Coursework Brief
| Module name: | Sustainable Energy | ||||||||
| Module code: | |||||||||
| Title of the Assessment: | Assignment B: Regional Electrification | ||||||||
| This coursework item is: | Summative | ||||||||
| This summative coursework will be marked anonymously: | Yes | ||||||||
| The learning outcomes that are assessed by this coursework are: Application of sustainable energy principles in practice. Critical evaluation and appraisal of multiple energy technologies. Developing a multi-technology electrification strategy. Developing regulatory and policy requirements for energy systems. | |||||||||
| This coursework is: | Individual | ||||||||
| If other or mixed … explain here: | |||||||||
| This coursework constitutes 70% of the overall module mark. | |||||||||
| Date Set: | |||||||||
| Date & Time Due (the deadline): | |||||||||
| In accordance with the University Assessment and Feedback Policy your marked coursework and feedback will be available to you on: | |||||||||
| You should normally receive feedback on your coursework by no later than 20 working days after the formal hand-in date, provided that you have met the submission deadline If for any reason this is not forthcoming by the due date your module leader will let you know why and when it can be expected. The Associate Professor Student Experience should be informed of any issues relating to the return of marked coursework and feedback. | |||||||||
| When completed you are required to submit your coursework via: The Turnitin link provided in the assessment folder on Blackboard. If you need any support or advice on completing this coursework please visit the Student Matters tab on the CEM Blackboard shell. | |||||||||
| Late submission of coursework policy: Late submissions will be processed in accordance with current University regulations which state: “the time period during which a student may submit a piece of work late without authorisation and have the work capped at 40% [50% at PG level] if passed is 14 calendar days. Work submitted unauthorised more than 14 calendar days after the original submission date will receive a mark of 0%. These regulations apply to a student’s first attempt at coursework. Work submitted late without authorisation which constitutes reassessment of a previously failed piece of coursework will always receive a mark of 0%.” | |||||||||
| Academic Offences and Bad Academic Practices: These include plagiarism, cheating, collusion, copying work and reuse of your own work, poor referencing or the passing off of somebody else’s ideas as your own. If you are in any doubt about what constitutes an academic offence or bad academic practice you must check with your tutor. Further information and details of how DSU can support you, if needed, is available at: and | |||||||||
| Tasks to be undertaken: | |||||||||
| Deliverables to be submitted for assessment: | |||||||||
| How the work will be marked: | |||||||||
| Module leader/tutor name: | |||||||||
| Contact details: | |||||||||
Introduction
You are leading a team developing a realistic and sustainable electrification plan for the Islands of Gozo and Comino in the Maltese archipelago (See Fig. 1). The Islands have a current access rate of 0% and are rural in character, relative to the main Island of Malta, which is fully electrified. Your aim is to ensure universal access to energy by 2030, assuming a steadily increasing household demand of 5% annually.
| Fig 1: The Maltese archipelago |
| Malta |
| Gozo |
| Comino |
Assumptions
- For simplicity, assume a two-tier demand profile, with a fixed daytime and a low night-time demand for all customers. You can, however, use a demand profile of your choice, provided it is realistic and fully justified.
- The decarbonisation level of the Maltese electricity grid is only 10%.
Tasks
You are required to propose a financially viable electrification plan to be rolled out over the next eight years. Your plan should make allowance for the uptake of electric vehicles by a small proportion of the population (100 in 1000 households). If you propose to meet the cooking, heating, or cooling demand by alternative means, a reasonable justification should be provided. Your plan should address the following:
- Assessment of local user requirements.
- Zero carbon energy generation.
- Transition pathway to universal access by 2030 for all users.
- Financial aspects, including business model and investment approach. You should explicitly state how your plan will be sustainably funded.
- Proposed governance and policy structure.
- Other relevant issues not covered in 1 – 5. These include but are not limited to technical and non-technical loss reduction, reliability improvement, opportunities for productive use of energy etc.
At a minimum, a good plan contains the following:
- Estimate of the total annual demand for the two Islands for the next 30 years.
- A list of suitable energy solutions to satisfy the required electrification level, stating the total cost of, and justification for, your resulting energy mix.
- The strategy you would adopt for deploying your chosen energy mix.
- The total cost and economic indicators of your strategy.
- Policies, regulations, and frameworks for ensuring a sustainable energy system.
Marking Approach
Marks will be awarded according to the criteria outlined in Table 1.
| Item | Sub Item | Marks | Marking Criteria |
| Policy brief | 18% | Summarises the key points/recommendations of the plan. States its key policy and development implications. | |
| Coverage of six issues | Assessment of local user requirements | 12% | The total demand, considering population growth, should be computed. All assumptions should be clearly stated. Total generation required must be calculated. |
| Zero carbon energy generation | 5% | Plan should have at least 1 zero carbon source. Where fossil-fuel-based sources have been used, an explanation should be provided for why renewable energy could not be used. | |
| Financial aspects, including business model | 6% | Should clearly outline how the plan will be funded and how the electrification cost will be recovered. | |
| Governance and policy structure | 10% | Policies for maximising the impact of the proposed energy plan should be proposed. | |
| Consideration of other factors | 10% | 1. Should include clear timeline and milestones. 2. Ways to improve grid reliability and reduce power theft. 3. Suggestions to improve the impact of electrification on the population. 4. Anything of relevance to electrification not covered elsewhere in this rubric. 5. Knowledge of the Islands’ energy resource and socio-economic landscape. | |
| Transition pathway to universal access by 2030 | 6% | At the end of the day, the available generation capacity should be able to provide universal access for every member of the population. A clear and feasible timeline should be provided. | |
| Technical credibility | 8% | Plan should be technically feasible and justifiable. For example: if a hydro power plant is proposed, there should be hydropower generation opportunity in the first place. Phased electrification strategy adopted. Justification for choices provided. | |
| Economic credibility | 15% | Business model should be profitable but feasible, given the economic status of the area studied. Please note that the profitability of the investment does not have to be limited to the roll out period of your energy plan (i.e., the profitability of the plan can be within 10+ years). | |
| Clarity and quality of communication | 10% | Well-structured and written report with little or no grammatical mistakes. High-quality and correctly captioned tables and figures. Correct referencing and adherence to word limits. | |
| 100% |
| Table 1: Assessment rubric |
Report Format
Submit an individual document containing two independent parts. The first part, accounting for 18% of the total marks for this assignment, is a one-page policy brief outlining the key outcomes, as well as the policy and development implications of your electrification plan. The second part is a more detailed report 2500 – 3500 words long, addressing all six criteria for your electrification plan. The word count does not include the title page, references, and appendices (if included). Use a style appropriate to a technical report (i.e. formal, factual and to the point). Use portrait A4 format with a single columnandinclude page numbers in the footer. You should use Calibri or Times New Roman with font of size no less than 11 points and your report must include the following (including your own headings):
- Policy brief – Part 1
- Detailed report – Part 2
- Introduction
- [your chosen headings]
- Conclusions
- References (no more than 20 references)
- Appendices
If included, the appendices should be used to show detailed calculations that could not be included in the body of the report. You do not need a table of contents, list of figures, or list of tables. All tables and figures must be numbered as they appear (e.g., Table 1, Table 2, Fig. 1, Fig. 2 etc.) and referred to in the text. It is best to do this in Word using ‘insert caption’ and ‘insert cross reference’ when referring to these in the text, from the References tab. Tables must be editable and not images and the “Conclusions” should summarise your findings and recommendations. As your report will be anonymously marked, please do not include a title page.
A lot of references arenot expected, nor is a literature review, but you should include some to support your arguments, data, and assumptions. These should be reliable sources such as books, reports by respected organisations, and refereed papers. You may cite lessons from the course; give author as DMU. For this assignment do not use commercial sites, blogs, press articles, etc. Use the Harvard (author (year)) or IEEE system [number] for references (in Word you can use Endnotes for IEEE). Advice is available from the DMU library web pages[1].
Recommended Resources
- Duran, A. and Sahinyazan, F., 2020. An analysis of renewable mini-grid projects for rural electrification. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, p.100999.
- Kemausuor, F., Adkins, E., Adu-Poku, I., Brew-Hammond, A. and Modi, V., 2014. Electrification planning using Network Planner tool: The case of Ghana. Energy for Sustainable Development, 19, pp.92-101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2013.12.009
- Javadi, F., Rismanchi, B., Sarraf, M., Afshar, O., Saidur, R., Ping, H. and Rahim, N., 2013. Global policy of rural electrification. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 19, pp.402-416.
- Use household appliance power ratings published by the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) (available at: https://www.cse.org.uk/advice/advice-and-support/how-much-electricity-am-i-using)
- See Table 2 below for the capital and operating costs of selected electricity generation technologies. Should you choose to propose a technology not on the list, you can still do so, provided you reference the source reporting its capital and operating costs.
| Table 2: Capital and operational costs of selected generation technologies |
| Technology | Capital Cost ($/kW) | Operating Cost ($/kWh) |
| Coal-fired combustion turbine | 500 – 1000 | 0.02 – 0.04 |
| Natural gas combustion turbine | 400 – 800 | 0.04 – 0.10 |
| Coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC) | 1000 – 1500 | 0.04 – 0.08 |
| Natural gas combined cycle | 600 – 1200 | 0.04 – 0.10 |
| Wind turbine (onshore) | 1500 – 2000 | 0.01 |
| Wind turbine (offshore) | 5000 – 6500 | 0.01 |
| Nuclear | 6000 – 7000 | 0.02 – 0.05 |
| Photovoltaic Solar (utility i.e., > 2 MW) | 1400 – 1500 | 0.01 |
| Photovoltaic Solar (commercial i.e., 10 kW – 2MW) | 2000 – 2500 | 0.01 |
| Photovoltaic Solar (residential i.e., < 10 kW) | 3000 – 3200 | 0.01 |
| Hydroelectric | 2500 – 3000 | 0.01 |
