Development of Hybrid Renewable Energy-Powered Drilling Rig Systems for Sustainable Irrigation in Semi-Arid Regions: A Review with Reference to Nasarawa State, Nigeria (Published)
In semi-arid countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, such as Nasarawa state in Nigeria, low grid electricity access, expensive fuel prices of ground water pumping and unreliable rainfall limits agricultural output. Energy nexus innovations provide opportunities of sustainable irrigation through linking the renewable energy frameworks (solar, wind, hybrid) with the borehole drilling and pumping facilities. The review is a synthesis of theoretical foundations and conceptual frameworks, empirical evidence and efficiency of renewable energy-powered drilling and irrigation systems. Three primary streams are pointed out in the review: A case study will be conducted on the following: (1) climate variability, agricultural demand and groundwater; (2) design of renewable energy system to water abstraction; and (3) techno-economic and environmental discussions of renewable systems against conventional systems. The important conclusions indicate that solar-PV and hybrid systems have the potential to cut operations cost and carbon emission in comparison to diesel pumps (e.g., Solar or Diesel: A Comparison of Costs for Groundwater Fed Irrigation in Sub Saharan Africa Under Two Energy Solutions). Nonetheless, adoption is still impeded by social economic, institutional and power-quality issues (e.g. Adoption of solar powered pumps in agriculture: insights into smallholders in Burkina Faso). There is a lack of research on hybrid solar-wind-battery systems to support drilling rigs, optimisation through GIS/MCDA, and the problem of power-quality in off-grid environments. We put forward an integrated simulation-based design, life-cycle techno-economic and adaptive governance model agenda in Nasarawa State. The review is used as a reference among scholars, policy makers and practitioners interested in duplicative research concerning such agro-ecologies.
Keywords: : Irrigation, Renewable Energy, drilling rig system., solar-wind hybrid, techno-economics