DESIGN OF A SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT MODEL FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY-BASED ISOLATED MINI-GRID IN RURAL COMMUNITY

• Main Author: 'Aina, Qorry
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/70247
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Utilizing renewable energy sources and empowering local communities in the socioeconomic aspect makes renewable energy-based isolated micro-grid; micro scale plant that is not connected to national grid; a solution in rural electrification, especially where expansion to the national electricity network is deemed economically unfeasible. The lack of performance monitoring has resulted in many cases of renewable energy-based isolated micro-grid stopped operating, especially those managed by local communities, due to social, economic, technical, and environmental factors. Periodic evaluation needs to be carried out to determine the condition of the sustainability of renewable energybased isolated micro-grid and is used to formulate appropriate interventions to increase the resilience of renewable energy-based isolated micro-grid. The use of sustainability indicators and sustainability indexes in evaluating renewable energy-based isolated micro-grid projects has been developed by many practitioners and researchers to be able to provide comprehensive information. The use of sustainability indicators is still limited and adjustments need to be made to the actual conditions of the project being studied. The research aims to develop a model for assessing the sustainability of isolated micro-grid projects in rural communities by identifying a set of indicators that are appropriate to actual conditions and using sustainability indexes in assessing the sustainability of renewable energy-based isolated micro-grid. The developed model was applied to assess the sustainability of a case of renewable energybased isolated micro-grid in rural community and identify factors that explain the endurance of renewable energy-based isolated micro-grid. This study used the Delphi fuzzy method in developing an assessment model. The Delphi fuzzy method (FDM) is used to validate 52 sustainability indicators on technical, economic, social, environmental and institutional dimensions. Validated indicators are used to assess the sustainability of a renewable energybased isolated micro-grid project through surveys, field observations and semistructured interviews. Identification of factors affecting the endurance of the ii renewable energy-based isolated micro-grid project under study was carried out by a cause-and-effect analysis using an Ishikawa diagram. Model development resulted 41 validated sustainability indicators and a sustainability measurement scale to measure sustainability on technical, economic, social, environmental and institutional dimensions. This model was implemented to assess the sustainability of micro-hydro plant (PLTMH) X, Bogor Regency. PLTMH X has a fairly high sustainability value, especially on the environmental, institutional and technical dimensions. The economic and social dimensions have a low sustainability value, especially in the indicators regarding the impact of electrification on improving the socioeconomic conditions of the community. The results of the assessment support the initial assumption that renewable energy-based isolated micro-grid is capable of operating optimally for 8 years, but has stopped operating in 2021. The results of the cause-and-effect analysis indicate that there are constraints on technical, economic and institutional factors that cause the PLTMH to stop operating and the community switched to the electricity grid. This research developed a sustainability assessment model based on sustainability indicators that cover technical, economic, social, environmental and institutional aspects that can be used to measure sustainability and provide an overview of the level of sustainability with a simple scoring system. A high sustainability index does not guarantee the project’s endurance to operate optimally for the long term if it is not accompanied by interventions to resolve the constraints identified in the sustainability assessment. The institutional capacity of the community and the commitment of all local stakeholders are very important in overcoming sustainability constraints on technical and economic aspects.