Sustainable microgrids for energy-poor communities: a spotlight on the planning dimensions

Remote microgrids currently account for over 50 percent of the total installed microgrids worldwide. Such systems have a huge potential to electrify isolated parts of the world, but they have to be carefully planned to achieve a sustainable energy supply. This article presents the planning dimensions for microgrids in energy-poor communities. It underscores the framework necessary to design, develop, manage and ensure a long-term viability of the systems. Such a framework integrates the social, technical, economic, environmental and the policy perspectives, thus, providing a sound understanding of the processes and the stakeholders over the life cycle of the systems’ development.