventional energy resources as well as due to the fact that the connection to the continental electricity grid is often not economically viable. In addition, the lack of economies of scale, due to the small dimension of the energy market, results in the high installation and operation costs of the power supply system, as far as the per capita consumption is concerned. However, substantial renewable energy sources are present in many of the isolated areas and in particular in islands, that can enable local development, contribute to the reduction of dependence on energy imports and the minimisation of CO₂ emissions. To this end, the paper presents an integrated methodology for regional energy planning aiming at the optimisation of the power supply system through the penetration of renewable energy technologies. Last, the application in Santo Antão Island, Cape Verde, and the results obtained through the Power Information System, developed under the concept of the proposed methodology, are presented.