Sustainable model for financial viability of decentralized biomass gasifier based power projects

This paper made a modest attempt for designing a sustainable model for financial viability of biomass gasifier power projects for enhancing electricity access in India and other developing countries. For long term sustainability of distributed generation projects in remote rural areas, viability from both project implementing agency (PIA) and the end-users need to be ensured. The minimum required prices of electricity from both PIA and end-user perspective have been estimated. While for PIA the cost recovery is the key for viability, the affordability to pay the electricity cost is crucial for the end users. Analysis carried out in this paper on the basis of data obtained from operational projects implemented in India reveal that it is essential to operate the system at a higher capacity utilization factor. While this can be achieved though creating convergence with locally relevant economic activity, it is also observed that micro-enterprises cannot pay beyond a certain price of electricity to keep it sustainable. This paper sets forth a case for developing a regulatory mechanism to extend the tariff fixation for the projects and providing cross-subsidies to ensure long term sustainability of off-grid project.     

Rural electrification in Zambia: A policy and institutional analysis

Zambia is well endowed with hydropower and other energy resources, which could facilitate production of electricity for both urban and rural areas of the country. The country has an installed electricity generation capacity of 1786 MW and undeveloped hydropower potential of over 6000 MW. In the last few years, demand has been growing and it is anticipated to outstrip supply in 2008. The load growth is attributed to increased mining activities and development of the industrial base. The country is also endowed with abundant natural resources such as arable land, water, minerals and wildlife. With the available resource base, electricity along with other social and economic infrastructure such as roads and telecommunications could facilitate increased economic activities. In rural areas, electricity could be used for crop irrigation, agro-processing, small-scale mining and to facilitate tourism. However, rural electrification (RE) faces many challenges such as long distances from existing power stations to targeted rural areas, low population densities, high poverty levels and low skills availability. These and other factors have contributed to continued low levels of access to electricity in rural areas of the country.     

Rural photovoltaic electrification program in Jordan

The photovoltaic (PV) technology potential for Jordan is high, based on the fact that many remote and isolated sites are located far away from the national electric grid and cannot be connected to it in the near future. Therefore, a rural PV electrification program—driven by quality-of-life improvement for the users—was launched in Jordan in 2002. An important element of the program is the access of low-income, rural consumers to essential electricity.This paper discusses and analyses the first stage of this program that is the electrification of a remote and small Jordanian village. Nine PV solar home systems (SHS) were installed in this village in order to provide lighting and power for radio and television.Feed back from the users of the installed systems indicates that the PV based electricity has been providing very satisfactory service to the consumers, and that it is an appropriate technology suitable for dissemination in the rural Jordanian areas.     

Potential for electrification from biomass gasification in Vanuatu

At least 170,000 rural people in the Pacific-island nation Vanuatu (approximately 70% of the country’s population) live without reliable access to electricity. The few rural households that do consume electricity incur high prices for imported diesel fuel ($2-3/liter). Thus, there is an important role in Vanuatu for expanding cost-competitive, non-diesel alternatives for electricity generation.Informed by an interdisciplinary data synthesis and an extensive series of field interviews in Vanuatu, this paper analyzes the potential for converting reportedly obsolete timber plantation land into a dedicated feedstock supply system for new small-scale biomass gasifiers. The analysis draws upon geographic mapping of electricity demand and feedstock supply, a historical assessment of Vanuatu’s forest plantations, a techno-economic evaluation of investment in 10 kW and 30 kW gasifiers, and a discussion of important social-institutional factors.This analysis identifies up to 13 geographic matches between areas of rural electricity demand and potential feedstock supply. In addition, financial modeling suggests that the levelized cost of electricity from gasification is competitive (relative to diesel systems) given capacity factors of 15-40% or greater (corresponding to a cost of $1.60/kWh or less). Further research is recommended to examine the socioeconomic and ecological aspects of feedstock plantation establishment in Vanuatu.     

Rural electrification in an imperfect world: A case study from Mozambique

Electricity is universally recognized as a necessary, although not sufficient, requirement for social and economic development. However, increasing access to electricity in developing countries has proven to be difficult and expensive, particularly in rural areas. In this article, we analyze the dynamics of the relationship between electricity and socio-economic development by means of a cost–benefit analysis of a typical rural electrification project in Mozambique, assessing the impact of electricity on households, education, agro-business, commerce, and the public sector. We show that rural electrification can be commercially viable and cause structural transformation in rural areas within a short period of time. Finally, illustrated by the actual policy practice in Mozambique, we argue that low institutional quality is a key barrier to promote increased access to electricity for the poor.     

Development of thermoelectric generators for electrification of isolated rural homes

This work presents the experimental development of the first two prototypes of thermoelectric generators intended for initial electrification of rural isolated homes. The microcontroller system designed for these devices is oriented to develop a “plug and play” generator that is able to work on firewood home stoves without specialized supervision.     

Field analysis of solar PV-based collective systems for rural electrification

This article analyses the long-term performance of collective off-grid photovoltaic (PV) systems in rural areas. The use of collective PV systems for the electrification of small medium-size villages in developing countries has increased in the recent years. They are basically set up as stand-alone installations (diesel hybrid or pure PV) with no connection with other electrical grids. Their particular conditions (isolated) and usual installation places (far from commercial/industrial centers) require an autonomous and reliable technology. Different but related factors affect their performance and the energy supply; some of them are strictly technical but others depend on external issues like the solar energy resource and users’ energy and power consumption. The work presented is based on field operation of twelve collective PV installations supplying the electricity to off-grid villages located in the province of Jujuy, Argentina. Five of them have PV generators as unique power source while other seven include the support of diesel groups. Load demand evolution, energy productivity and fuel consumption are analyzed. Besides, energy generation strategies (PV/diesel) are also discussed.     

Evaluation of choices for sustainable rural electrification in developing countries: A multicriteria approach

Rural electrification (RE) can be modelled as a multifactorial task connected to a large number of variables: decision makers need to choose the appropriate options by considering not only the techno-economic competitiveness but also socio-cultural dynamics and environmental consequences, making the task intricate. Many rural electrification projects have failed due to lack of attention to the issues beyond financial and technical dimensions. This paper presents a standardized approach for decision making concerning the extension of electricity services to rural areas. This approach first determines whether the supply provision should be grid expansion or off-grid on the basis of levelized cost of delivered electricity. If the grid expansion is found nonviable over off-grid options then a multicriteria decision aiding tool, SMAA-2 (Stochastic Multicriteria Acceptability Analysis), will evaluate off-grid technologies by aggregating 24 criteria values. While applying this approach, the delivered costs of electricity by the grid in remote areas within the 1–25 km distances vary in a range of 0.10–7.85 US$/kW h depending on the line lengths and load conditions. In the off-grid evaluation, the solar PV (photovoltaic) and biogas plants are found as the most preferable alternatives with 59% and 41% acceptability in their first rank, respectively.     

The determinants of rural electrification: The case of Bihar,India

This paper explores intra-state disparity in access to electricity and examines the determinants of electrification at the village level in Bihar, one of the underdeveloped states in India. Our field survey of 80 villages in 5 districts conducted in 2008–09 found that 48 villages (60%) are electrified when using the definition of electrification that a village is electrified if any one household in the village is connected to electricity. In the processes of electrification, approximately 40% of villages have been electrified in recent years. The econometric analyses demonstrate that location is the most important determinant of a village's electricity connection. Another important finding is that with the rapid progress of rural electrification under the recent government program and the tendency to connect the villages that are easily accessible, the collective bargaining power of the village, which used to significantly affect the process of electrification, has lost influence. This adversely affects remote villages. In order to extend electricity supplies to remote and geographically disadvantaged villages, the government needs to consider other options for sustainable electricity supply, such as decentralized distribution of electricity rather than the conventional connection through the national/local grids.     

Potential application of renewable energy for rural electrification in Malaysia

Energy poverty and lack of electricity in rural areas exacerbate the poverty of the developing countries. In Malaysia, 3.8% of the population lives below the poverty line and most of them are settled in rural areas. The electricity coverage in poor states is about 79% in comparison with 99.62% in Peninsular Malaysia. The renewable energy sources can be considered the best alternative to reduce the energy poverty of the rural areas where the grid extension through a difficult terrain and thick jungle is not possible or economic. In this study, the potential for applying renewable sources – solar, wind and hydropower – for rural electrification is investigated, especially in the poorest States. A comparative study on rural electrification policies, in order to have community approval, appropriate siting and financial benefits for the rural community, while considering the three categories of social, institutional and economic issues, is also examined. Finally, the Malaysian policies of rural electrification by applying renewable sources are explained. It is found that in Malaysia, with a maximum solar radiation of about 6.027 kWh/m² per day in Sabah and 5.303 kWh/m² per day in Sarawak, the potential for applying solar energy for electrification is too high. However, the potential for micro-hydropower in Sabah and Sarawak is found to be 3182 kW and 6317 kW through 18 and 22 sites, respectively.     

Initiative for 100% rural electrification in developing countries: Case study of Senegal

Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest access to electricity in the World. In Senegal, less than 25% of the rural population benefit of electricity service. Solar energy offers an important potential to Senegal with over 3000 h of sunlight a year. This is a real opportunity to generalize the access to electricity. But, the efforts to bridge the gap must be diversified and completed. We approach the problem of rural electrification with a different point of view. Grid expansion and centralized solutions may be adequate for villages with a population organized in high-density of habitations. Small size villages or those with highly dispersed population may need different propositions because of cost. These regions will not be the priority of electrification programs. Furthermore, this rural population is characterized by its low income and saving. Such a conjuncture suggests the opportunity of a service based fees model for access to electricity. On the basis of a fees-for-service model, individual standalone photovoltaic systems may be a more appropriate solution to cover the priority needs of lighting and mobile phones battery charge for telecommunication. We present a pilot project in a village of Senegal to support the model and demonstrate its feasibility.     

Alternatives to grid extension for rural electrification: Decentralized renewable energy technologies in Vietnam

This paper examines the economic viability of stand-alone, household-sized renewable energy technologies, namely wind generator and solar PV for application in remote and rural areas of Vietnam. Three reference technologies are chosen. These are two solar PV systems of 130 and 100 Wp for solar conditions in the North and the South, respectively, and one 150 W wind turbine. It is found for all regions that levelized costs of PV energy are lower than the cost of energy from gasoline gen-set, and are cost-competitive with grid extension, especially for areas with low load density and low number of households to be electrified. Regarding wind energy, the viability is dependent on the location due to the wide variation of wind resource to topography. However, in locations with proper resources, wind energy is even more cost-competitive than solar PV. Thus, the use of either wind generator or solar PV is economically feasible in rural villages and remote areas of Vietnam. Policy recommendations for promoting the market development of renewable energy technologies are discussed in the final section of the paper.     

Low-carbon off-grid electrification for rural areas in the United Kingdom: Lessons from the developing world

Low-carbon off-grid electrification for rural areas is becoming increasingly popular in the United Kingdom. However, many developing countries have been electrifying their rural areas in this way for decades. Case study fieldwork in Nepal and findings from United Kingdom based research will be used to examine how developed nations can learn from the experience of developing countries with regard to the institutional environment and delivery approach adopted in renewable energy off-grid rural electrification. A clearer institutional framework and more direct external assistance during project development are advised. External coordinators should also engage the community in a mobilization process a priori to help alleviate internal conflicts of interest that could later impede a project.     

Financing off-grid rural electrification: Country case Nepal

More than 61% of the total population of Nepal has no access to electricity. The majority is poor and live in rural areas. In recent years, rural electrification has had high priority in government policies, and micro hydro and solar PV have been the most commonly adopted off-grid technologies. The financial mix in the off-grid rural electrification is generally characterized by subsidy, equity and credit. In this paper, we analyze how rural electrification has been funded and the impact of subsidy policies on the renewable energy market, focusing on the projects implemented under the ‘subsidy policy 2000’. Our study is based on official data obtained from authorities in Nepal and a survey carried out among private supply and installation companies, NGOs and financial institutions. The study shows that awareness levels in adopting RE-technologies and willingness of people to access and pay for electricity have increased significantly. However, there is a huge financial gap between the cost of electrification and the affordability. Bridging this gap is a crucial issue that needs to be addressed for the smooth expansion of rural electrification in the country.     

Energy access problem of the poor in India: Is rural electrification a remedy?

India accounts for a third of the world's population without access to electricity and about 40% of those without access to modern energy. Such a situation exists despite several initiatives and policies to support poor households. Alarmed by the gravity of the situation, the government has recently announced an ambitious programme of rural electrification. This paper looks into the energy access situation of India and argues that rural electrification alone is unlikely to resolve the energy access problem because of low penetration of electricity in the energy mix of the poor.     

Biomass gasification for decentralized power generation: The Indian perspective

This article attempts to highlight the technical and economical issues related to decentralized power generation in India using biomass gasification. Biomass-based energy has several distinct advantages such as wide availability and uniform distribution that puts it ahead among the renewable energy options for India. The estimated potential of power generation through renewable sources in India is 85 GW with biomass power contributing approximately 20 GW. Especially, in the remote areas and hilly terrains of India, biomass gasification-based power generation offers a highly viable solution for meeting energy demands of small villages and hamlets, which would not only make them independent but will also reduce burden on state electricity boards. This paper reviews various technical options for biomass gasification-based low-, medium- and large-scale power generation. We essentially discuss the merits and demerits (operational and other problems) of different systems. Further, we also deal with economics of these systems and discuss principal factors influencing the viability of the biomass-based power generation. Finally, we review some case studies of biomass-based power generation for meeting energy needs, both thermal and electrical.     

A decision support system for technologies of rural electrification

An interactive computer program has been developed to determine and to evaluate the optimal design of electricity distribution systems in rural areas. The program considers the costs and benefits of grid electrification, isolated diesel generators and centralized photovoltaics. It provides support for decisions on choices of technology. The program optimizes within the context of long-term load and system expansion; it runs on a 384K CPU microcomputer.     

Operational performance of the Bangladesh rural electrification program and its determinants with a focus on political interference

This article tries to quantitatively capture the effect of political intervention on the operational performance of the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Program (REP). Firstly, efficiency changes over the last 15 years of rural electric cooperatives in the REP are examined using data envelopment analysis (DEA). Then, the critical determinants of the efficiency changes including political indicator are identified with an application of the Tobit model. Results from the DEA analysis show the overall efficiency score, on a scale of zero to one, changes in the 0.856–0.929 range in 15 years, with two turnaround points in 1996 and 2001. These are the years that the national elections were held. The results also find a gap between the efficient rural electric cooperatives and the inefficient rural electric cooperatives. The results of the Tobit model imply that political power has a negative impact on efficiency.     

Mini-grid based electrification in Bangladesh: Technical configuration and business analysis

This paper presents a local level study of a village off-grid system in Bangladesh. It applies an integrated methodology that identifies the demand in the off-grid village context using alternative scenarios. The techno-economic analysis of the optimal off-grid system architecture is then presented using HOMER software. Three energy resources are considered, namely solar energy, wind and diesel fuel. The optimal configuration suggested for the scenarios consists of diesel generators for the basic level of demand and PV-diesel hybrid for higher demand and reliable supply scenarios. The cost of electricity per kWh remains high for the basic level of supply and decreases as the system size increases. However, the capital and asset replacement costs increased considerably for bigger systems. The business case is then analysed for each scenario and it was found that it is practically impossible to reach grid price parity even with full capital cost subsidy, indicating significant amount of operating cost subsidy requirement that makes the larger systems financially unsustainable. Moreover, the small mini-grid system for the basic level of supply emerges as a cheaper option than providing the consumers with solar home systems. But the monthly electricity bill will become unaffordable for most consumers when demand restrictions are removed. Accordingly, the paper suggests a mini-grid based electricity supply to provide the basic level of provision alongside productive energy use during off-peak hours as the starting point. If the business develops and the demand improves, the system can be expanded subsequently using appropriate technology combinations.