A decision support tool for rural electrification grid design

This paper investigates the optimization of the electricity grid network in rural community of Chegutu district, in Zimbabwe. The Kruskal's algorithm is used to minimize the total distance of the network connections, thus optimise resources for carrying out projects. Rural Electrification Agency has been failing to meet their targets for extension of the electricity grid network because of shortage of resources and input capital, thus this research adopts the idea of network optimization as a way of saving resources so that they can be used for other projects. The optimisation process shows that a total of 74km of 11kV power line could be saved from the network.

I. Introduction

Rural Electrification Agency (REA) is a statutory body responsible for providing electricity to the rural communities in Zimbabwe. It was initiated in 2002 following the enactment of the Rural Electrification Fund Act [1]. The major thrust of the Rural Electrification Fund was to ensure that electricity reaches all communities including the less privileged communities. The motivation of the project was to optimize the extension of electrical grid in rural areas with the aim to contribute to meeting Millennium Development Goals such as eradicating extreme poverty through development of value addition projects that needed energy to power them. Extension of the grid will enhance environmental sustainability through reduction of tree felling and in the other side it will improve maternal health by using clean energy sources.