Leveraging Low Levelized Cost of Renewable Energy for Economic Enhancement of Livelihoods in Rural Communities

Poverty eradication remains a global priority that seeks to improve livelihoods through various socio-economic programs. With renewable energy providing opportunities for distributed generation, communities can benefit from the continued decline in projects costs to improve their livelihoods. Currently, the levelized cost of energy for wind and solar PV systems is approximately US$60 and $40 per MW respectively while electricity tariffs are at US$81/MWh. In this paper, the results have shown that 2 MW of renewable energy can be installed on a 1.4 ha piece of land generating a combined total of approximately 4950 MWh annually. This can be providing additional annual income in the range US $50,000–100,000 for rural households thereby reducing poverty whilst improving universal access to energy.