Governing rural electrification in Senegal: of monopolies, mini grids and beyond

The current electrification status in West African countries presents rural electrification rates below 40%, national grid losses above 39% with frequent disruptions, and electricity prices averaging $0.35/kWh, up to national values of $0.66/kWh. With this, off-grid systems have gained great attention during the last decade as energy solutions; especially solar home systems (SHS) and mini grids. Nowadays, 385 mini grids with a power of near 30 MW are operating in West Africa, with 95% based on PV. Since 2019, result-based tenders with international aid funding—more effective than previous competitive tenders—seek to install at least 317 new mini grids in Togo, 250 in Nigeria, 100 in Burkina Faso, and two in Mali. Besides, the market for mini-grid energy access start-ups grew from $19 million in 2013 to $339 million in 2018. Despite this recent development in West Africa, research and data for mini grids in this region is scarce, and it is mostly approached from the technological side, with a striking lack of information regarding the social impact. This work tries to describe the present status of research and current operating installations, as well as the main challenges for future development of off grid mini grids in West Africa, which pose as the missing link between SHS and grid extension.

PROTOCOL: Access to Electricity for Improving Health, Education and Welfare in Low‐ and Middle‐Income Countries: A Systematic Review

Conventional grid extension has been the leading mode of electrification in India. A number of remotely located villages in India are yet to be electrified by developing renewable energy based mini grids at remote locations to meet the energy demand. By which, we can utilize renewable sources of energy. The mini grids are profitable in remote areas to provide sustainable, reliable and cost effective electricity. This paper identifies the potential applications of mini-grid (MG) in rural electrification. In this proposed model of mini-grid, simulation is used through which solar PV and wind turbines are used to electrify the rural areas. Solar PV is used to generate electricity only in day time so for the continuation of supply to the rural areas, wind turbine is used to generate electricity in night also. Battery has been used for backup for additional requirement of power in the mini-grid system. The proposed model gives the significant reduction in voltage and current harmonics due to the application of diode (neutral) point clamped 11-level inverter by which reliable electricity is produced.

Nowadays, 1.2 billion people worldwide are without access to electricity; 48% live in Africa and about 80% live in rural areas (IEA, 2014), and rely on traditional kerosene lamps for lighting. Kerosene lamp usage is linked with indoor air pollution (IAP), and degradation in economic, social, health and education parameters. At the same time, grid extension and connection require high capital investment. In other words, the state‟s limited financial resources do not allow the sustainable development of rural electrification, while rural families cannot afford the installation and consumption costs of electricity in the areas where the grid connection has reached. In recent years, alternative solutions to grid connection, such as solar photovoltaic (PV), have appeared and offer the opportunity for people to access cleaner, cheaper, affordable and healthier sources of electricity. At present, policy, environmental and academic studies have taken place on solar energy and its ability to solve the problems facing rural populations in developing countries, mostly Sub-Saharan African countries, while at the same time trying to help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, literature on this technology is incomplete and limits the understanding of the success of some countries in Sub-Saharan Africa compared to Cameroon. This thesis explores urban and rural electrification processes in Africa, and Cameroon in particular. It will contextualise the energy resource, socio-economic factors and technical barriers. By investigating the dynamics of rural and urban electrification and energy needs, it explores forces underpinning the uptake of solar PV technology through solar lanterns in Cameroon. The result of this thesis has revealed that Cameroon has infinite renewable energy resources, especially solar radiation, for electricity generation. This has led the author to investigate alternative affordable options for the whole country. Through investigating socio-economic, health and environmental factors and barriers that mediate the uptake of solar photovoltaic energy, it has been identified that solar lanterns offer a viable start-up solution in urban and rural areas in Cameroon.

This paper review different policies of on-grid and off-grid rural electrification in Nepal which are imposed by two different organizations, namely, Nepal Electricity Authority and Alternative Energy Promotion Centre. Also, the paper identifies different issues in rural electrification in changing context and different initiatives taken so far on connection of micro hydropower and mini grid development. The study reveals that grid connection and mini grid initiatives are not internalized and owned by the policy and institutional mechanism. Policy and institutional mechanisms need to be revised and restructured so as to adopt mentioned initiatives and to introduce synergy effects which are not often realized because of parallel policy and institutional mechanism. The policy and institutional mechanisms should develop suitable financing/investment mechanism not only based on subsidy but also on the principle of private sector involvement, business operation modality especially trading mechanism, technology transfer and capacity building, and institutional structure of mini grid based on decentralization and liberalization which could encourage competition in the sector as whole. Such policy provision and institutional mechanism make the flow of financial resource from urban to rural and also retain the human capital in the local level.

Standardized Risk Management Procedure (SRMP) for Mini Grids Case Study: Mini-Grid Sunderbans, West Bengal, India

Rural electrification, regardless of whichever electrification scheme is utilized (grid extension, mini grids, or autonomous energy home systems) has many potential benefits. In particular, hybrid mini grid power systems are potentially highly valuable electrification scheme for remote rural electrification in comparison with other electrification schemes but they involve significant complexities in terms of design, implementation, and operation and maintenance. This implies that there are many challenges that have to be overcome before the benefits of hybrid systems can be achieved. A detail literature review and targeted consultations with a range of Fijian stakeholders were undertaken to better understand options for addressing some of the technical as well as the non-technical issues leading to the failure of hybrid mini grids in Fiji. Key findings suggest that lack of proper documentation on systems, carrying out system designs in isolation, failure to incorporate learnt from previous projects into newer projects and failure to understand the system and limitations; all are the contributing factors for an unsuccessful and unsustainable hybrid mini-grid in Fiji. Finally, this paper suggests some useful guidelines for successful and sustainable hybrid mini grid systems.

In many parts of the world, access to basic electricity services remains a significant challenge. The status quo mode of electrification is central grid extension; however, in many areas, off-grid (OG) technologies like minigrids (MGs) and standalone (SA) systems are more suitable for promoting electricity access under cost constraints. Unfortunately, these opportunities are often overlooked due to the complexities of electrification planning, especially for large areas. Researchers have designed technoeconomic planning tools that can be scaled to cut through aspects of this complexity and be fit to address different places and contexts. This paper describes a computer-based optimization model—named the reference electrification model (REM)—which performs automatic electrification planning and is able to identify lowest cost system designs to most effectively provide desired levels of electricity access to populations of any given size. In doing so, REM determines the most suitable modes of electrification for each individual consumer by specifying whether customers should be electrified via grid extension, OG MGs, or SA systems. For each system, REM supplies detailed technical designs at the individual customer level. We have used this model in real planning activities in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The description of REM’s capabilities is supported by case examples. REM stands apart from other electrification planning models because of its high granularity and its capability to provide concrete plans for a wide range of geographical scales. Because of these benefits, REM has the potential to help rationalize electrification planning and expedite progress toward universal electricity access worldwide.

The Brazilian experience of rural electrification in the Amazon with decentralized generation – The need to change the paradigm from electrification to development

Constructing low emitting power systems through grid extension in Papua New Guinea (PNG) with rural electrification

Mozambique and Tanzania are countries with very low rural electrification rates – far below 5% percent of the rural population use electricity. The pace of rural grid electrification is slow and for most remote areas access to the national electricity grids will not occur within a foreseeable future. Off-grid (decentralized) electricity grids are seen as a complement and fore-runner to the national grid, making electricity available many years in advance and creating demand and a customer base. Most off-grid systems are supplied by diesel generators which entail unreliable and costly electricity. Alternative off-grid energy sources exist in the region, such as biofuels, wind, micro-hydro and solar PV; but there are significant barriers to adoption, adaptation and diffusion of such RE-based technologies. In this study, the specific drivers and barriers for rural electrification and off-grid solutions in both countries are explored across a stakeholder spectrum. It is part of a larger research effort, undertaken in collaboration between Swedish and African researchers from natural, engineering and social sciences, aiming at an interdisciplinary assessment of the potential for an enhanced utilization of available renewable sources in off-grid solutions. By qualitative methodology, data was collected in semi-structured stakeholder interviews carried out with ten national level energy sector actors. Findings illustrate countryspecific institutional, financial and poverty-related drivers and barriers to grid and off-grid electrification, as perceived by different energy sector stakeholders.

India is a country of villages, where agriculture is the biggest occupation, so developing these villages plays a major role in the country's progress. Rural electrification in India is considered as a serious issue for rural development, and is seen as the primary thing for all commercial activities and increasing agricultural productivity. Several programmes and policies have been promoted to electrify every village and every household mainly through On-grid and Off-grid electrification approaches. Despite all policy interventions across the years, and being the more favored one both by utilities and consumers, the actual performance of conventional centralized on-grid distribution of rural electricity services continues to be poor. But, implementation of off-grid decentralized rural electrification using various renewable energy technologies has been success and effective compared to centralized system. This paper covers the effectiveness of rural electrification being done in India in which various small villages are electrified either by on-grid or off-grid energy sources. It also addresses their impact on existing grid and their future evolvement as mini or micro grid. Though this paper is limited to study of rural mini grids projects having distributed energy sources to supply electricity locally, but the views and opinions expressed may apply to other renewable projects as well.

More than 620 million people live without access to electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa. With Sub-Saharan Africa uniquely positioned as the only continent with a rising population without electricity access, an estimated one billion people shall gain access by 2040, but because of the population growth, about 645 million people shall remain without it. However, even with considerable efforts in rural electrification, investment in the power sector is so far insufficient to reverse the trend and achieve universal access to electricity by 2030. Rural electrification is best served either by grid extension, mini-grids or standalone systems. The UN SE4ALL global tracking framework provides a tier system that acts as a measurement evaluation for electricity access and global comparison. The framework also assists with the classification for electrification solutions such as mini-grids based on the regular use of appliances and attributes of electricity supply. In light of having a standard framework, the successful planning, implementation, operation and maintenance of mini-grids is not a guarantee since each project is tailor-made. In this paper, a conventional rural electrification development scheme is presented that aims to eliminate business model and policy making complexities in mini-grids. The focus is on minimizing risks, upfront costs, and policy interventions while maximizing investor attraction, profitability, security for grid operators and reliable or inexpensive energy for the population.

Effective solutions for rural electrification in developing countries: Lessons from successful programs

Private Sector-led Urban Development Projects. Management, Partnerships and Effects in the Netherlands and the UK