Tommaso Ferrucci1,*, Francesco Roncallo2, Marta Lupattelli2, Nikola Matak3, Smail Zouggar4, Hassan Zahboune4, Carolina Pastor De Paz5, Adrian Alarcon Becerra6, Alexis Godefroy7
Energy Engineering, Vol.123, No.9, 2026, DOI:10.32604/ee.2026.081159
- 06 August 2026
Abstract Mini-grids are increasingly regarded as a key pathway for expanding reliable and low-carbon electricity access in developing countries, but the models used to plan them often differ substantially in scope, temporal resolution, spatial detail, and techno-economic representation. This paper reviews and compares five modelling tools developed within the EMERGE project: Hosting Capacity, Optimal Storage Placement, GREENADVISE, CEPIA, and PowSyBl-METRIX. A generalized techno-economic framework is introduced to provide a common basis for comparison, covering objective functions, decision variables, operational constraints, temporal and spatial resolution, solver structure, economic indicators, and the treatment of renewable variability and local… More >