Tool for the planning of rural electrification taking into account criteria of the territorial ordering

ABSTRACT The economic potential of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) is affected by a large number of restrictions such as: aspects of environmental origin and competition with other land uses. The Provincial Delegation of CubaSolar in Las Tunas faced a series of problems that limited the planning of the electrification projects with RES in the province. In the present investigation, a tool for the planning of rural electrification was developed taking into account criteria of the territorial ordering of the RES. The tool is based on a QGIS plugin named ExamZonas that includes five functionalities among which stand out: "Determine sensitive areas" and "Analyze rural homes". The tools provided by QGIS, together with the features added with the ExamZonas plugin, as well as the maps corresponding to the criteria and renewable potentials, contribute to decision-making in the planning of rural electrification projects in Las Tunas province. In relation to the above, it was possible to identify that in addition to the solar potential possess by Las Tunas, it has potential for the exploitation of renewable energies: water, wind and biomass and these could be used to power rural homes that are far from the electrical network or to increase energy capacity, from these RES in 56 of the homes that were electrified in 2017 with 250-watt photovoltaic modules.