AASTU energy village is located on the outskirt of Addis Ababa. It has 250 hectares of land within which 7000 students reside, 1000 staff work and contains a seed of its own that gives rise to hub of science and technology, better yet, envisions to be home of researchers and innovators. This energy village is endowed with enormous solar, wind, & biomass renewable energy untapped resources.
Located near the equator (8°53’02”N, 38°48’35”E), solar energy is available for 12 hours per day with 5.76 (kWh/m2/day) intensity year in year out. On top of that, wind is a 24/7 phenomenon with annual average wind speed of 7 m/sec at 30 meters that would amount to power density of 300 W/m2 or so based on a preliminary study made. With regard to biomass, more than 180 tons of food waste and 540 tons of human waste are estimated to be generated per annum which have a promising potential for biogas production and/or electricity generation.
On the flip side, however, AASTU consumes more than 500 m3 wood, 4,000 Kg charcoal, and pays 4 million ETB for electricity from the national grid and 10 million for fuel oil every year. To bridge the gap and mitigate the situation to any extent possible, the LEAP-RE under its Energy Village Africa work package is accessing different possible ways in an effort to make AASTU an energy self-sufficient village. If it happens, it will be quintessential of its kind and a litmus paper of such a system.
View of AATSU Energy Village
