Basic Energy Services Research Articles

Accelerating Energy Access Through Public-Private Partnership Investment in Zambia

Zambia has abundant renewable energy resources which could provide basic energy services to over 16 million Zambian citizens. Despite that only 25% of the population in Zambia have access to electricity and clean cooking facilities. This has led to a continued large scale usage of wood energy causing a strain on forestry stock. Further the country’s largest renewable energy generation potential exists through solar and hydro power. Although, Government efforts to invest in the solar and hydro energy sector has been slow, so far less than 30% of the available (6000MW) hydro potential has been harnessed and solar PV has been installed only on about 400 households, several schools and Chief’s Palaces in various parts of the country. Zambia aims to reach an electrification rate of 90% in urban and 51% in rural areas through its vision 2030. This will technically require policies and regulatory that build capacity for both public and private sector partnership with specific regard to promoting renewables energies. Therefore this paper seeks to address energy issue of access in Zambia and highlight the policy issues to harmonize the partnership of public and private sector investments in solving energy concern. This is done through an overview of the energy sector, review of the energy policies and private sector investments.

Energy provision in South African informal urban Settlements - A multi-criteria sustainability analysis

In South Africa, as in much of sub-Saharan Africa, strong urbanization trends lead to people settling in ever less suitable informal locations, which are often considered ineligible for basic service provision. This study explores how access to basic energy services can be provided to informal urban households in South Africa that are ineligible for grid electrification. This is done through a multi-criteria sustainability analysis of current and alternative ways of accessing energy services. The case of the Western Cape Province is explored, showing that barriers for electrification can be overcome in some cases, given that there is political will at the local level to do so. When electrification is unviable, off-grid electricity alternatives combined with support for access to modern cooking fuels may provide short or medium-term solutions. This study further suggests that governmental efforts of meeting basic energy needs must be persistently oriented and structured towards access to energy services, as opposed to supply of electricity.

Can developing countries leapfrog the centralized electrification paradigm?

Due to the rapidly decreasing costs of small renewable electricity generation systems, centralized power systems are no longer a necessary condition of universal access to modern energy services. Developing countries, where centralized electricity infrastructures are less developed, may be able to adopt these new technologies more quickly. We first review the costs of grid extension and distributed solar home systems (SHSs) as reported by a number of different studies. We then present a general analytic framework for analyzing the choice between extending the grid and implementing distributed solar home systems. Drawing upon reported grid expansion cost data for three specific regions, we demonstrate this framework by determining the electricity consumption levels at which the costs of provision through centralized and decentralized approaches are equivalent in these regions. We then calculate SHS capital costs that are necessary for these technologies provide each of five tiers of energy access, as defined by the United Nations Sustainable Energy for All initiative. Our results suggest that solar home systems can play an important role in achieving universal access to basic energy services. The extent of this role depends on three primary factors: SHS costs, grid expansion costs, and centralized generation costs. Given current technology costs, centralized systems will still be required to enable higher levels of consumption; however, cost reduction trends have the potential to disrupt this paradigm. By looking ahead rather than replicating older infrastructure styles, developing countries can leapfrog to a more distributed electricity service model.

Replication and scaling-up of isolated mini-grid type of off-grid interventions in India

Providing basic minimum energy services has become a real challenge for developing countries of the world. India encounters the problem of provisioning basic minimum electricity services to a section of her population. Renewable energy-based decentralised systems have emerged as a viable electrification option for many developing countries of the world, particularly for rural and remote areas of the country. This study explores the replication and scaling-up of potential of such mini-grids in the least electrified states of India by considering a set of evaluation criteria i.e. grid-extension option, renewable energy resource potential, electrification rate, organisational strength, presence or absence of technical support system, and ease of access to banking services. Overall rankings suggest that top 20% districts offer good business potential for private investors to venture into the mini-grid market. However, the concern lies with the districts placed at the bottom, which require specific government interventions through appropriate policy, regulatory and financial support.

The political economy of energy access: Survey evidence from India on state intervention and public opinion

In India, where energy access is limited, how does the public react to the government's inability to provide citizens with basic energy services, such as electricity and clean cooking fuel? We answer this question using a survey conducted in two rural villages of Uttar Pradesh. First, we examine the association between a respondent's opinion on state intervention and policy failure. Specifically, we focus on whether people who believe in state intervention are likely to have lower levels of satisfaction with the government's energy access policies. Second, we examine the link between policy failure and the likelihood that people consider a political candidate's energy views in voting. We find that people's preference for government intervention has a negative effect on satisfaction levels with government policies, and that people who blame the government for policy failures are less likely to take a political candidate's energy policies into account when voting.

English

This paper presents investigation on availability carried out on six steam unit generators in Egbin Thermal-Power Station in Nigeria. The availability investigation covers from 2005 to 2011 and was done through an exhaustive collection of data from samples of operating facilities in the power station. Data was collected from plant user maintenance log, operation records and manufacturers’ data were also sources of information. This investigation used the IEEE std 762 generator performance indices amongst other calculated key operational availability indices in the evaluations and analysis of the collected data. A software program was developed, ‘Function Outage Parameters (OP)’, using the outage frameworks of data collected from the station. The program was implemented in MATLAB 11.5b which provided user-friendly Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) and corresponding output results in numerical values in tables of values and graphs. The data was used to evaluate all the six generating units available in the station. The result was used to appraise a periodic availability assessment of all the generating units. The study has demonstrated that availability has a very major impact on power generation and plant economy. The investigations ensured quantified (computed) comparative analysis for planned and unplanned outages by using results to estimate unit generators‟ performance capacity credibility. The availability results generated by stations values were: ST01 = 89%; ST02= 89.99%; ST03 =85.24%; ST04 = 87.45%; ST05= 86.50%; ST06 = 29.71% while the overall availability is 88.35%. Result shows reduction in plant availability is caused by increased number and duration of forced outages. The causes and durations of forced outages and unscheduled maintenances were identified through the study of outage causes. The use of a historic failure database to identify critical components for improvement of generating unit availability is demonstrated. While Nigeria is practically hungry for power supply availability to support economic growth and provide basic modern energy services to her people though the energy level is still abysmally low, the facts presented herein are sufficient to exhibit the importance of power availability and unit performance measurement in enhancing the country energy revolution and development. Key words: Availability, performance, generators, steam turbines, maintenance, reliability.

Electricity (in)accessibility to the urban poor in developing countries

More than half of the world's population now lives in urban areas. The difficulties involved in providing new urban residents with a wide variety of services reveal a new face of poverty, one in which urban communities cannot access or afford basic modern energy services for their development and empowerment. As an enabler of development processes, access to electricity in urban and peri‐urban contexts plays a key role in providing possibilities and solutions to the urban poor. Energy poverty is no longer a rural‐only phenomenon, and a concerted effort is needed to find solutions. Taking this into account, the Global Network on Energy for Sustainable Development (GNESD) initiated the Urban Peri‐Urban Energy Access (UPEA) project in 2006. The objective of this study was to understand the barriers to energy access in the context of the urban poor in seven countries. Barriers from both the supply and demand sides for energy were investigated. Factors such as a lack of institutional coordination, weak alignment between energy policies and urban planning, and insufficient financial and social incentives appear to play key roles in constraining access to electricity for the urban poor. Overcoming these barriers will require innovative solutions in policies, decision‐making, financing, multi‐stakeholder dialogs, social inclusion, international cooperation, and knowledge sharing regarding good practices. WIREs Energy Environ 2015, 4:339–353. doi: 10.1002/wene.148This article is categorized under: Energy Policy and Planning > Economics and Policy Energy Policy and Planning > Systems and Infrastructure Energy Policy and Planning > Climate and Environment Energy and Development > Systems and Infrastructure

Energy poverty alleviation and climate change mitigation: Is there a trade off?

Energy poverty alleviation has become an important political issue in the most recent years. Several initiatives and policies have been proposed to deal with poor access to modern sources of energy in many developing countries. Given the large number of people lacking basic energy services, an important question is whether providing universal access to modern energy could significantly increase energy demand and associated CO2 emissions. This paper provides one of the few formal assessments of this problem by means of a simple but robust model of current and future energy consumption. The model allows mapping energy consumption globally for different classes of energy use, quantifying current and future imbalances in the distribution of energy consumption. Our results indicate that an encompassing energy poverty eradication policy to be met by 2030 would increase global final energy consumption by about 7% (roughly 20EJ). The same quantity of energy could be saved by reducing by 15% energy consumption of individuals with standards above current European levels. The additional energy infrastructure needed to eradicate energy poverty would produce 44–183GtCO2 over the 21st century and contribute at most 0.13°C of additional warming.

Energy Poverty Alleviation and Climate Change Mitigation: Is There a Trade Off?

Energy poverty alleviation has become an important political issue in the most recent years. Several initiatives and policies have been proposed to deal with poor access to modern sources of energy in many developing countries. Given the large number of people lacking basic energy services, an important question is whether providing universal access to modern energy could significantly increase CO2 emissions. This paper provides one of the few formal assessments of this problem by means of a simple but robust model of current and future energy consumption. The model allows mapping energy consumption globally for different classes of energy use, quantifying current and future imbalances in the distribution of energy consumption. Our results indicate that an energy poverty eradication policy to be met by 2030 would increase global final energy consumption by about 7% (or 19EJ). This is the same quantity of energy which would be added between now and 2030 by individuals with energy consumption above current European standards. The additional energy infrastructure needed to eradicate energy poverty would produce 16-131 GtCO2 over the 21st century and contribute at most 0.1C of additional warming.

Integrated Development of Rural Energy Systems through Pocket Area Approach for Energy Services: The REDP Experience, Nepal

Micro-hydro technologies together with other renewable energy technologies are being disseminated in various parts of Nepal to provide basic energy services as per the demand of the individual household or a particular community. These technologies use an integrated approach that helps address rural energy needs by providing basic rural energy services. The planning and implementation of rural energy systems in an integrated manner through the ‘Pocket Area Approach’, which takes into account the entire geographical area for the intervention, has been experimented in some of the pockets area in the country and is found quite effective to cater to basic rural energy services to the entire population of the area. This paper illustrates the approach and results achieved by Rural Energy Development Program (REDP).DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hn.v9i0.7072 Hydro Nepal Vol.9 July 2011 44-47

A brief history and the possible future of urban energy systems

Modern cities depend on energy systems to deliver a range of services such as heating, cooling, lighting, mobility, communications, and so on. This article examines how these urban energy systems came to be, tracing the major transitions from the earliest settlements through to today's fossil-fuelled cities. The underlying theme is “increasing efficiency under constraints” with each transition marked by increasing energy efficiency in service provision, increasing per capita energy use, increasing complexity in the energy system's structure, with innovations driven by a strategic view of the overall system, and accompanied by wider changes in technology and society. In developed countries, the future of urban energy systems is likely to continue many of these trends, with increased efficiency being driven by the constraints of climate change and rising fuel prices. Both supply and demand side technologies are discussed as potential solutions to these issues, with different impacts on the urban environment and its citizens. However in developing countries, rising urban populations and access to basic energy services will drive the next transition.

Coping with the energy crisis: Impact assessment and potentials of non-traditional renewable energy in rural Kyrgyzstan

The Kyrgyz energy sector is characterised by a dramatic energy crisis that has deprived a substantial part of the population from access to energy. Non-traditional renewable energy sources have emerged as a promising alternative in providing basic energy services to the rural poor. Based on qualitative interview data from local households and project planners, this study sets out to assess impacts, limitations and barriers of non-traditional renewable energy projects in rural areas in Kyrgyzstan. This study argues that recent renewable energy efforts from multilateral international agencies, the private sector, and nongovernmental organisations exhibit great potential in creating tangible benefits and improving basic energy services, but have so far been inefficient in establishing and replicating sustainable and long-term energy solutions. Existing practices need to be improved by attaching greater importance to the capacities and real needs of the rural poor. The guidance of integrated programmes and policies along with alternative financing schemes and awareness-raising are urgently needed to leverage local success stories and to facilitate a sustainable energy development in rural Kyrgyzstan.

Innovating for Emerging Markets: Novel Business Models to Supply Energy to the Rural Poor (Presentation Slides)

A quarter of the world’s population does not have access to electricity, and relies on expensive, hazardous, and polluting alternatives for basic needs such as lighting. A framework that combines perspectives from the strategy, entrepreneurship and organization science literature is used to analyse the business models of 47 organizations, which deliver modern energy services to this mostly poor, rural population. The research seeks to understand the marketing innovations and multi-level collaborations that theory suggests are essential for the success of social entrepreneurs. Vivid illustrations of such work are found. The data suggest that the returns associated with serving this population are low and multinational corporations play a small and indirect role. The poor also pay significantly more for basic energy services than the better-off. As such, even though the organizations studied are often more effective than the state at providing basic energy services, it is essential that state and non-state actors collaborate to deliver energy to the poor in manner than ensures greater efficiency and equity.

Biogas Energy: Unexplored Source of a Renewable Energy in Jordan

Jordan is a non-oil producing country. Its basic energy requirements are obtained from imported oil and natural gas from different sources. Domestic natural gas covers only 4% of the Kingdom’s energy needs. Energy import costs create a financial burden on the national economy. Jordan spends more than 25% of its GDP on the purchase of energy. Considerable efforts have been made and great progress has been achieved in the application of solar, wind, biogas and hydro energy utilization. This paper explores the potential of biogas as renewable energy in developing countries including Jordan, where access to basic clean energy services is essential for sustainable development. A techno–economic feasibility study for electric power generation from municipal solid waste was carried out in cooperation with the UNDP and the UN Global Environmental Facility has approved the award to finance a pilot biogas plant at Amman municipal waste disposal site. The project rated capacity is 1MW and due to the successful operation, the project was expanded to 3.5MW.

Leapfrogging over development? Promoting rural renewables for climate change mitigation

Renewable energy technologies have the potential to help solve two pressing problems. On one hand, carbon-free energy sources must play a role in climate change mitigation. On the other hand, renewables might help meet needs of rural people without access to modern energy services. However, if renewables are deployed to combat climate change (primarily resulting from emissions in the developed economies) then providing basic energy services in the developing world may be compromised. The tendency to conflate the two drivers by installing renewables in rural areas for carbon mitigation reasons rather than for development reasons could compromise both goals. The danger is supporting sub-optimal policies for mitigating carbon and for rural energy. This is problematic given the limited funds available for energy development and reducing greenhouse gases. This paper analyzes how these goals have been balanced by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Project documents are used to determine whether incremental costs of installing renewables were covered by GEF funds and whether the costs are comparable with other carbon mitigation options. The results raise concerns about the effectiveness and appropriateness of GEF funding of such projects and highlight the importance of post-Kyoto framework design to reduce emissions and promote development.

Energy use, poverty and development in the SADC

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the rela-tionship between economic growth, energy use, poverty alleviation and development in the Sou-thern African Development Community (SADC) countries. Association is drawn between human development indices and energy consumption, eco-nomic growth and poverty. It turns out that poverty has a bearing on the types of energy consumed, which in turn, affects health, education and income earning opportunities. Access to reliable and afford-able energy remains an essential prerequisite for combating poverty, and available evidence shows that a significant proportion of the population in SADC countries lack access even to the most basic energy supplies and services. Furthermore, inequal-ities penalize the poor by leaving them with a small-er share of income thus limiting their energy sources and weakening the poverty-reducing power of growth.

IEA ministers re-commit to renewables

Energy ministers from the International Energy Agency (IEA) have committed their countries to implementing the agreements on renewable energy that were adopted at last year’s World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. “We particularly commit ourselves to enhance the role of renewables and other lower carbon-emitting sources of energy in the energy mix, and work to shape a future where basic energy services will be available to an increasing number of the world's citizens,” they said in a communique issued after meeting on April 28–29. “We will continue our efforts to mitigate the impact of energy use on the global environment and, in particular, on the global climate system,” they agreed, and will develop technologies that can stimulate development of market-oriented instruments and reach sustainable development goals at lower costs. This is a short news story only. Visit www.re-focus.net for the latest renewable energy news.

The Value of Renewables

• Continuation of past trends would mean a 60% increase in world energy demand by 2020 with much of the increase occurring in developing countries. • Oil, coal, gas and nuclear power will continue to dominate the energy mix, with sources of oil and gas concentrating in a few countries. • A large proportion of the world’s population continues to lack access to basic energy services. • Our collective efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions will fall short of the targets set at Kyoto.

Scientific proposals for a continuing scientific drilling program in the Valles‐Toledo Caldera Complex

The Valles‐Toledo caldera complex is famous as the site of early research on caldera formation and for its caldera‐hosted, high‐temperature geothermal system. Scientific drilling in the west half of the complex, sponsored by the Office of Basic Energy Services of the Department of Energy (DOE), is part of a long‐term program to answer basic questions about caldera formation processes, silicic volcanism, high‐temperature hydrothermal systems, and volcanogenic ore bodies.A DOE workshop to evaluate the drilling was held October 18–20, 1989, in Los Alamos, N. Mex.; about 50 scientists came. The purpose was to review the progress of research and to consider the scientific merit of continuing corehole drilling as proposed in the original scientific management plan [Goff and Nielson, 1986]. At the end of the first day, a long discussion was held to determine if results so far justified the expense of continuing the program. The answer was unequivocal: Yes. The next question was, Where should the next corehole be located?