Design of a Wind-Solar Hybrid Energy System for a Health Centre in Jigawa State

This project designs a wind-solar hybrid energy system to provide reliable electricity supply for a primary health centre in Jigawa State, North West Nigeria. Rural health centres in Jigawa face critical power supply challenges, as grid electrification coverage is sparse and diesel fuel logistics are difficult and costly. Reliable electricity is essential for vaccine refrigeration, medical equipment, lighting in maternity wards, and communication infrastructure. Wind speed data from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency and solar irradiance data from NASA's POWER database for the selected Jigawa site confirmed average annual wind speeds of 4.1 m/s and solar irradiance of 6.2 kWh/m2/day. The hybrid system design employs a horizontal-axis wind turbine rated at 1kW, a 2kWp polycrystalline PV array, a 48V battery bank, and a hybrid charge controller with maximum power point tracking for the solar input. A HOMER Pro simulation was used to optimise component sizing for minimum cost of energy while meeting the health centre's assessed daily load of 9.8kWh with 99 percent reliability. The optimised configuration achieves a levelised cost of energy of 36 naira per kWh, substantially below the effective cost of diesel-generated electricity at the site. Loss of load probability was reduced to 0.4 percent annually. The design includes an automatic battery backup switchover and a monitoring interface for facility staff. Capital cost recovery is estimated at 5.2 years. The project recommends government subsidy mechanisms to reduce the upfront investment barrier for rural health facility electrification. Keywords: wind-solar hybrid, health centre, rural electrification, HOMER Pro, Jigawa State.