Isolated microgrids are promoted as solutions for rural electrification in the Global South but they often encounter difficulties during their lifespan. Despite this, long-term research on microgrid viability and sustainability is scarce. Building on existing works, we develop a multidimensional approach to sustainability based on four dimensions: technical, financial, institutional and socio-cultural. This framework is applied to an isolated microgrid in a Senegalese village over a seven-year timeframe, looking at both local and external factors. The unusually long-term approach uncovers the deep roots of entangled and evolving sustainability issues. Our results are three-fold. First, intertwined sustainability factors intensify challenges. Technical challenges exacerbate financial and institutional ones, while the design of the microgrid impacts socio-cultural aspects. This leads to a vicious cycle between the four sustainability dimensions. Secondly, sustainability is mostly affected in the interval between technical breakdown and repairs as maintenance delays have repercussions on users' practices and their trust in the MG, as well as the operator's business models. Lastly, MGs are never a completely local system, even if they are designed to be (partially) autonomous. The study thus makes recommendations for researchers, practitioners and decision-makers. A long-term vision is necessary from the MG design stage. External support and funding are essential to ensure the sustainability of microgrids in poor and remote settings, moving away from the image of microgrids as autonomous systems. Future research agendas would benefit from additional case studies with a longitudinal and multiple-scale approach.

中文翻译：

---

孤立的微电网可行吗？塞内加尔农村长期可持续性的纵向研究

孤立的微电网被推广为南半球农村电气化的解决方案，但它们在使用过程中经常遇到困难。尽管如此，对微电网可行性和可持续性的长期研究仍然很少。在现有工作的基础上，我们开发了一种基于四个维度的多维可持续发展方法：技术、财务、制度和社会文化。该框架在七年的时间内应用于塞内加尔村庄的孤立微电网，同时考虑了当地和外部因素。这种异常长期的方法揭示了错综复杂且不断演变的可持续发展问题的深层根源。我们的结果是三倍的。首先，可持续发展因素相互交织，加剧了挑战。技术挑战加剧了财务和体制挑战，而微电网的设计则影响社会文化方面。这导致四个可持续发展维度之间的恶性循环。其次，可持续性主要在技术故障和维修之间受到影响，因为维护延迟会影响用户的实践及其对 MG 的信任以及运营商的商业模式。最后，MG 永远不是一个完全本地的系统，即使它们被设计为（部分）自治。因此，该研究为研究人员、从业者和决策者提出了建议。从MG设计阶段就需要有长远的眼光。外部支持和资金对于确保微电网在贫困和偏远地区的可持续性至关重要，从而摆脱微电网作为自治系统的形象。未来的研究议程将受益于采用纵向和多尺度方法的更多案例研究。