978-1-6654-8303-2/22/$31.00 ©2022 IEEE Design and sizing of a microgrid system for a University community in Nigeria Stephen Ogbikaya Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John’s, Canada sogbikaya@mun.ca M. Tariq Iqbal Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John’s, Canada tariq@mun.ca Abstract—Due to the epileptic power experienced in Nigerian national grid system, an on-grid microgrid system consisting of PV panels, inverter, grid system and diesel generator set is designed and sized for a university community in Nigeria. In this paper, the load profile (kWh) of the campus was determined based on the electric load of the campus. The electric load obtained was used to design and size a campus microgrid system for the university community with the aid of Homer Pro software and the dimension of the area required for the installation of the PV panels was determined by PVWATT software. Results from simulation indicates that the dimension of the area required for the PV installation is 17,696m2 and the daily power generated from the microgrid system is always above the electric load of the system. Further analysis shows that 88.0% of the annual energy generated to supply the electric load of the campus can be produced by the PV panels and 12.0% by the grid system. This in turn reduces the amount being spent on electricity bill by the university campus by 88.0%. Economically, the cost of installation of the microgrid system is ₦295M with a simple payback of 3 years 5 months. Keywords—Microgrid, Hybrid power system, renewable energy, Homer Pro, PVWATT software. I. INTRODUCTION Paper [7] states that despite its long history, electricity generation has been very slow and had deteriorated over the years in Nigeria. This is rarely expected given the country’s enormous endowment in natural resources that facilitate and enhance electricity production. While the generation, transmission and distribution (GTD) deteriorated, the demand for electricity exponentially increases continuously. This has led to the electricity company been incapable of providing minimum acceptable international standards of electricity service reliability, accessibility and availability for the past three decades. In [8], the writer indicated that Nigeria power system is faced usually with problems of insufficient generation and transmission lines, resulting in the overloading and stressing of the network beyond their thermal limit because of the increasing load demand. This has led to consistent blackout nationwide. The epileptic nature of electricity generation in Nigeria associated with the existing 330kV network has become unbearable to most Nigerians, especially in the big cities. It has posed a constant threat to the growth of the country’s economy. The existing 330KV network has series of drawback ranging from inadequate generation, weak and fragile transmission lines that is not robust enough to wheel out the generated power in the network. The high load demand on the network makes the network prone to voltage instability which causes voltage limit violation in some of the buses that may lead to voltage collapse in the entire network. Voltage collapse is characterized by an initial slow progressive decline in the voltage magnitude of the power system buses and a final rapid decline in the voltage magnitude. The voltage problems associated with the network are caused by long distance power transmission (ie load centres far away from generating stations) and overloading of the transmission line (ie transmission lines carrying load beyond their available transfer capacity). The high load demand on the existing 330KV network resulting to system insecurity and several voltage collapses on the network has made it necessary for a microgrid system in Nigeria. Paper [9] stated that the solar energy is available for everybody, hence if harnessed, can sustain the electrical energy need for meaningful development in Nigeria. Although the initial cost implication may be high, but on the long run, it is more economical because of its renewable nature, less maintenance cost and its environmental friendliness. Hence, for sustainable development to take place in Nigeria, the government, corporate bodies and individuals should focus on photovoltaic power generation as one of the most viable option that could drive the civilization for ever. This research is focused on the design and sizing of a microgrid system for a university campus in Nigeria taking Edo State University Uzairue, Auchi, Edo State, Nigeria as a case study. Site details, load date and design of a microgrid system are presented below.