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Selection of Optimal Locations for Electricity Generation Using Concentrated Solar Power Technologies in Ghana

Received: 23 February 2022     Accepted: 23 March 2022     Published: 29 March 2022
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Abstract

The selection of an optimum location for the installation of a Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant is very vital to its overall performance. Any selected location should suitably satisfy some favourable selection criteria such as high direct normal irradiance, high ambient temperature, lower wind speed, lower level of cloud cover and availability of a source of water. In this paper, the selection of an optimal location(s) for a CSP plant in Ghana is achieved using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) for the weighting of the selected criteria and then using a set of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods for the ranking of the various alternatives. The MDCM methods used in this work include the Vise Kriterijumsa Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR), Technique for Order of Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), and Complex Proportional Assessment (COPRAS). The results indicate that VIKOR and COPRAS gave very closely related rankings while some of the rankings for the COPRAS were not closely related as compared to the other two methods. However, all three methods ranked Bawku, a town in the Upper East region of Ghana, as the most suitable location for the installation of a CSP plant. The other suitable locations, i.e., Navrongo, Yendi, Wa, Bolgatanga and Savelugu, for the installation of a CSP plant are in the northern part of the country.

Published in American Journal of Energy Engineering (Volume 10, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajee.20221001.12
Page(s) 10-20
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Concentrated Solar Power, Direct Normal Irradiation, Analytical Hierarchy Process, Optimum Location, Electricity Generation

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  • APA Style

    Richmond Kwesi Amoah, Solomon Nunoo, Joseph Cudjoe Attachie. (2022). Selection of Optimal Locations for Electricity Generation Using Concentrated Solar Power Technologies in Ghana. American Journal of Energy Engineering, 10(1), 10-20. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajee.20221001.12

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    ACS Style

    Richmond Kwesi Amoah; Solomon Nunoo; Joseph Cudjoe Attachie. Selection of Optimal Locations for Electricity Generation Using Concentrated Solar Power Technologies in Ghana. Am. J. Energy Eng. 2022, 10(1), 10-20. doi: 10.11648/j.ajee.20221001.12

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    AMA Style

    Richmond Kwesi Amoah, Solomon Nunoo, Joseph Cudjoe Attachie. Selection of Optimal Locations for Electricity Generation Using Concentrated Solar Power Technologies in Ghana. Am J Energy Eng. 2022;10(1):10-20. doi: 10.11648/j.ajee.20221001.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajee.20221001.12,
      author = {Richmond Kwesi Amoah and Solomon Nunoo and Joseph Cudjoe Attachie},
      title = {Selection of Optimal Locations for Electricity Generation Using Concentrated Solar Power Technologies in Ghana},
      journal = {American Journal of Energy Engineering},
      volume = {10},
      number = {1},
      pages = {10-20},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajee.20221001.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajee.20221001.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajee.20221001.12},
      abstract = {The selection of an optimum location for the installation of a Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant is very vital to its overall performance. Any selected location should suitably satisfy some favourable selection criteria such as high direct normal irradiance, high ambient temperature, lower wind speed, lower level of cloud cover and availability of a source of water. In this paper, the selection of an optimal location(s) for a CSP plant in Ghana is achieved using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) for the weighting of the selected criteria and then using a set of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods for the ranking of the various alternatives. The MDCM methods used in this work include the Vise Kriterijumsa Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR), Technique for Order of Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), and Complex Proportional Assessment (COPRAS). The results indicate that VIKOR and COPRAS gave very closely related rankings while some of the rankings for the COPRAS were not closely related as compared to the other two methods. However, all three methods ranked Bawku, a town in the Upper East region of Ghana, as the most suitable location for the installation of a CSP plant. The other suitable locations, i.e., Navrongo, Yendi, Wa, Bolgatanga and Savelugu, for the installation of a CSP plant are in the northern part of the country.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Selection of Optimal Locations for Electricity Generation Using Concentrated Solar Power Technologies in Ghana
    AU  - Richmond Kwesi Amoah
    AU  - Solomon Nunoo
    AU  - Joseph Cudjoe Attachie
    Y1  - 2022/03/29
    PY  - 2022
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajee.20221001.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajee.20221001.12
    T2  - American Journal of Energy Engineering
    JF  - American Journal of Energy Engineering
    JO  - American Journal of Energy Engineering
    SP  - 10
    EP  - 20
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2329-163X
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajee.20221001.12
    AB  - The selection of an optimum location for the installation of a Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant is very vital to its overall performance. Any selected location should suitably satisfy some favourable selection criteria such as high direct normal irradiance, high ambient temperature, lower wind speed, lower level of cloud cover and availability of a source of water. In this paper, the selection of an optimal location(s) for a CSP plant in Ghana is achieved using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) for the weighting of the selected criteria and then using a set of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods for the ranking of the various alternatives. The MDCM methods used in this work include the Vise Kriterijumsa Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR), Technique for Order of Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), and Complex Proportional Assessment (COPRAS). The results indicate that VIKOR and COPRAS gave very closely related rankings while some of the rankings for the COPRAS were not closely related as compared to the other two methods. However, all three methods ranked Bawku, a town in the Upper East region of Ghana, as the most suitable location for the installation of a CSP plant. The other suitable locations, i.e., Navrongo, Yendi, Wa, Bolgatanga and Savelugu, for the installation of a CSP plant are in the northern part of the country.
    VL  - 10
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Renewable Energy Engineering Department, University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, Ghana

  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department, University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, Ghana

  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department, University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, Ghana

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