Boosting rural electrification

THE beyond grid concept is a long-view take on rural electrification via decentralised renewable energy (DRE) systems, according to the Renewable Energy and Energy-Efficiency Partnership (REEEP).

REEEP is an international multilateral partnership that works to accelerate market-based deployment of renewable energy and energy efficient systems in developing countries.

REEEP invests in clean energy markets in developing countries to reduce CO2 emissions and build prosperity. Based on a strategic portfolio of high impact projects, REEEP works to generate energy access, improve lives and economic opportunities, build sustainable markets, and combat climate change.

According to the REEEP 2016 annual report, worldwide, one in five people lives without access to electricity.

For most of these people, the long-term solution will be access to a central utility grid. In the meantime, however, DRE systems are already able to provide reliable, high quality power for lighting, televisions and household appliances, and even power ‘productive’ loads such as agricultural or manufacturing equipment, computers and other commercial and institutional energy needs.

“Yet, while DRE systems can offer power to people now – and indeed there is often a viable business case for their commercial use – they face a number of hurdles: high capital costs, limited financing options, novel business models and new technologies, and complex customer compositions, among them. But the greatest hurdle is a lack of a clear and consistent environment in which to invest and operate.

“To create this environment, we are seeing players from the private and public sector move away from the paradigm of ‘on-grid’ or ‘offgrid’, and toward a more holistic ‘beyond grid’ concept, in which DRE solutions can provide near-term access to energy to those who need or want it – whether they are on the grid or off – and resilience and stability to a smarter central utility grid in the longterm,” says the REEEP 2016 annual report.

This trend is nowhere better illustrated than in India, according to REEEP, where the central grid is being extended at a blazing pace, yet at least 240-million people remain without access, and more have unpredictable or very limited electricity. Recognising the potential of DRE, and specifically small “mini” utility grids, or mini-grids, to reach these people (as well as contribute to India’s renewable energy capacity goals) the central government has made notable strides over 2015-2016 to improve the investment and business climate for private operators.

Further, in early 2016, the state government of Uttar Pradesh (UP) in India became the first state government to adopt a dedicated mini-grid policy that addresses the question of grid interactivity, a necessary step toward leveraging DRE to stabilise smart grids in the future.

Since 2010 The Rockefeller Foundation has been working to expand access to electricity through a model utilising DRE mini-grids for lighting and productive use.

In 2014, The Rockefeller Foundation significantly intensified this work with a USD 75-million commitment as part of a new Smart Power for Rural Development Initiative (SPRD). At the time of the writing of the REEEP 2016 annual report, over eighty DRE minigrids had been deployed in the states of UP and Bihar as part of SPRD.

In 2015 REEEP received a grant from The Rockefeller Foundation to study the evidence and lessons learned from the SPRD programme to date, analyse trends in the market and enabling environment, and to synthesise these into knowledge products aimed at addressing the information needs of key stakeholders inside and outside of India.