The International Energy Agency has projected that the total energy demand for electricity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is expected to rise by an average of 4% per year up to 2040. It implies that ~620 million people are living without electricity in SSA. Going with the 2030 vision of the United Nations that electricity should be accessible to all, it is important that new technology and methods are provided. In comparison to other nations worldwide, smart grid (SG) is an emerging technology in SSA. SG is an information technology-enhanced power grid, which provides a two-way communication network between energy producers and customers. Also, it includes renewable energy, smart meters, and smart devices that help to manage energy demands and reduce energy generation costs. However, SG is facing inherent difficulties, such as energy theft, lack of trust, security, and privacy issues. Therefore, this paper proposes a blockchain-based decentralized energy system (BDES) to accelerate rural and urban electrification by improving service delivery while minimizing the cost of generation and addressing historical antipathy and cybersecurity risk within SSA. Additionally, energy insufficiency and fixed pricing schemes may raise concerns in SG, such as the imbalance of order. The paper also introduces a blockchain-based energy trading system, which includes price negotiation and incentive mechanisms to address the imbalance of order. Moreover, existing models for energy planning do not consider the effect of fill rate (FR) and service level (SL). A blockchain levelized cost of energy (BLCOE) is proposed as the least-cost solution that measures the impact of energy reliability on generation cost using FR and SL. Simulation results are presented to show the performance of the proposed model and the least-cost option varies with relative energy generation cost of centralized, decentralized and BDES infrastructure. Case studies of Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Liberia, Mali, and Senegal illustrate situations that are more suitable for BDES. For other SSA countries, BDES can cost-effectively service a large population and regions. Additionally, BLCOE reduces energy costs by approximately 95% for battery and 75% for the solar modules. The future BLCOE varies across SSA on an average of about 0.049 $/kWh as compared to 0.15 $/kWh of an existing system in the literature.
Although business models presumably have a prominent role in socio-technical change remarkably little research has been conducted in this domain, more particularly in the context of developing economies. In this paper, we tap into this knowledge gap and study business model components and the challenges they face. We argue that the market value of renewable energy technologies will increase when new business models are implemented to overcome financial and institutional challenges. We complement concepts of the business model literature with the insights from the sustainable transitions literature. This paper addresses two research questions: What are the challenges of business and financial models in the transition towards decentralized solar energy driven systems? And what are the promising opportunities for new business models in a developing country context? To answer these research questions, we use a case study research design focusing on niche market development of solar thermal and solar photovoltaic (PV) technology in Lebanon. Data collection involved analysis of relevant text documents and expert interviews with 30 informants across different groups of stakeholders. Data analysis involved qualitative interpretation of collected data against concepts from the business model and Strategic Niche Management literatures. The results show that business model challenges initially were highly dependent on donor aid, which contributed to the launch and network creation of niche markets. Later, a shift to micro-finance and business startup models was observed, which showed promising development. Knowledge transfer and community empowerment were found to play an important role in developing new business models that involve consumers more closely. As this development is expected to take place more often, we expect that new opportunity pathways will develop in developing economies like Lebanon.
The use of cryptocurrencies in daily life has continued to rise over the last decade and shows no signs of slowing down. Although cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, provide numerous tangible benefits to society, the process of mining these cryptocurrencies is extremely energy intensive. Accordingly, a tragedy of the energy commons has resulted whereby the monetary incentive to mine cryptocurrencies has distorted our collective ability to care for our shared energy resources. The current system allows for industrious individuals to set up cryptocurrency mines in regions that have access to plentiful and cheap energy sources, utilize this energy to power their mining activities, and leave the region when the energy becomes more expensive than other regions. This system forces regions with an abundance of energy to deal with the negative consequences of cryptocurrency mining without receiving any of the benefits. Furthermore, individual states and regions refuse to regulate such mining activity out of fear of depressing economic investment. Thus, as this article argues, a federal cryptocurrency regulation regime is needed to combat the inequities that result from the current lack of adequate protections.
The ongoing, in-depth transformation of the electricity sector towards increased use of alternative, renewable energy sources extends beyond a simple decentralisation drive in the electricity market. The transformation process is characterised by the interplay of old and new technologies from the energy sector as well as structural coupling with other sectors, such as the information and communications technology (ICT), enabling the technology transfer as well as market entry by information technology (IT) actors. Blockchain-based technologies have the potential to play a key role in this transition by offering decentralised interfaces and systems as well as an alternative approach to the current organisation form of the energy market. This paper discusses the applicability and prospects for blockchain-based technologies in the energy sector, which are described using the term “blockchain energy”. For the purposes of this study, blockchain energy encompasses all socio-technical and organisational configurations in the energy sector based on the utilisation of the blockchain principle for energy trading, information storage, and/or increased transparency of energy flows and energy services. In the following chapters, the authors present and discuss the current transformation in the electricity market, followed by a review of the different utilisation possibilities for blockchain technologies in the energy sector and a discussion of the barriers and potential for blockchain energy using a transition studies perspective. Finally, the opportunities and risks of blockchain energy are discussed.
Rural areas in developing countries have constantly been plagued by poor sanitation and energy shortages. A key issue has been the decentralized nature of waste generation and energy consumption, leading to farmers burning crop stocks, lumber, and other agricultural waste. As 1.9 billion people lack access to waste collection services [1], untreated solid and liquid refuse hamper the health of many and irreversibly damage the local ecosystem. Considering the scattered nature of agricultural waste generation and centralized treatment difficulties, this study examines the feasibility of adopting decentralized blockchain system in trading biomass energy and agricultural products across the waste-to-energy ecosystem. A case study is conducted based on the Yitong system in Changzhi City, Shanxi Province, China. This plant collects and transports agricultural wastes (crop straw and animal residue), and converts them to clean energy and agricultural by-products like briquettes, fertilizer, and animal feedstock. This paper presents how a digital coupon or cryptocurrency can be introduced to trade the wastes, energy and by-products among the farmers and entrepreneurs. It argues that this system could maximize the use of agriculture wastes by incentivizing farmers and enterprises to work together. This paper covers three key areas: 1) Literature review, methodology preparation, and field assessment for introducing digital incentive mechanism to enhance rural wastes management. 2) Design of a prototype of blockchain-based model: (a) how the waste-to-energy plant managers collect the segregated waste from individual farmers through trucks connected to blockchain-based smart meters; (b) how systems on each of the trucks register the quantity of waste received onto a universal ledger when collecting. This quantity received will be translated into a certain amount of energy and products like fertilizer that the waste-to-energy plant owes each farm; and (c) how the farmers will receive digital coupons corresponding to the quantity of energy and agricultural products that they should receive. 3) Evaluation of the feasibility of blockchain-based model (technical and economic): (a) data collection on the total quantity of waste produced and the processing capabilities and availability of Waste to Energy plants; (b) assessing readiness of digital infrastructure (cyber-security and communications); and (c) economic evaluation of the incentives and responsibilities associated with the key stakeholders from the farmers to enterprises.
L. V. Nefedova, Alexander Alexsvitch Solovyev, Olena Popova
The prospects of increasing access to electricity for the population of rural areas of Africa are considered. The main international funds and organizations aimed at sustainable energy development in Africa are described. An analysis of the state and possible options for using renewable energy sources for this purpose in decentralized energy supply through the creation of mini-grids or stand-alone systems is given. The risks by developing renewable energy sources in rural areas and modern mechanisms for financing in solar energy are presented.
Alexander Ryota Keeley, Shunsuke Managi, 2 World Bank Disaster Risk Management Hub, Tokyo, Japan
Still a lot of Indonesia's population lacks access to electricity, and a large number of those people live in remote areas or on islands. Traditionally, electrification of areas not yet connected to the main electricity grid and too remote for grid extension has mainly been achieved through installation of decentralized generation units with diesel generators. However, with decreased cost of renewable energy technologies, renewable hybrid mini-grid systems are becoming economically viable options in an ever-increasing number of places. This paper analyzes the economic viability of renewable hybrid mini-grid systems with solar Photo-Voltaic cells, batteries, and diesel generators in a typical un-electrified village in Indonesia employing local data. The analysis is conducted by utilizing HOMER simulation techniques to design the optimal renewable hybrid mini-grid systems and the economic viability assessment of the system is performed by comparing the levelized cost of energy of the system with that of the conventional diesel system under different financial scenarios. Further financial analyses, such as Internal Rate of Return and Net Present Value, are performed for the hybrid systems to investigate what kind of financial scenarios (debt/equity ratios) and public aid (international aid and government fund), would make the hybrid systems attractive to private investors. The analysis has clarified that even at the most conservative scenario with 100% equity finance, the levelized cost of energy of the renewable hybrid mini-grid system is lower than that of the diesel system. Further analysis has shown that grant finance that covers 35% of the total project cost could make the hybrid system a profitable investment project for private investors even in the most conservative scenario. The paper also demonstrates that the profitability of renewable hybrid mini-grid systems is highly affected by financial scenarios (debt/equity ratios) in comparison with that of diesel systems, concluding with policy recommendations.
The majority of rural Indian households remain dependent on traditional, inefficient and harmful household energy technologies. Rural households make their energy decisions with respect to the Water-Energy-Food security (WEF) Nexus jointly, however, previous research initiatives have analyzed household energy access problem in isolation. Taking this WEF nexus into account, this thesis investigates factors influencing household energy transition and identifies an optimal village energy system (VES) for the rural communities in Uttar Pradesh, India. The thesis also analyzes the distributional impacts of VES on different categories of rural households.<br /> Using detailed household survey data, Logit and Zoib (zero one inflated beta) regression techniques were applied to analyze household's activities and to identify factors influencing household energy transition. The results showed that regular non-agricultural income of household's male member increases the probability of household's modern cooking energy and modern lighting transition by 8.6% and 13.6%, respectively. It was found that household's higher agricultural dependence and resource endowments (more labor and cattle) lead to higher share of traditional bioenergy consumption in the total cooking energy mix. Proximity to markets and high household income were observed to positively influence household modern cooking and lighting transition. Local institutions such as local bio-energy markets and barter trade for labor- bioenergy were observed to have significant influence on household energy choice. Results also showed that government's policy instrument such as household connection to government LPG scheme is associated with 20.5% increased probability of household using modern cooking energy as its primary cooking fuel. Results also indicated that social factors such as higher female education and young age of household head are associated with household's increased modern cooking energy consumption in its total cooking energy mix.<br /> The thesis utilized linear optimization technique to formulate a village energy model in GAMS (General Algebraic Modeling Software). The model identified an optimal Village Energy System (VES) considering all possible energy sources and technologies (energy systems) as well as their linkages with food security. Results confirmed energy systems interdependencies for the rural communities. For instance, results showed that the levelized cost of electricity generation from biomass gasifier power system is 2.54 INR/ MJ as compared to 2.89 INR/ MJ from grid electricity-battery based power system. However, model selected the latter for fulfilling village's night time power needs while it assigned higher shadow price of 0.143 INR / MJ to the former. This happened because possible utilization of gasifier power system was expected to create scarcities of local bio-energy resources, resulting in costlier cooking energy system for the village. It was found that DES (Decentralized Energy System) provides demand side energy management opportunities with different energy prices at different timings of the day. Results also showed that high cost of finance deters possible adoption of renewable power technologies, such as solar power.<br /> Lastly, the thesis constructed an agricultural household model linked with VES to analyze VES's welfare consequences on rich and poor households. Here, household had the opportunity to purchase VES's energy services and sell its bio-energy feedstocks to VES. For the poor household, this interaction with VES led to its increased agricultural production with around 22% increase in its farm area cultivation in summers, as well as led to reduction in its off-farm labor by around 11% which is then utilized in its own agriculture. Overall, this interaction resulted in around 4% increase in poor household's annual income. On the down side, this interaction led to poor household shifting towards dirtier cooking energy technologies, resulting in increased external costs and CO2 emissions by around 27% and 45%, respectively. On the other hand, VES did not impact rich household's food production and only marginally increased its economic gain. However, it led to rich household shifting towards cleaner cooking energy thereby resulting in reduction of its external costs almost by half.
<p>The study assesses the effect of energy use on social, economic and environmental sustainability in Africa. The energy sources considered in the study comprises four prominent sources in Africa, including: fossil fuel, solid fuel, electricity and natural gas consumption. The finding suggests that fossil fuel consumption and solid fuel constitute about 75 percent of energy use in the region and contributively worsen social and environmental conditions. The predominant consumption of these dirty energies has severely hampered child and adult survival and efficient delivery of services. Also, the time wasted in fetching biomass has constituted an impediment to learning capacities in children and women’s mobility. In the same manner, frequent exposure to fumes from the dirty energy sources had resulted in severe indoor air pollution and rising incidence of pneumonia, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases in women and children. On the other hand, the empirical and conceptual analysis shows that access to clean and reliable energy sources (such as electricity) reduce time poverty, enhance gender empowerment and reduce environmental degradation. The study recommends structural policy reforms and transformation towards decentralizing energy provisions and adopting off-grid power solution to rural areas. Furthermore, African governments need to develop a sustainable energy financing mechanism through an affordable pricing template; this can be achieved by increasing local contents in energy provision and increasing the share of abundant domestic resource in energy mix.</p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: Energy Access, Structural transformation, Sustainable Development, Africa</p><p><strong>JEL Classifications:</strong> Q43, K32, Q01</p><p>DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.7213">https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.7213</a></p>
Using a variety of solar power plants is one of the solutions governments use to respond to energy and sustainable development needs. While Iran has a strong potential for using solar energy, the application of solar energy, especially through PV technology, has been limited due to the country’s richness of fossil fuels and their low prices. Therefore, it is important to adopt effective strategies and policies to promote the development and application of this technology. The purpose of this study is to identify factors affecting the use of photovoltaic technology in Iran. To this end, 142 factors were first identified through a comprehensive review of the literature. Then, all of these factors were prioritized and categorized by “semi-structured interview” with 15 energy policy experts. The “content analysis” of the experts’ opinions showed that only 59 of these factors were considered important at the sectorial level for Iran. Based on the same content analysis, a conceptual framework for the application of decentralized photovoltaic power plants in Iran was developed. The framework shows that 10 generic categories of factors should be considered by policy-makers at the solar energy sector to promote PV technology application in Iran. They include policy factors, institutional factors, finance and budgeting factors, system economy factors, macroeconomic factors, socio-cultural factors, human resource factors, factors influencing capabilities of industries, technological and related infrastructural factors, geographical, climatic and environmental factors, and foreign political factors. It is also emphasized that all these categories should be considered at three levels: industry (electricity industry) level, national level, and international level. Thus, renewable energy policy-makers in Iran should take into account all means that influence these factors in order to improve the conditions for decentralized photovoltaic technology application.
Eventhough Ethiopia is investing a lot in electricity generation and infrastructure, the electricity access rate in the country is one of the lowest in Africa mainly due to inadequate expansion of electricity connection in rural areas. The purpose of this study was to assess the key challenges and the prospect of electricity access in the country and to recommend the way forward to address the electricity access gap. This study mainly used secondary data collected from extensively reviewed documents and also interviews with purposely selected experts and officials to substantiate the findings. According to the findings of this research, the electricity access programs of the country were not effective to meet the electricity access gap. The institutional instability of the sector, less attention to decentralized or off-grid electricity access programs ,lack of financing and private sector engagement have been some of the challenges hindering the enhancement of electricity access in the country. Therefore, establishing a long term and stable institutional structure in the electricity sector, strengthening and expanding decentralized (off-grid) electrification programs, setting a cost reflective electricity tariff (both for local and export) for the sector's sustainability and enhancing the private sector engagement are some of the recommendations of this study to reach the universal electricity access targets of the country
Access to energy has increasingly been provided by the Chinese Government via new alternative energy sources known as renewables in recent years. Meanwhile, the development and use of environmentally friendly renewables gradually become the basic requirements for the sustainable development in the future society. The integration of blockchain technology with distributed photovoltaic (PV) energy may break the existing pattern where the production, transportation, distribution, and sales of energy are centralized. This paper first reviews the current overall situation of China's distributed PV and further analyzes the policy environment with respect to the development of distributed PV. On the basis of the analysis of the status quo, the paper then discusses the internalities (strengths and weaknesses) and the externalities (opportunities and threats) that have driven the development of China's distributed PV by illustrating the SWOT analysis. The data structure and characteristics of blockchain are analyzed to identify the application mode of blockchain technology in the distributed PV industry for the first time. Through our research, some conclusions and policy proposals are finally put forward to provide support to the formulation of related policy in the Chinese Government and industry association.
This dissertation develops a set of analytical tools and conceptual frameworks to explore the socio-technical implications of transitioning to a low carbon energy future. The chapters here investigate the energy challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa and analyze power expansion pathways in Nigeria and Kenya, outline the development of a novel electricity modeling tool, and conceptualize an energy sovereignty framework to enable people-centered energy planning approaches. Chapter 2 presents an overview of Africaâs energy systems and the role renewable energy can play in supporting sustainable development in Africa, with a main focus on the challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. I synthesize the most prominent papers in the past five years. I review the literature concerning the scale of generation expansion needed to achieve universal access in the region, the challenges of power sector finance, and the need for people-centered planning paradigms. Through an extensive literature review, I assess the capacity expansion needs of the region and highlight the policy lessons that enable private power sector investment such as transparent regulatory and procurement policies. I also present a critique of the socio-political implications of increased foreign investment in the regionâs power sector. Finally, I present several studies that explore the need for people-centered planning approaches in order to achieve more equitable energy systems for all. I argue that renewable energy presents opportunities to achieve power systems expansion in an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable manner. To do this, Sub-Saharan Africa must adapt its planning strategies to holistically address the technical, economic and socio-political challenges it faces. Chapter 3 takes a deep-dive from an overview of Sub-Saharan Africa to a focus on Nigeria. I develop a first-order capacity expansion model to analyze power expansion scenarios in Nigeria. Nigeria serves as a case of countries with significant electricity demand growth that is constrained by under-developed grid infrastructure. I illustrate how the dependence on natural gas for generation has stifled the nationâs power supply, assess the role of renewable energy in meeting the nationâs electricity demand growth, and compare the cost of its current power generation expansion pathways to cost-optimized pathways. Using the capacity expansion model, I find that Nigeriaâs current energy policy, known as Vision 30:30:30, perpetuates this heavy reliance on natural gas and significantly underestimates the role of solar energy in the future electricity mix. I also identify and assess lower cost alternative pathways which do not require any coal and nuclear generation expansion unlike the Vision 30:30:30 pathway. The results show that Nigeria will have to install at least an additional 38 GW by 2030 to keep up with grid-based demand growth alone - about eight times the current operational capacity. This chapter reveals Nigeriaâs need for an energy policy reform that reduces its dependency on natural gas, eschews coal and nuclear expansion, and harnesses its abundant solar potential using centralized and distributed renewable energy technologies.Chapter 4 outlines my development of a novel open-access electricity modeling tool known as PROGRESS (Programmable Resource Optimization for Growth in Renewable Energy and Sustainable Systems). PROGRESS enables generation expansion modeling for countries with low availability and access to power systems data. The design of sustainable electricity systems needed to fuel development in regions with low electrification rates (such as Sub-Saharan Africa) requires context-specific power system modeling. Modeling data requirements for these regions, however, can be challenging for researchers and other stakeholders to access. This chapter presents a proof-of-concept description to show how PROGRESS works and then presents preliminary results for generation capacity expansion using the case of Kenya.Chapter 5 presents what is, for me, the most critical aspect of this dissertation. I explore how transitioning to low carbon energy systems and achieving universal electricity access will require not only an extensive redesign of the existing energy infrastructure but also a rethinking of energy planning approaches. I argue that innovation in decentralized and distributed energy technology transforms people from mere consumers to prosumers by empowering them to plan for their energy autonomously. I aim to connect the rise of prosumers with long-standing social movements that call for just, fair and sustainable energy systems. I draw from a rich literature of socio-energy concepts that aim to incorporate social and human dimensions into energy planning. I focus on energy justice, energy democracy, and I introduce energy sovereignty. I synthesize how these concepts together emphasize critical considerations for energy planning: âenergy for whom, for what, and at whose costs?â I also introduce an additional consideration: âenergy by whom?â and I conceptualize its framework in relation to electricity provision. I propose that âenergy by whom?â is an essential question for re-envisioning a new energy paradigm and designing a low-carbon energy future.Overall, this dissertation contributes analytical and conceptual tools for low carbon energy systems, which together provide novel socio-technical approaches for planning towards a low carbon energy future, and urge on the paradigm shift to just and sustainable energy for all.
Decentralized renewable energy (DRE) projects have the potential to contribute to climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, and sustainable development objectives. DRE systems are considered for emissions reduction or poverty alleviation purposes while their role for climate change adaptation has hardly been analysed. In terms of adaptation, DRE provides electricity that can be used both to prepare for and recover from disasters, and to provide additional income and livelihood opportunities, thus reducing dependency on natural resources. For example, DRE can power early warning systems, telecommunication systems, health clinics and potable water systems. Although it might be said that climate change adaptation applications of DRE systems have already been implemented, the vulnerability of these systems towards climate impacts, and the robustness of these systems to climatic impacts are oftentimes not even considered. The assessment of 15 community-owned renewable energy projects in Guatemala and Nicaragua show that, under certain conditions, renewable energy projects can simultaneously meet the triple objective of sustainable development and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Research also points to specific drivers which can facilitate or hinder projects meeting their own stated objectives and, consequently, the triple objective, and their long-term functioning. These drivers include the specific background of the beneficiary community, the financing and implementing entities and the local governance structures in place.
Vietnam is among the most climate change vulnerable and disaster-prone nations, and water is the first sector to be affected by climate change.Being one of the developing countries launching climate policies, the country has recently announced to strive for a low-carbon economy.Nevertheless, there is a mismatch in the development strategy for the power sector and the climate-related policies which might lead to the ambiguous in the further implementation of climate change mitigation strategies.To achieve sustainable development and green growth, the government goal is to increase renewable energy share to 9.4 % and wastewater treatment to 80 % in the year 2030.However, there are no specific guidelines to accomplish the multiple targets.The research goal is to propose the integrated mechanism of renewable energy supply (run-off-river hydropower) and decentralized wastewater treatment system.The proposed mechanism is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emission from power generation and alleviate environment pollution from domestic wastewater.The objective of this study has been three-fold.First, to estimate the potential of small hydropower (in the form of run-off-river hydropower) and its contribution to greenhouse gas emission reductions in the representative river basin of Vietnam.Second, to estimate the potential for greenhouse gas emission reductions by providing adequate domestic wastewater treatment facilities.Third, to demonstrate the co-benefits of the integrated mechanism through scenario analysis, considering social, financial feasibility and carbon crediting scheme.The result of our study highlighted that run-off-river hydropower potential has potential to fulfill the electricity demand for the rural villages in the Vu Gia-Thu Bon River basin, especially remote communities without access to the grid with the total capacity 277 MW with a capacity factor of 40.2 %.Also, off grid hydropower can serve as alternative electricity source to ensure the reliability of the grid by reducing grid load, prevent from blackout and brownout.Besides, renewable electricity generation from ROR hydropower scheme will provide power for decentralized wastewater treatment facilities within the watersheds.This study proposes scenario four is the most applicable for the region with the GHG reduction amount of 0.45 mil.tCO2eq.In this scenario, the Japanese Johkasou system could serve 30 % of the total rural household especially in the mountainous areas in the up and middle stream of the Vu Gia-Thu Bon River basin, where the population density is relatively lower than the downstream.In populated areas downstream, centralized or semi-centralized wastewater treatment system is favored and more efficient.Full implementation of ROR hydropower generation and wastewater treatment system would reduce the total amount of 0.38 million tCO2eq per year (on-grid) and 0.60 million tCO2eq per year (off-grid).Regarding financial aspect of investment in wastewater treatment facilities, the main budget comes from external assistant Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the form of grants, technical assistance and loans; and the priority is to invest in urban wastewater treatment.Therefore, the obstacle for installation of Johkasou and wastewater treatment system in the rural and less developed area remains as one of the biggest challenges.Nevertheless, this treatment scheme, besides environmental conservation, a substantial amount of GHG emissions can be reduced.With existing Carbon trading schemes, this system has potential to attract carbon finance from Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) or Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) projects.Emissions reduction from wastewater treatment can be credited to existing carbon-trading scheme, to minimize the initial cost of system construction including installation of Johkasou.On the other hand, GHG emissions can also be reduced utilizing renewable energy for wastewater treatment eliminates grid emissions.The high uncertainty of emission calculation can be minimized by the accessibility of local data or existing empirical data.The research finding indicates government's GHG emissions reduction target in the waste sector can be set up to 16 %.Moreover, a method to develop emission inventory for wastewater treatment in rural areas of developing countries from the watershed approach is proposed.Also, this study raises the potential of utilizing existing carbon emission trading schemes for an initial investment of the wastewater treatment facilities through carbon credit.Also, the small hydropower system has a lower cost compared with conventional diesel generator based system, and even lower than the retail electricity tariff from the government.The economic advantage can interest private entities to invest in rural electrification even without government subsidies.Therefore, creates advantages for implementing on/off-grid hydropower than other renewable energy such as the wind or solar PV.The negative abatement cost for small hydropower over conventional diesel generator which is -195.51USD/tCO2 (off grid) or -48.18USD/ tCO2 indicates that cost for CO2 mitigation can be saved.Although this result is vary depending on the fuel price projection as well as plant capacity and discounted value of electricity sold, the similar negative value is observed from Blum et al., (2013).Finally, the demonstration of co-benefits was performed by scenario-based analysis.The result shows that under domestic conditions the project return period is 18.39 years, and IRR is 8.5 %.The IRR for base case is smaller than the benchmark IRR, which is 10% indicate that this project would likely not happen.If the project is implemented under the integrated mechanism, the project payback periods are from 7.31 years to 18.17 years and IRRs are from 10.04% to 26.57%.Our study also emphasizes the potential of ROR hydropower development for rural electrification in the context of Vu Gia-Thu Bon River basin.This study employed the holistic approach to providing private entities as well as foreign investors with a comprehensive assessment of demand, supply, and economic values.The results from this study may assist the private sector to make the decision for investment in rural electrification projects.The study provides quantitative evidences for the government of Vietnam, policy makers as well as developers.There is a potential to establish and implement an integrated mechanism for sustainable energy supply and rural development by utilizing existing emission trading schemes such as CDM co-benefits or JCM v
Elmar Steurer, David Manatsgruber, Esther Prudence Jouégo
Projects in the energy sector in Africa suffer from a number of barriers. Especially the combination of political instability and an unclear regulatory framework hampers the private sector to realize the investment possibilities in the field of decentralized rural electrification. For debt based projects these barriers result in prohibitively high interest rates – roughly 15% while the return on investment does not exceed the low 10% area. This situation leads to strong reluctance from private investors to provide equity. A possibility to encourage private investors to step in could be a separation of the different risks, especially separating the typical high sovereign risk of a country from the commercial risk of the energy project. As a result, the separated risks can be clearly allocated to different investor groups looking for investment opportunities going along with distinct risks. A structured approach is proposed through which private international investors are exposed only to the general political risk while international development banks cover mainly the regulatory risk. Finally, the newly invented financial instrument convertible grant by the electriFI initiative of the EU provides an equity substitute to take over the commercial risk. With this additional financial support, decentralized electrification projects in Africa have the possibility to be implemented and the potential to be scaled up.
As 1.3 billion people lack access to electricity globally, the challenge of ensuring universal electricity access in accordance with the Sustainable Energy for All initiative remains herculean. This chapter maps policy linkages, identifies the gaps in policies and recommends options for developing the enabling environment. The chapter suggests that the policy environment governing electricity access at present is weak and that improvements are required to deliver a sustainable outcome. Although grid extension remains the preferred mode of electrification in many countries, it is not the least-cost option in remote areas where decentralized off-grid solutions may be required. Successful promotion of off-grid solutions would require a clear regulatory environment, a non-discriminatory support mechanism for various stages of a project, financing options, policy co-ordination and linkage with other economic activities for rural development. The chapter concludes that capacity remains weak and non-transparent policy lobbying can distort the development of an enabling environment.
Although researchers have acknowledged the issue of commercial viability previously, it is only recently that they have laid emphasis on addressing the relative importance of commercial viability to catalyze the dissemination of decentralized sustainable energy systems to rural consumers in developing countries. A business enterprise is said to be commercially viable if its revenues are > costs. Here in this thesis these business enterprises or promoters of efforts are called as renewable energy companies (REC’s). Moreover researchers have failed to acknowledge or address the role of revenues even after acknowledging the merits of a market driven approach as opposed to donor driven approach. Given such a high relevance of revenues in a market approach to operate successfully and a lack of focus on the same by researchers, in this thesis we will analyze the practical issue of commercial viability of Indian REC’s through the lens of revenue model, while also addressing the literature gap on revenue drivers or revenue model components by exploring various relevant revenue drivers of commercially viable REC’s. This study takes an exploratory case study approach to enlist all the relevant revenue driver or revenue model components that are relevant for REC’s to attain commercial viability. This thesis primarily consists of three subsequent phases: first phase: theoretical gap identification. Second phase: identification of types and components of a revenue model and third phase: building a revenue driver – commercial viability framework. The aim of the first phase was to narrow in on the literate gap and also present relevant background literature. The first phase yielded the literature gap on revenue model components in addressing the practical issue of commercial viability. The aim of the second phase was to identify revenue model types and components. The result of which was that two types of revenue models namely: ownership and service revenue models was discovered. Most importantly six potential revenue drivers were also discovered. They are: consumer trust, pricing strategy, willingness to pay, flexibility of payments, number of users and revenue sharing. These six revenue drivers were derived on the premise that they would increase revenues such that REC’s attain commercial viability. This made up our initial conceptual model. Next, the aim of the third phase was to build a framework on revenue drivers or revenue model components – commercial viability of Indian REC’s. In order to do so firstly we analyzed cases where the initial conceptual model is leveraged into a more relevant context of Indian REC’s. The case studies were based on SIMPA Networks, Onergy, Rural Spark and MeraGao Power (MGP). All of these cases primarily are Indian companies exclusively catering to the Indian rural market otherwise also known as REC’s or Indian REC’s. The results of this section yielded us a relevant set of 12 revenue drivers i.e. six more in comparison to the initial set of 6 revenue drivers. They are consumer trust, supplier trust, pricing strategies, willingness to pay, flexibility of payments, number of users, revenue sharing, consumer financing, size of payments, service customization, after sales service/maintenance and discounts. Secondly, a cross case analysis was performed wherein findings from each case are pitched against each other to find the similarities and differences. The result of this section was firstly that, any sort of generalizations based on the type of revenue models was hard to come by and most importantly the type of revenue model only signified its affect on the source of financing and could play no role in explaining how and why commercial viability was being achieved. Moreover it also led to an inference that service revenue model poses more risk than ownership revenue model but however commercial viability was achieved by adopting both types of revenue model, which was quite the contrary to the outcome of literature survey. Secondly, list of revenue drivers was further narrowed to 10 from the previous list of 12. Basically willingness to pay was eliminated because it was already being considered in pricing strategies and number of users was also removed because it affected the commercial viability of REC’s in terms of both costs and revenues whereas the others only impacted only revenues. The final set of relevant revenue drivers are: consumer trust, supplier trust, pricing strategies, flexibility of payments, size of payments, revenue sharing, consumer financing, service customization, after sales service/maintenance and discounts. Lastly, a set of three factors was identified that actually contributed to the increase in revenues such that revenues were > costs. Or in other words served as a link between revenue drivers and commercial viability. They are namely: rate of adoption, recoupment of costs (regular payments) and retention. It is these afore mentioned revenue drivers that impact the three factors, which subsequently drive or increase revenues such that commercial viability can be attained. The ownership revenue model primarily derives its revenues from only the adoption factor, which subsequently brings in revenues to attain commercial viability. That said the adoption of DSE’s by the rural consumers is contingent or dependent on revenue drivers like consumer financing and size of payments among others. The revenues of REC’s employing service revenue model primarily depended on all the three factors like rate of adoption, recoupment of costs and retention. More specifically the revenue drivers should be conducive to rural customers such that they firstly adopt the product and/or service and most importantly make regular payments, which translates to revenues while retaining the existing customers. Moreover the retention factor only applies to REC’s that adopt a service revenue model with only a service platform like MGP unlike other REC’s, which adopt a only a product platform like Onergy or both product and service platform like in the case of SIMPA and Rural spark. In the backdrop of afore mentioned scientific implications several managerial implications can also be derived. Among many the key take away for incumbent managers and future potential entrants will be to look at each of the revenue drivers and adopt them carefully such that commercial viability can be attained contingent on the his/her appetite for risk and most of all focus less on the type of revenue model because that is not going to help achieve commercial viability. Future research should be aimed at firstly developing a more elaborate revenue driver- commercial viability framework. After which each of the revenue driver’s true affects on each of the factors should be quantitatively determined. This further helps to gain greater generalizability. That said the key limitation of this thesis is that it focuses only on one country i.e. India among other developing countries.
Government policy is one of the most important factors in engaging the private sector in providing universal access to electricity. In particular, the private sector is well positioned to provide decentralized electricity products and services. While policy uncertainty and regulatory barriers can keep enterprises and investors from engaging in the market, targeted policies can create opportunities to leverage private investment and skills to expand electricity access. However, creating a sustainable market requires policies beyond traditional electricity regulation. The report reviews the range of policy issues that impact the development and expansion of a market for decentralized electricity services from establishing an enabling policy environment to catalyzing finance, building human capacity, and integrating energy access with development programs. The case studies in this report show that robust policy frameworks--addressing a wide range of market issues--can lead to rapid transformation in energy access. The report highlights examples of these policies in action Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Mali, Mexico, and Nepal.
This work explores the intersections of information technology and off-grid electricity deployment in the developing world with focus on a key instance: the emergence of pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar household-scale energy systems. It is grounded in detailed field study by my research team in Kenya between 2013-2014 that included primary data collection across the solar supply chain from global businesses through national and local distribution and to the end-users. We supplement the information with business process and national survey data to develop a detailed view of the markets, technology systems, and individuals who interact within those frameworks. The findings are presented in this dissertation as a series of four chapters with introductory, bridging, and synthesis material between them. The first chapter, Decentralized Energy Systems for Clean Electricity Access, presents a global view of the emerging off-grid power sector. Long-run trends in technology create âa unique moment in historyâ for closing the gap between global population and access to electricity, which has stubbornly held at 1-2 billion people without power since the initiation of the electric utility business model in the late 1800âs. We show the potential for widespread near-term adoption of off-grid solar, which could lead to ten times less inequality in access and also ten times lower household-level climate impacts. Decentralized power systems that replace fuel-based incumbent lighting can advance the causes of climate stabilization, economic and social freedom and human health.Chapters two and three are focused on market and institutional dynamics present circa 2014 in for off-grid solar with a focus on the Kenya market. Chapter 2, âOff-grid Power and Connectivityâ, presents our findings related to the widespread influence of information technology across the supply chain for solar and in PAYG approaches. Using digital financing and embedded payment verification technology, PAYG businesses can help overcome key barriers to adoption of off-grid energy systems. The framework provides financing (or energy service payment structures) for users of off-grid solar, and we show is also instrumental for building trust in off-grid solar technology, facilitating supply chain coordination, and creating mechanisms and incentives for after-sales service. Similar models are also being tested and launched for on-grid electricity (pre-pay energy meters) and agricultural water pumping among others. While there is a clear potential to extend the reach of critical infrastructure networks, there are also important concerns for achieving equitable and sustained access. Some are at the business network level, where telecommunications firms have a unique role as gatekeepers and enablers of mobile communication systems and (sometimes) also competing participants in the emerging PAYG market. Another is the importance of balancing privacy and the value of data-driven technology systems like PAYG. We talked with users who both recognized the value in their personal data and were concerned about widespread sharing beyond the boundary of the retail-facing firms that they interact with. Overall the work highlights how information and energy systems are co-evolving at the edge of the grid. Chapter 3, Quality Communication, delves into detail on the information channels (both incumbent and ICT-based) that link retailers with regional and global markets for solar goods. In it we uncover the linked structure of physical distribution networks and the pathway for information about product characteristics (including, critically, the quality of products). The work shows that a few key decisions about product purchasing at the wholesale level, in places like Nairobi (the capital city for Kenya) create the bulk of the choice set for retail buyers, and show how targeting those wholesale purchasers is critically important for ensuring good-quality products are available. Chapter 4, the last in this dissertation, is titled Off-grid solar energy services enabled and evaluated through information technology and presents an analytic framework for using remote monitoring data from PAYG systems to assess the joint technological and behavioral drivers for energy access through solar home systems. Using large-scale (n ~ 1,000) data from a large PAYG business in Kenya (M-KOPA), we show that people tend to co-optimize between the quantity and reliability of service, using 55% of the energy technically possible but with only 5% system down time. Half of the users move their solar panel frequently (in response to concerns about theft, for the most part) and these users experienced 20% lower energy service quantities. The findings illustrate the implications of key trends for off-grid power: evolving system component technology architectures, opportunities for improved support to markets, and the use of background data from business and technology systems. Overall the work reveals both opportunities and pitfalls in a combined information-energy system. With increased visibility and control of the system there are opportunities to better support the market, but there are often disincentives to share certain data for private sector actors that operate the decentralized power system and frictions at the interface of mismatched information systems. If barriers to interoperability and scale are addressed, basic human needs for energy can be met by solar at an accelerated pace through connections to emerging information technology and business networks that extend beyond the margins of the grid.