Sustainability of rural electrification programs based on off-grid photovoltaic (PV) systems in Chile

Abstract

Background: Mainly based on expanding the grid, Chile has reached an impressive electrification rate. However, due to unviable grid expansion to islands and remote areas of the country, the government started implementing off-grid electrification programs. In this paper, we assess the sustainability of rural electrification efforts in Chile paying special attention to off-grid photovoltaic (PV) programs.

Sustainability of Off-Grid Photovoltaic Systems for Rural Electrification in Developing Countries: A Review

“…For instance, PV-powered water pumps for irrigation have been shown to have a significant potential. For example, in Chile, the Agency for Agrarian Development (with the support of the Ministry of Energy) replaced about 1400 pumps powered by fossil fuels by PV-powered water pumps (subsidizing 90% of the initial investment), which allowed the farmers to irrigate with very low O&M costs [153].…”

Rural Electrification Efforts Based on Off-Grid Photovoltaic Systems in the Andean Region: Comparative Assessment of Their Sustainability

“…We also analyzed 57 semi-structured interviews to key stakeholders that we had previously conducted in Chile, Ecuador, and Peru (see [13,42,43]). Interviews were held between 2014 and 2015, and since our main interest was to unveil the overall institutional and organizational conditions in the Andean countries, the interviewees were of higher hierarchical positions such as directors, project managers, leading researchers, and division leaders in each country.…”

“…The lack of enforcement of technical standards has often compromised the sustainability of small-scale programs conducted by private entities as well as public agencies or municipalities. Indeed, according to the current regulation, when the investment cost of a rural electrification project is lower than approximately US$140,000, it can be carried out without the supervision of the Ministry of Energy [42].…”

“…In the case of Chile, several small-scale projects failed because their sponsors (local authorities such as municipalities in remote rural areas) were unable to keep the systems operating in the long-term (e.g., because of the deployment of low quality parts, the lack of technological skills in remote area, missing spare parts, etc.) and they did not receive timely support or training from the Chilean Ministry of Energy [42].…”

“…For example, the Chilean Ministry of Energy enthusiastically embraced the concept of "technology neutrality" (since in its view any form of facilitation or promotion of RE may lead to market distortions) [42]; the Peruvian Ministry of Energy is meanwhile committed to outsourcing: in Peru, the installation of off-grid PV system is outsourced, O&M of off-grid PV system is outsourced; even the supervision of the outsourced activities is outsourced, as confirmed by several government agents.…”