Energy 27 (2002) 591–606 www.elsevier.com/locate/energy Contribution to the analysis of urban residential electrical energy demand in developing countries Thomas Tamo Tatie ´tse ´ a,* , Paul Villeneuve b , John Ngundam a , Franc ¸ois Kenfack a a Ecole Polytechnique, P.O. Box 8390 Yaounde ´, Cameroon b CRAD — Universite ´ Laval, 1636 pavillon F. A. Savard, Que ´bec, Canada, G1K 7P4 Received 21 September 2000 Abstract Access of large segments of the population to electrical energy continues to be limited in the cities of developing countries where the standards pertaining to installed power and consumption are ill suited to the level of appliances owned by households. In this paper, a new evaluation method of residential users’ actual needs in electricity is proposed for Cameroon. The approach is based on the determination of the nature, number and power of the appliances, as well as their operation periods. The method used is a survey administered to a representative sample of households. A detailed questionnaire appraises specific consumption and installed power and is also used to construct the households’ load curve. The need for electrical energy varies according to the size of the city and, inside the city, to household income. The average power used per dwelling accounts for less than half the value prescribed by current norms. If implemented, the method would help optimise network investments and operation. The load curve obtained in the experiment shows that the peak output power is recorded in the evening and that household demand makes up most of this charge. The proposed strategy would reduce electrical energy costs, thus being of great potential interest for poor urban populations.  2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. 1. Introduction Access of households to electrical energy continues to be limited in the cities of developing countries where the average access rate is roughly 70%. Two aspects have to be taken into account in order to improve access. First, the technical aspect: distribution networks are overdimensioned, due essentially to the use of ill suited consumption standards. Distribution is also plagued by * Corresponding author. Fax: +1-237-22-45-47. E-mail address: ttamo@polytech.uninet.cm (T.T. Tatie ´tse ´). 0360-5442/02/$ - see front matter  2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. PII:S0360-5442(02)00006-3