A PhD thesis using OSeMOSYS

A new PhD research used OSeMOSYS as a bottom-up energy supply model to study the challenge of balancing between economic growth and social development in developing countries, taking Zambia as a case study for this aim. The study entitled ‘Strategic investment decisions in Zambia’s mining sector under a constrained energy system’ , was developed by Bernard Tembo, a researcher from University College of London (UCL).
Dr. Tembo looked at how access to clean energy is modelled in developing countries. Furthermore, he investigated the impact of achieving the government’s clean energy access targets in the residential sector on the growth in Zambia’s mining sector. In order to achieve this, three bottom-up models were developed: energy demand, energy supply and mining models. OSeMOSYS was used to develop the energy supply model for Zambia. Along with the demand model, OSeMOSYS sought to understand how energy demand would evolve by 2050 and how much capital investment would be required to meet this demand.
Among others, the study concluded that using a bottom-up approach could minimise errors in modelling households’ transition from one energy fuel to another in developing countries. Furthermore, it was found that even though reliable energy supply is critical in mining operations, the influence of energy price in investment decision making in Zambia’s mining sector is limited.