Social Impacts of Mini-Grids: Towards an Evaluation Methodology

Eales, Aran; Walley, Luke; Buckland, Hannah; Frame, Damien; Strachan, Scott

doi:10.1109/powerafrica.2018.8521049

Cited by 13 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…The question of social sustainability is slightly more complex than the technical dimension but is a yet under-researched dimension [40]. The social sustainability of MGs can be viewed from two perspectives: the end-user perspective [41] and the wider community perspective which relates to socio-economic development including health and education as well as power-and gender structures.…”

Section: Dimensions Of Re Mini-grid Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Sustainability of Decentralised Renewable Energy Projects in Developing Countries: Learning Lessons from Zambia

Stritzke

Jain

2021

Energies

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Decentralised renewable energy (RE) systems such as solar PV mini-grids (MG) are considered to be a cornerstone for the strategic achievement of the UN’s energy access goals in the developing world. Many of these systems implemented however face substantial technical, financial and social sustainability challenges which are also a recurring theme in the relevant literature. MG analyses however often lack detailed technical or financial data or apply ‘silo-approaches’ as a comprehensive review of MG case study literature presented in this article reveals. Consequently, this study aims to enhance the understanding of RE MG sustainability in the developing context based on the integrated evaluation of the technical, financial and social dimensions of MG operation through empirical data from community surveys on energy use from Uganda and Zambia and two in-depth MG case studies from Zambia. By presenting detailed technical and financial data in combination with energy consumer perception, the study aims to close existing data gaps on sustainable RE MG operation and offers an approach to evaluate and optimise the operational sustainability of an MG in its individual local context. The article finds that the complex rural community ecosystem is a central, but yet undervalued determinant of MG sustainability in rural developing contexts. The mismatch between energy affordability and MG tariffs threatens MG sustainability and the scaling of energy access projects if not addressed specifically during project development and implementation. Consequently, the article calls for a strategic inclusion of community-ecosystem parameters and MG planning based on realistic energy affordability levels and an added value approach that includes dynamic MG financing mechanisms and targeted measures to generate added value through energy consumption as integral parts of RE MG projects.

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Section: Dimensions Of Re Mini-grid Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Sustainability of Decentralised Renewable Energy Projects in Developing Countries: Learning Lessons from Zambia

Stritzke

Jain

2021

Energies

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“…To differentiate the intention of such indicators, one can establish "development outcome-centric" indicators that retain the UN and IAEA heritage versus "projectcentric" indicators that are used strictly for relating to the project's survival. It is argued that this differentiation is useful for applications such as sustainability evaluations, although this does not reduce the importance of indicators being applied to impact evaluations [41]. In project-centric indicators, one would expect that the wide range of sustainability challenges, as documented previously, would produce a sufficient signal to detect potential problems and respond accordingly.…”

Section: A Project-based Definition Of Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability evaluation of community-based, solar photovoltaic projects in Malawi

et al. 2020

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Background: A novel project sustainability framework is used to evaluate 65 off-grid solar photovoltaic (PV) energy system projects in Malawi. This study addresses PV projects serving rural public facilities, a solution known to have had historical issues with poor sustainability. A recent countrywide program targeting such facilities was evaluated against existing projects to determine whether this latest iteration offered better results. Method: Sustainability is defined at the project-level with metrics justified under the main themes of technical, economic, social, and organizational. Data captured for each project is based on a custom survey and interview of key stakeholders. Projects are grouped according to age, project implementer, income level, and PV system size to compare relative results. Results: The sustainability outlook for each project is evaluated. We find sustainability for most projects to be low. Social sustainability was weak with many projects due to low local community stakeholder engagement in terms of numbers of stakeholders, meeting frequency, and community contributions. Organizational challenges included a lack of key management positions in place and extremely limited training provisions. Furthermore, the evaluation highlights the economic health of the system to be key to sustainability, with the "healthiest" projects affording only 37% of expected operations and maintenance costs. Relative to expected demand, systems were found to be undersized for both panels (53% of required) and batteries (57%). Users reported achieving only 60% of their desired consumption. Poor sizing standards related to the lack of load profiles for first-time electricity users as well as poor quality components reduced the overall technical sustainability. Conclusion: Rural public facilities with solar PV in Malawi are not well served by isolated community management. Improved sustainability requires the establishment of a robust financial framework prior to project development that includes formal local government support. This paper discusses ideal management frameworks and their ultimate implications for project developers, policy makers, and the research community.

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“…The policy scenario analyses the same number of customers for the same period as the baseline, assuming them to be connected to solar PV mini-grids. Based on this assumption, all the technologies outlined in the baseline scenario are considered to be completely displaced by mini-grids, as reported in the literature (Blodgett, Moder, Kickham, & Leaf, 2016;Eales, Walley, Buckland, Frame, & Strachan, 2018;Lenz, Munyehirwe, Peters, & Sievert, 2017;Pueyo & DeMartino, 2018). All the 146 mini-grids analyzed are assumed to consist of a 60 kWp silicon crystalline solar panel, a 50 kVA diesel generator as back-up, and a 3200 Ah 48 V Li-ion battery, in line with the 25 systems under construction by REA (REA, 2016).…”

Section: Policy Scenariomentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable development impacts of nationally determined contributions: assessing the case of mini-grids in Kenya

et al. 2019

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As of today, access to electricity is still unavailable to 1.1 billion people in the world, half of which live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Projections suggest that this share will increase, leaving millions of people with limited development prospects. Kenya's nationally determined contribution (NDC) to the 2015 Paris Agreement includes a commitment to expand power supply, and in doing so, provide all its citizens with access to electricity. Access in rural areas, where the majority remains unconnected, is planned to be reached through different technologies. These include mini-grids, which are expected to bring multiple sustainable development benefits. However, comprehensive studies looking at synergies and trade-offs between environmental, social, and economic impacts of mini-grids are scarce. Analyzing the expected contribution of mini-grids to targets such as the NDC and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can provide evidence-based decision-support to policymakers, thus promoting well-designed and sustainable rural electrification policies. By using the Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) Sustainable Development Methodology, this paper goes beyond the calculation of greenhouse gas (GHG) impacts resulting from access to modern electricity, analyzing also other environmental and socioeconomic implications of 146 solar PV mini grids under construction in Kenya. Using specific targets from the SDG framework, the paper presents a combined qualitative and quantitative analysis of the extent to which mini-grids can contribute to the implementation of Kenya's NDC and to sustainable development priorities. Key policy insights • The deployment of mini-grids is expected to lower the GHG emissions of the villages currently without access to electricity by 71%. • This contributes to 0.4% of the current NDC target for the power sector, in line with the capacity of the systems analyzed. • This action is expected to also bring about positive impacts on electricity access, indoor air quality, healthcare, education and economic activities, which are found to contribute to 16 SDG targets. • Apart from the economic investment required, possible negative impacts are associated with the electronic waste generated at the end-of-life of the mini-grids. • Accounting for sustainable development impacts of policies can increase support among policymakers for climate action, and ultimately raise ambition.

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Social Impacts of Mini-Grids: Towards an Evaluation Methodology

Cited by 13 publications

References 15 publications

The Sustainability of Decentralised Renewable Energy Projects in Developing Countries: Learning Lessons from Zambia

The Sustainability of Decentralised Renewable Energy Projects in Developing Countries: Learning Lessons from Zambia

Sustainability evaluation of community-based, solar photovoltaic projects in Malawi

Sustainable development impacts of nationally determined contributions: assessing the case of mini-grids in Kenya

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