Browsing by Autor "Sergio Balderrama"

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A two-stage linear programming optimization framework for isolated hybrid microgrids in a rural context: The case study of the “El Espino” community
(Elsevier BV, 2019) Sergio Balderrama; Francesco Lombardi; Fabio Riva; Walter Canedo; Emanuela Colombo; Sylvain Quoilin
Bolivian interconnected power system
(2022) Marco Navia; R Lafuente; Sergio Balderrama; Sylvain Quoilin
Bridging the energy gap: A Global South perspective on achieving universal access through energy sufficiency
(Elsevier BV, 2025) Claudia Sanchez-Solis; Sergio Balderrama; Giacomo Crevani; Nicolò Stevanato; Sylvain Quoilin
Comparative Analysis of Dynamic and Linear Programming Energy Systems Models Applied to the Bolivian Power System
(2023) Alizon Huallpara; Marco Navia; Isaline Gomand; Sergio Balderrama; Matija Pavičević; Sylvain Quoilin
Energy system models are indispensable tools for energy planning and decision making. They identify the most cost-effective way of delivering energy to the final consumer. No one tool that addresses all the energy systemrelated issues. Every model has its own strengths and limitations and serves a different purpose. This paper aims to compare the capabilities of two different model formulations to model both the hydro scheduling and the short-term dispatch problems in hydro-dominated power systems. On the one hand, SDDP, a commercial model for hydrothermal generation scheduling with a representation of the transmission network, has been used by the Bolivian system operator for dispatch simulations. Conversely, Dispa-SET, an open-source unit commitment and economic dispatch model with mid-term hydrothermal coordination capability, has been used previously in several Bolivian case studies. In this paper, both models were applied to the same input dataset of the Bolivian electric system considering probabilistic results for 43 weather years from 1984 to 2021. SDDP optimizes the system under all weather years, while Dispa-SET optimises under one full year, for which 43 runs were made. The results show that SDDP generation, reservoir level and spillage fall into the ranges of Dispa-SET results. Some differences that are present mainly lie in the conceptualization of the methods of both models. SDDP prioritizes the dispatch of hydro units, while Dispa-SET, with a higher temporal and technical resolution, maximizes the use of non-dispatchable units such as variable renewables and run-of-river.
Electricity Demand Forecasting for Rural Communities in Developing Countries: Calibrating a Stochastic Model for the Bolivian Case
(2023) Claudia Sanchez-Solis; Pietro Di Betta; Nicolò Stevanato; Sergio Balderrama; Emanuela Colombo; Sylvain Quoilin
The world crusade to close the electrification gap is coming to an end in most regions of the world. In recent years the research in the area has concentrated on the development of planning methods to minimise the cost of implementation. Although successful, the lack of focus on the complex dynamics that govern electricity demand lead to over/under-sizing of technical solutions resulting in waste of resources and missed developing opportunities. In this sense, this paper aims to propose an electricity demand model for rural communities in Bolivia, based on an open-source bottom-up stochastic tool for load profile computation. The “energy sufficiency” concept is used to ensure that people’s basic needs for energy are met in all the analysed cases. Information from various sources, such as on-site surveys, databases and national reports were used to characterise the main geographical areas in Bolivia and the relative specific categories of users. Specific load curves generated with the model were used as inputs in a micro-grid sizing tool and the results were compared with an approach using a demand analysis in less detail. Main results show that the model obtained is capable of generating stochastic demand curves for single or multiple rural communities according to contextual particularities. Notably, the geographic location and the socioeconomic characteristics have a significant impact in the peak loads and the total demand. Considering small industries as an income generating activity can increase in the peak load by about 45%, consequently, there is an economic impact when investing in the solution.
Energy Transition Planning with High Penetration of Variable Renewable Energy in Developing Countries: The Case of the Bolivian Interconnected Power System
(Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2022) Marco Navia; Renán A. Orellana; Sulmayra Zaráte; Mauricio Villazón; Sergio Balderrama; Sylvain Quoilin
The transition to a more environmentally friendly energy matrix by reducing fossil fuel usage has become one of the most important goals to control climate change. Variable renewable energy sources (VRES) are a central low-carbon alternative. Nevertheless, their variability and low predictability can negatively affect the operation of power systems. On this issue, energy-system-modeling tools have played a fundamental role. When exploring the behavior of the power system against different levels of VRES penetration through them, it is possible to determine certain operational and planning strategies to balance the variations, reduce the operational uncertainty, and increase the supply reliability. In many developing countries, the lack of such proper tools accounting for these effects hinders the deployment potential of VRES. This paper presents a particular energy system model focused on the case of Bolivia. The model manages a database gathered with the relevant parameters of the Bolivian power system currently in operation and those in a portfolio scheduled until 2025. From this database, what-if scenarios are constructed allowing us to expose the Bolivian power system to a set of alternatives regarding VRES penetration and Hydro storage for that same year. The scope is to quantify the VRES integration potential and therefore the capacity of the country to leapfrog to a cleaner and more cost-effective energy system. To that aim, the unit-commitment and dispatch optimization problem are tackled through a Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP) that solves the cost objective function within its constraints through the branch-and-cut method for each scenario. The results are evaluated and compared in terms of energy balancing, transmission grid capability, curtailment, thermal generation displacement, hydro storage contribution, and energy generation cost. In the results, it was found that the proposed system can reduce the average electricity cost down to 0.22 EUR/MWh and also reduce up to 2.22 × 106 t (96%) of the CO2 emissions by 2025 with very high penetration of VRES but at the expense of significant amount of curtailment. This is achieved by increasing the VRES installed capacity to 10,142 MW. As a consequence, up to 7.07 TWh (97%) of thermal generation is displaced with up to 8.84 TWh (75%) of load covered by VRES.
energy-modelling-hub/water-value-database: Water Value Database v1.0.0 — Initial Release
(European Organization for Nuclear Research, 2026) Matija Pavičević; Huallpara Alizon; Ao Yu; Sergio Balderrama; Q. Ploussard
Systematically curated dataset of economic water valuations extracted from276 peer-reviewed studies identified through a PRISMA 2020-compliantsystematic literature review. Contains 461 numerical water value datapoints spanning multiple decades, countries, water-use sectors, andestimation methods, with standardized unit conversions enabling directcross-study comparison. The dataset comprises three interlinked CSV files:- 01_Screening_clean.csv: Complete PRISMA search trail (656 records)- 02_Classification_clean.csv: Metadata for 276 included papers- 03_WaterValue_clean.csv: 461 water value data points with conversions Also provided as SQLite database and Excel workbook, with Python analysisscripts for regenerating all summary tables and figures.
energy-modelling-hub/water-value-database: Water Value Database v1.0.0 — Initial Release
(European Organization for Nuclear Research, 2026) Matija Pavičević; Huallpara Alizon; Ao Yu; Sergio Balderrama; Q. Ploussard
Systematically curated dataset of economic water valuations extracted from276 peer-reviewed studies identified through a PRISMA 2020-compliantsystematic literature review. Contains 461 numerical water value datapoints spanning multiple decades, countries, water-use sectors, andestimation methods, with standardized unit conversions enabling directcross-study comparison. The dataset comprises three interlinked CSV files:- 01_Screening_clean.csv: Complete PRISMA search trail (656 records)- 02_Classification_clean.csv: Metadata for 276 included papers- 03_WaterValue_clean.csv: 461 water value data points with conversions Also provided as SQLite database and Excel workbook, with Python analysisscripts for regenerating all summary tables and figures.
Evaluación del costo de electrificación rural en Bolivia para alcanzar el ODS 7
(2021) Miguel Fernández Fuentes; Evelyn Cardozo; Jaime Zambrana Vargas; Gabriela Peña; Sergio Balderrama; Claudia Sanchez-Solis; Alejandro Vázquez Soto; Sylvain Quoilin
El presente estudio cuantifica el desafío que supone el logro del objetivo 7 del desarrollo sostenible: Acceso a energía asequible y no contaminante (SDG7) en Bolivia. La solución planteada por el proyecto estima el costo total de provisión de energía eléctrica en todas las poblaciones de Bolivia, considerando factores socioeconómicos relevantes al realizar la planificación de la cobertura total para el país. El proyecto tiene dos etapas: la primera consiste en la recolección de datos y análisis de la demanda, así como de la percepción/visión de las poblaciones con relación en el uso de la energía; la segunda se centra en el análisis de la información y en la generación de resultados. La recolección de datos de campo que contemplan la demanda energética y el comportamiento en el uso y consumo de la energía se realizó en las comunidades de Raqaypampa (Cochabamba) y El Sena (Pando). Las mismas complementaron información obtenida con anterioridad de El Espino (Santa Cruz) y Toconao (Altiplano frontera con Chile). El Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Sociales (INCISO), ENERGÉTICA y el Centro de Investigaciones en Energía (CIE), con la información recabada y los datos de indicadores del SDSN, estructuraron la composición estándar de una comunidad rural en Bolivia. Con esta información, el programa de generación de curvas de demanda RAMP simuló las demandas para poblaciones en las zonas bajas y altas de Bolivia, contrastando luego con diferentes tecnologías de electrificación; así se calculó el costo más eficiente de las soluciones encontradas. Finalmente, el costo para electrificar de manera total la población boliviana fue estimado y, en particular para electrificar al 100% de la población aislada y dispersa que alcanza a 587 millones de dólares, dando cobertura a 273 286 familias rurales.
Exploring the tradeoff between Installed capacity and unserved energy in rural electrification
(2022) Alejandro Vázquez Soto; Sergio Balderrama; Evelyn Cardozo; Miguel Castro Fernández; Jaime Zambrana; Sylvain Quoilin
Generating high-resolution multi-energy load profiles for remote areas with an open-source stochastic model
(Elsevier BV, 2019) Francesco Lombardi; Sergio Balderrama; Sylvain Quoilin; Emanuela Colombo
Impact of Diesel generator limitations in the robust sizing of isolated hybrid Microgrids including PV and batteries
(2017) Sergio Balderrama; Walter Canedo; Vincent Lemort; Sylvain Quoilin
Impact of weather and hydro variability on the operation of the Bolivian power system.
(European Organization for Nuclear Research, 2022) Sulmayra Zaráte; Matija Pavičević; Sergio Balderrama; Mauricio Villazón; Sylvain Quoilin
This DataSet is the support for the study of the Impact of climate variability on the hydroelectric generation of the Bolivian electrical system, for which a hydrological model (WEAP) and unit commitment and optimal dispatch model (DispaSet) have been used. The study provides information about the flexibility of the electrical system, by the variation of the hydropower generation through the time series of historical inflows, in terms of power generation, total system costs, consumption, and carbon dioxide emissions.
Impact of weather and hydro variability on the operation of the Bolivian power system.
(2022) Sulmayra Zaráte; Matija Pavičević; Sergio Balderrama; Mauricio Villazón; Sylvain Quoilin
This DataSet is the support for the study of the Impact of climate variability on the hydroelectric generation of the Bolivian electrical system, for which a hydrological model (WEAP) and unit commitment and optimal dispatch model (DispaSet) have been used. The study provides information about the flexibility of the electrical system, by the variation of the hydropower generation through the time series of historical inflows, in terms of power generation, total system costs, consumption, and carbon dioxide emissions.
Integrating climate-driven hydropower variability into long-term energy planning: A Bolivian case study under El Niño and La Niña scenarios
(Elsevier BV, 2025) Carlos A.A. Fernandez Vazquez; Santiago Mendoza Paz; Adele Hannotte; Sergio Balderrama; Pedro Crespo del Granado; Sylvain Quoilin
Local electricity market designs for interconnected nanogrids: Impact on rural electrification in Madagascar
(Elsevier BV, 2024) Lea Bertram; Ida Fuchs; Victor Banuls Ramirez; Pedro Crespo del Granado; Sergio Balderrama
Sustainable, reliable, and affordable energy access is a major challenge in many parts of the world. The paper addresses this challenge by proposing a local electricity market (LEM) design for nanogrids deployed in Madagascar. Each nanogrid shares a solar PV and battery system, and it meets demand locally before trading surplus energy with other nanogrids on a microgrid bus, facilitated through the creation of a LEM. Two distinct market approaches are investigated and compared: central clearing and bilateral trading. Bilateral trading generates trading prices through direct interaction between consumers and producers, whereas central clearing sets a single trading price based on the cost-ordered supply curve. Our study shows that central clearing generates more consumer-friendly prices and facilitates the trading of all technically feasible energy, while bilateral trading may results in unmatched trading capacity. We find an average price for central trading of 0.49 €/kWh compared to 1.24 €/kWh with a bilateral trading mechanism. To promote the low market prices, a bottom-up retail tariff structure is proposed. The aim of this simplified tariff is to promote initial electrification by minimizing entry prices for end-users’ first electricity access to 0.89 €/kWh compared to the current average of 2.11 €/kWh. The discussed results were evaluated in consultation with the local company in Madagascar to ensure practical suitability and to achieve maximum significance.
Long-term sizing of rural microgrids: Accounting for load evolution through multi-step investment plan and stochastic optimization
(Elsevier BV, 2020) Nicolò Stevanato; Francesco Lombardi; Giulia Guidicini; Lorenzo Rinaldi; Sergio Balderrama; Matija Pavičević; Sylvain Quoilin; Emanuela Colombo
Open-source model applied for techno-economic optimization of a hybrid solar PV biogas-based polygeneration plant: The case of a dairy farmers’ association in central Bolivia
(Elsevier BV, 2023) J. Villarroel-Schneider; Sergio Balderrama; Claudia Sanchez-Solis; Evelyn Cardozo; Anders Malmquist; Andrew R. Martin
Proper sizing of energy systems is a key aspect that allows avoiding overestimated installation costs or failures in operation and dispatch. However, most of the available sizing tools focus on systems dedicated only to electrical loads, omitting combined energy systems with simultaneous supply of various thermal demands. This study presents an adaptation of an existing open access techno-economic optimization model for broadening the design tool for small-scale energy systems supplying both, electrical and thermal needs. For this, a new typology of an energy system was proposed considering the use of biogas, solar energy and adding thermal components. This was followed by modifying the model framework, constraints equations and objective function, which is the net present cost of the system. Once the design tool was verified a model was constructed to analyse the feasibility of a polygeneration plant for an association of 30 small dairy farms. The developed model was able to optimize the sizing of the main system components for different proposed scenarios, encompassing supply of electricity, refrigeration, biogas for cooking and fertilizers. For the selected application it was found that the aggregated cost of producing electricity and heat ranges from 0.044 to 0.070 USD/kWh; the penetration of solar energy can reach up to 32%; while the annual potential savings of CO2 emissions of applying the solution ranges from 109 to 127 ton of CO2.
Surplus energy in solar home systems as driver for bottom-up grids: When grids emerge from the edge
(2023) Ida Fuchs; Sergio Balderrama; Pedro Crespo del Granado; Sylvain Quoilin; Jayaprakash Rajasekharan
In this paper, surplus energy (SE) from solar home systems (SHS) with energy storage is studied from the perspective of bottom-up grids. The paper addresses two central research questions: 1) How much SE do SHS generate depending on system size parameters and load metrics? and 2) Can SE provide the basis for bottom-up grids in rural swarm electrification? We first analyze different SE profiles for different stochastic demands from three households with various PV and battery system sizes. Next, we analyze how these SE profiles can be used to supply additional households with lower or equal demand. We find that the SE is highly dependent on PV size and cannot be significantly reduced by increasing battery size. Demand profiles with high Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR) and low Load at Day Time Ratio (LDTR) are shown to have the highest levels of SE. Simulations show that households with PV and battery system can supply several other households with its SE only. This study shows excellent potential for developing a framework model for bottom-up grids through SHS sizing and bottom-up planning of interconnections in rural communities.
Surrogate models for rural energy planning: Application to Bolivian lowlands isolated communities
(Elsevier BV, 2021) Sergio Balderrama; Francesco Lombardi; Nicolò Stevanato; Gabriela Peña; Emanuela Colombo; Sylvain Quoilin