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The future of Community Renewable Energy for electricity access in rural Central America
Abstract
When a Renewable Energy (RE) power system is owned, operated or maintained by a community organisation, some of the problems associated with other rural electrification implementation models e.g. private or utility, can potentially be solved; including: lack of utility investment, barriers relating to social integration of RE technologies, lack of local maintenance capabilities, and end-user education. However, a range of challenges for community-based energy initiatives in developing countries are identified in the literature, often compromising the long-term operation of RE technologies and the sustainability of the project as a whole. Hence, questions arise around the set of community capabilities required, appropriate project design, and enabling external environment for sustainable Community RE (CRE) projects. Relatively longstanding CRE rural electrification experiences in Central America can offer useful insights on the challenges, capability requirements, and future perspectives for further deployment and governance of CRE initiatives in the developing world. In this study, a comparative analysis from case studies across Panama, Nicaragua and Costa Rica was undertaken after field investigation conducted over eight months. A cross-disciplinary method combining qualitative social research and techno-economic analysis of RE power systems was then used for data integration and sustainability assessment of selected case studies.
... Vallecha and Vargas's research provides insights into the grassroot barriers and enablers of CE in India and Central America, providing insights into the capacity requirements for the governance of CE initiatives in these regions. However, the study does not provide an explanation of the business model mechanisms behind these initiatives [12,18]. ...
... Vallecha and Vargas's research provides insights into the grassroot barriers and en blers of CE in India and Central America, providing insights into the capacity requir ments for the governance of CE initiatives in these regions. However, the study does n provide an explanation of the business model mechanisms behind these initiatives [12,18 In all of the aforementioned research studies, the scholars have debated the barrie and enablers and the relationships between business models and policy support. Whi previous researchers derived their valuable findings from empirical analyses of existin EC projects, none of them investigated or focused on conceptualizing CE structures fro an institutional perspective; in addition, there is an absence of an in-depth debate abo the relationships between institutional arrangements (policies, process, and intermedia ies) and community energy business models. ...
... In the selection of the developing country cases, the criterion was the differentiation of projects in terms of the business model and the stakeholders initiating REC in their neighborhoods. One similarity among the selected regions in the developing countries was the lack of access to electricity, which has been acknowledged as a positive experience by a number of international institutions and researchers [18]. ...
... Vallecha and Vargas's research provides insights into the grassroot barriers and enablers of CE in India and Central America, providing insights into the capacity requirements for the governance of CE initiatives in these regions. However, the study does not provide an explanation of the business model mechanisms behind these initiatives [12,18]. ...
... Vallecha and Vargas's research provides insights into the grassroot barriers and en blers of CE in India and Central America, providing insights into the capacity requir ments for the governance of CE initiatives in these regions. However, the study does n provide an explanation of the business model mechanisms behind these initiatives [12,18 In all of the aforementioned research studies, the scholars have debated the barrie and enablers and the relationships between business models and policy support. Whi previous researchers derived their valuable findings from empirical analyses of existin EC projects, none of them investigated or focused on conceptualizing CE structures fro an institutional perspective; in addition, there is an absence of an in-depth debate abo the relationships between institutional arrangements (policies, process, and intermedia ies) and community energy business models. ...
... In the selection of the developing country cases, the criterion was the differentiation of projects in terms of the business model and the stakeholders initiating REC in their neighborhoods. One similarity among the selected regions in the developing countries was the lack of access to electricity, which has been acknowledged as a positive experience by a number of international institutions and researchers [18]. ...
Community energy development and the empowerment of customers as producers are the main contributors to decentralized market solutions in energy transition policy. Despite the growing literature on community energy projects from the perspectives of various business models, drivers, and barriers, few studies display the impact of institutional factors on the community energy business model configuration. Using insights from Ostrom’s institutional framework, this study develops a conceptual framework comprising policy instruments and the intermediaries that configure the various community energy business models, and it examines this framework in the developed world of northwestern European countries (Germany, Denmark, Belgium, and the UK) and in selected cases in developing countries (Rural Central America, South Africa, Iran, and Indonesia). The findings indicate that ambitious renewable energy consumption targets and national policies in northern EU countries have resulted in political and financial incentives, as well as greater financial security than other investment markets, which encourage citizens to contribute to the proliferation of community energy. On the other hand, in the studied developing countries, top-down energy policies and a centralized energy system are insufficient for participatory energy planning. Due to unsupportive policies, a lack of appropriate regulatory frameworks, and a lack of institutional support in these countries, the initiation of community energy projects requires the presence of intermediaries such as developers who work ‘in-between’ other actors, such as energy providers, users, or regulators.
... Anecdotal examples, however, seem to indicate that communities may play a wide range of different roles in their promotion of eco-innovation at the local level, and of RE in particular, even under similar regional conditions (e.g. Roberts et al., 2014;Holstenkamp and Kahla, 2016;Madriz-Vargas et al., 2018). ...
... Indeed, CPPs, namely, the local communities and private sector partnerships, have been identified in the literature as playing a significant role in the diffusion of RE based on synergetic collaborations between the parties. This cooperation enables local communities to play varied roles in this partnership scheme, as the two parties may share the necessary responsibilities for promoting these innovative energy sources in different ways (Ren21, 2016;Berka and Creamer, 2018;Madriz-Vargas et al., 2018;Eitan et al., 2019). ...
... These variables may shape the role of local communities in RE CPPs according to access to relevant resources or skills, which are not inherently physical. First, socioeconomic features, such as income levels, population size and other relevant socioeconomic parameters, may shape the local community's aspirations and choices concerning their RE CPP involvement (Roberts et al., 2014;Seyfang et al., 2014;Holstenkamp and Kahla, 2016;Sahovi c and da Silva, 2016;Madriz-Vargas et al., 2018). Wealthy communities, for example, have been shown to be often involved in the financing or knowledge contribution of RE projects and may therefore opt for CPPs that do not require significant private sector involvement (Roberts et al., 2014). ...
Local communities have been identified as crucial actors in the diffusion of renewable energy, considered one of the most important eco-innovations of our time. Anecdotal evidence has indicated that local communities tend to play different roles in promoting eco-innovation, particularly renewable energy. However, what this heterogeneity looks like has not yet been quantitatively examined. Our study addresses this gap by systematically exploring the involvement of communities in the promotion of eco-innovation at the local level. We focus on their participation in renewable energy partnerships with the private sector in rural areas in Israel's southern periphery. Our study indicates that local communities play diverse roles in promoting renewable energy through varying involvement in finance, ownership, knowledge contribution, employment, energy consumption, and, most common according to our findings, the leasing of natural resources. The study further tracks the factors that shape this diverse involvement, including the community’s land size, population size, socio-economic ranking, and experience. Finally, the study unpacks the levels of risks and gains that local communities face when promoting renewable energy through their partnerships with the private sector. By confronting theory with quantitative research, this study sheds light on the diverse roles local communities play in the diffusion of eco-innovation, a prerequisite for renewable energy.
... The study also examines the structure and relative importance of the factors that affect the overtime variation in poverty and rural consumption level across West Java districts. This is done using annual time series and cross-section (government) data analysis techniques across 26 central districts of West Java covering the period from 1995 to 2019, covering more than 90 percent of West Java's agricultural economy [18][19][20][21][22]. ...
... The overall growth and technical change in the agricultural sector have massive implications on expanding the region's economic base and poverty alleviation process. Past empirical studies have shown that ultimately the growth in productivity of all factors (TFP) in agriculture is the backbone for alleviating rural poverty in developing countries [19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. While summarizing the previous literature on agriculture growth and poverty reduction, [20] points out that agricultural development has a profound impact on poverty reduction in developing regions, including reducing the inequity over time. ...
... Irrigation has even a more massive marginal impact on reducing poverty than the impact of rural literacy. Simultaneously, the rural education factor was earlier found to be strongest in influencing the agricultural productivity across the districts [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. Likewise, the increased HYV adoption and fertilizer use have also played a favorable role in reducing poverty in West Java. ...
Irrigation in developing countries tends to be stereotyped as equity reducing, in competition with other uses for scarce water resources, often negatively impacting disadvantaged groups. This study aims to clarify the linkages between irrigation and poverty by offering an objective review of recent research on the subject. The key questions addressed herein are: (1) what is the role of irrigation development and management in poverty alleviation? (2) what are the linkages and pathways through which irrigation contributes to poverty alleviation? (3) what is the magnitude of anti-poverty impacts of irrigation? And (4) what are the critical determinants of anti-poverty impacts of irrigation? Our review focuses on topical empirical research studies in West Java Province, Indonesia. Agricultural intensification through the practice of irrigation as a strategy for poverty reduction is examined. There are four interrelated mechanisms through which irrigated agriculture can reduce poverty. These are improvements in the levels and security of productivity, employment, and incomes for irrigating farm households and farm labor; the linkage and multiplier effects of agricultural intensification for the broader economy; provision of opportunities for diversification of rural livelihoods; and multiple uses of irrigation supply. There are also significant risks that poorly designed and managed irrigation can negatively impact on poverty. It is concluded that two factors of production (irrigation and literacy rate) have a larger role in the overall rural development and poverty alleviation process in a region, as also clearly illustrated in this study's regression results.
... This might be due to a limited number of available ECs in these settings due to key barriers, such as lack of governmental support, financial resources and trained intermediaries but also because participation in formalized public initiatives is uncommon in some cultural contexts [10,11]. Still, a related body of literature focuses on community-based approaches to energy in the Global South, including community renewable energy projects in Central America [12], renewable energy niches in Argentina [13], community mobilization and projects in Thailand and the Philippines [14], solar community energy projects in India [15], and, notably, an overview of the state of energy communities in Sub-Sahara Africa [16], to name a few. ...
... To learn about the knowledge of renewable energy options, we asked: "Are you familiar with any forms of renewable energy and if so, which ones?" [11] and if the person knew about renewable energy sources, if there should be more renewable energy in Mayotte [12]. ...
For an equitable transition towards a decentralized and clean energy future, the involvement and active participation of citizens is needed, exemplified by new organizational forms such as Energy Communities (ECs). While determinants of citizen engagement in renewable energy projects have received some attention in the literature, research mostly focuses on continental Europe, with limited understanding of the perceptions and motivations of citizens living in the Global South or in contexts of poverty and marginalization. Using novel survey data (n = 392) and insights from 16 key informant interviews from the French overseas territory Mayotte, we investigate citizens' perception of renewable energies and ECs and their willingness to participate in such initiatives, confirming high support of the local population for a community-based energy transition. Through exploratory factor analysis and subsequent multivariate regressions, we identify the factors Environmental Awareness, Access to Services and Social Inclusion as important determinants of citizen engagement, with Environmental Awareness exhibiting particularly strong and robust effects on both general support and the willingness to actively participate in an EC. Establishing the housing situation of respondents as a proxy for socioeconomic status (SES), we find positive effects of SES on EC support, which is mediated by the identified factors and thereby represents a fourth, underlying determinant of support. Our research underscores the vital importance of considering the multifaceted, diverse perceptions and motivations of the local population to achieve the vision of an equitable transition. Inclusion of needs and priorities of various socioeconomic groups, particularly the most vulnerable community members, is essential.
... Research into the impact of different management models in the sustainability of rural electrification systems has recently been attracting increasing attention, as shown by the following reviewed studies published between 2018 and 2020. Madriz-Vargas et al. [38] analyse the strengths and weaknesses of a model run by the community, by means of numerous case studies in Central America. Despite concluding that a hybrid model (with public and private collaboration) can be more economically robust, they recognize that there is still a need for more studies to unravel the consequences of community organization. ...
... This is due to higher community engagement, which affects the degree of social and organisational sustainability that can be achieved. Companies running the systems with private models need to make significant efforts to establish strong relationships with the users; they usually fail to involve them in maintenance tasks, confirming the conclusions highlighted in [38,40]. On the contrary, engagement emerges more naturally in cooperative and microenterprise management models and local capabilities are proven to be higher. ...
Isolated small-scale renewable energy projects are a suitable option for providing access to electricity in rural areas. In such projects, establishing a suitable management model is a key issue for ensuring sustainability. The management models can be classified according to the ruling institution: government, municipality, private institution, microenterprise or cooperative. They may also differ with regard to sensitive features, such as the systems' ownership, level of users' participation, responsibility for the systems’ operation and maintenance, the users’ involvement in system installation processes and the administration of tariff payments. The existing literature lacks a comparative study highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each kind of management model and their contribution to achieving technical, economic, social, organisational and environmental sustainability. To fill this gap, this study analyses and compares the impact of different management models through a number of case studies in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia after 4 years of on-site work. Finally, general recommendations are given as results to strengthen all sustainability dimensions: among them, running comprehensive training programs to enhance local maintenance capabilities; reaching agreement with final electricity users to set a fair and affordable tariff rate and encouraging the involvement and self-organisation of the population to increase the sense of ownership. Such aspects are fulfilled more completely by management models based on microenterprises and cooperatives, due to their decisively higher community engagement, and should be stimulated by policy makers in the region.
... For instance, [29] undertook a comparative analysis from case studies in Central America across Panama, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, that offered useful insights on the challenges, capability requirements, and future perspectives for further deployment and governance of community renewable energy initiatives in the developing countries. [30] presented an evolvement of the current national energy policy in Thailand. ...
... 29 Pareto-optimal fronts for the multi-objective optimization of the CO2 equivalent emission and operational cost ...
In electrical systems, the unit commitment (UC) and power scheduling plans the operating of generating units over a short-term planning horizon in order to satisfy the load demand under system operating constraints. Nowadays, energy communities have emerged with individual community energy requirements and increasing capacity deployment of distributed energy resources. The high penetration of renewable energy sources (RES) increases power system uncertainty while the load demand is growing. Hence, traditional deterministic approaches for UC should evolve to stochastic optimization. The main goal of this thesis is to propose probability-based and stochastic optimization methodology for optimal generation and operating reserve (OR) scheduling decisions in an urban microgrid with the wish to address the minimization of operating costs and emissions. Power supply and reserve provision must take into account the uncertainty due to RES and the load demand forecasting errors, while considering the trade-off between security and economic operation. Finally, a user-friendly Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) system is developed with the Matlab GUI to integrate and visualize the energy management operation.
... Berka and Creamer 2018; van der Waal 2020), the factors influencing their outcomes (e.g. Guerreiro and Botetzagias 2018;Madriz-Vargas et al. 2018) and their transformative capacity. Transformative capacity is examined through the viewpoints of energy democracy, degrowth, and social justice (e.g. ...
... Community renewable energy projects facilitate local participation in forming energy futures, enhancing procedural justice, and can also empower local communities (e.g. MacArthur and Matthewman 2018) and women (Madriz-Vargas et al. 2018). They offer a pathway for greater local autonomy and selfdetermination compared especially to utility-scale renewable energy provision. ...
Privately-owned, state-owned and public-private renewable energy (RE) projects are increasingly criticized by social scientists. They can involve dispossessions, management and financial inequalities, and environmental problems. Research also indicates that Community Renewable Energy (CRE) projects are not without problems and dangers. In this article, I go beyond critique of renewable energy projects, without abandoning them, in the face of mounting climate and ecological crises. I employ a productive approach to rethink RE development, that combines the diverse and community economies perspective developed by J.K. Gibson-Graham with political ecology research on alternative economies. Building on this approach and RE and CRE literature, I develop the notion of Community Renewable Energy Ecologies (CREE). CREE signify community economies involved in small-scale RE prosumption (production and consumption), or medium-scale RE prosumption and sale of energy. They adopt non-and alternative capitalist relations of ownership, production,exchange and circulation. CREE are engaged in collective ethico-political decision-making, and an oikopolitics embodying care for and affective relations with humans and more-than-humans. Such decision-making and oikopolitics are directed towards more 'thriving' and egalitarian socio-ecological futures. I identify particular ethico-political orientations for CREE and provide specific considerations for their constitutive elements (e.g. ownership,finance, labor, infrastructure). CREE reflect one of multiple possibilities for alternative sustainabilities in a pluriversal world.
... El impacto va más allá de lo económico: en comunidades rurales, las energías renovables no solo están llevando electricidad, sino también un mejor futuro (Madriz-Vargas et al., 2017). En todo el mundo, países que antes dependían de combustibles fósiles importados están redescubriendo su soberanía energética y avanzando hacia un crecimiento más sostenible. ...
... • Studies focusing on development-related energy challenges in the region including energy access [24,25], low-carbon mobility, and energy justice [26] as well as energy poverty and clean cooking fuels [27], • Studies exploring the adoption of individual, emerging technologies in the context of the Central American region such as Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) plants [28], storage systems for demand response improvement [29], generation of both heat and electricity from biomass residue (also known as cogeneration) [30], and electricity generation from geothermal sources [31]. • Studies designing, planning, and assessing pathways to or scenarios for the energy transition in CA. ...
Transitioning to renewables in Central America is crucial for mitigating climate change and promoting energy citizenship. Research on highly renewable energy systems in the region is still lacking. To fill this gap, this study assesses pathways to defossilise the Central American energy system through 100% renewable energy in the seven countries of the region. Three main scenarios, Best, Delayed, and Current Policy, are formulated based on renewable energy technology penetration in power, heating, and transport sectors, as well as electricity exchange and market maturity. A novel approach incorporates country-specific weighted average cost of capital to model these assumptions. The energy transition is projected in 5-year increments until 2050 using the LUT Energy System Transition Model. Key findings indicate that the ambitious Best Policies Scenario foresees eliminating fossil fuel-generated electricity by 2050, relying solely on renewables, and defossilising hard-to-abate sectors via Power-to-X solutions and sector coupling. This transformation aims for zero CO2 emissions by 2050, requiring investments of 125–140 b€. Despite substantial investments, system cost reductions could profoundly impact Central American economies and societies, yielding socio-economic and environmental benefits. Achieving this transition necessitates supportive regulation, an attractive power market, and active engagement from energy citizens. The study highlights the feasibility and benefits of defossilising the Central American energy system using 100% renewable energy. It provides valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders to develop effective strategies to accelerate the energy transition and achieve climate goals. The results could also be relevant to other regions with similar energy systems and challenges.
... There have been limited published studies in the literature on the use of energy by communities and how mini-grids contribute to local economies [9]. Therefore, it is appropriate to gather information about mini-grid experiences and make it available to relevant stakeholders [32]. ...
Renewable energy mini-grids are considered a cost-effective way to provide electricity for a large proportion of the population in developing countries who do not have access to it. Compared with standalone home systems and national grid systems, mini-grids can potentially offer a better service. They can be deployed faster, making them essential for sustainable development, especially in rural and semi-urban areas of developing countries. However, mini-grids often face challenges regarding their resilience, and many fail to survive beyond their pilot phases. This paper aims to identify the factors contributing to the success of mini-grids and to identify common themes that can help existing and future mini-grid developments become more resilient and influence policy decision making. To achieve this goal, we developed a database of the status of mini-grids in Malawi, with the energy generation resource(s) of their installed capacity, enabling factors, and challenges. We undertook a more detailed investigation of two hydro mini-grid systems—Bondo and Chipopoma. We collected qualitative and quantitative data through literature reviews, site visits, interviews, and observations. The study identified 19 mini-grids with a combined installed capacity of 26 MW. Of these, seven had been abandoned, and one was under development. Several factors that affect successful mini-grid efficacy in Malawi were identified, including financial resourcefulness, technical resourcefulness, policies and regulations, community engagement and capacity building, cross-sector linkages, and institutional organisational frameworks. These factors need to be integrated into decision making by all stakeholders to ensure the enhancement of resilience and the sustainable development of mini-grids.
... Sinha in this article, also highlights Abu Dhabi's endeavours, including the development of the 2-gigawatt Al Dhafra Solar Photovoltaic plant and Shams 1, the world's largest concentrated solar power plant, showcasing the country's comprehensive approach to clean energy solutions. Mini-grids for rural electrification not only offer energy while bridging the urban-rural divide in developing nations, but they also bring various benefits in terms of economic, environmental and social development (Madriz-Vargas et al., 2018;Tenenbaum et al., 2014). However, evidence from other electrification initiatives indicates that the absence of end-user engagement can transform well-intentioned renewable energy projects into unused assets. ...
Purpose
This study aims to examine the impact of socioeconomic factors on electricity usage and assess the feasibility of implementing a mini-grid system in Kasangazi, Malawi. The primary aim is to understand the community’s current and potential utilisation of electrical equipment.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed-methods approach was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Information was gathered through structured questionnaires, and energy audits were conducted among 87 randomly selected households from 28 Kasangazi communities. Data analysis relied on descriptive statistics using IBM SPSS version 28.
Findings
The study indicates that every household in Kasangazi uses non-renewable energy sources: 60 households use disposable batteries for lighting, 20 for radios and all use firewood, freely sourced from local forests, for cooking and heating water. The study shows that firewood is the community’s preferred energy source, illustrating the challenges faced in the fight against deforestation. Most household income comes from farming, with smaller contributions from businesses, employment and family remittances. Access to higher education is scarce, with only one out of 349 family members receiving tertiary education. Despite the constraints of low education levels and income, there is a demand for larger electrical appliances such as stoves and refrigerators. This underscores the need for mini-grid solutions, even in less technologically advanced, agriculture-dependent communities.
Originality/value
This study underscores that in Sub-Saharan Africa, factors like household size, income and education levels do not significantly influence the electricity demand but should be taken as part of the fundamental human rights. Rural populations express a desire for electricity due to the convenience it offers, particularly for appliances like refrigerators and stoves. Mini-grids emerge as a viable alternative in regions where grid electricity provision is challenging. It is concluded from this paper that the issue of using renewable energy should not only be taken for environmental preservation but also to promote energy access, augmenting efforts in supplying electricity to the remotest parts of the country.
... DRES may be able to change the energy landscape by further reducing the dependence on non-renewable sources [3]. They also hold certain advantages over centralized energy systems, like the challenges created by grid constraints, high cost of energy, and limited access to energy in certain areas, providing independence to communities, particularly in rural or remote areas, where grid connections are either limited, unreliable or simply non-existent [4]. This last point is an important one, as DRES can help to address energy poverty, by providing access to energy to those who lack it. ...
... While we explore these questions through examples from our work across Canada and the UK and acknowledge that a key dimension of meaningful CE is a place-based, contextsensitive approach (Devine-Wright 2011, p. 66), we believe our study also has broader international application for rural communities across working landscapes in the Global North and the Global South (Sen and Ganguly 2017;Rand and Hoen 2017)-including those within Africa (Batidzirai et al. 2021;Ouedraogo 2019;Poncian 2019), Australia (Howard 2015;Spoehr and Tognato 2012), Europe (Bues 2018; Komendantova et al. 2018;Knudsen et al. 2015) and the Americas, (Madriz-Vargas et al. 2018;Rand and Hoen 2017;Petrova 2013)-where approaches to how to do energy development and community engagement may have some parallels (see Pancheco et al. 2022;Cowell et al., 2018;Taylor et al. 2021). Further, the relevance of community perceptions of renewable energy infrastructure projects will only grow in importance, as over 130 countries are aiming to achieve net zero by 2050 (Carver 2021). ...
Proposed energy projects across rural working landscapes play an important role in energy transitions. While community engagement has been increasingly a part of these projects, instrumental motivations for engagement and the emphasis placed on achieving social acceptance has remained uncritically examined. Here, we aim to highlight relationships between actor rationale, the structuring of engagement processes, and how communities perceive the driving forces behind engagement practices. To do so, we draw on lived experiences of communities facing proposed shale gas and wind energy projects across rural working landscapes in the UK and Canada, respectively. We find that engagement is often perceived by community members as insincere, insufficient, ineffective and instrumentally-driven. We suggest that a more community-centered approach to engagement is necessary and will require a move beyond existing engagement and acceptance practice and frameworks. This can include creating more inclusive decision-making processes where powers are balanced and designing community engagement to incorporate multiple rationales beyond achieving social acceptance of energy projects.
... Renewable energy subsidies have been one of the focuses of governments on their way to a low-carbon society (Tutak and Brodny, 2022). In order to negate the financial liabilities, 'community energy' programs are being promoted by several legislations for transitioning into clean energy, where the projects are owned, operated, and maintained by the communities (Madriz-Vargas et al., 2018). ...
Renewable Energy Systems (RES) adoption in Multi-Owned Buildings (MOBs) is inferior due to ownership disagreements and social disputes. The multiple ownership of the RES in common properties of MOBs develops energy and benefit allocation concerns among the apartment owners. Accordingly, there is a need for a postu-lation that encapsulates the energy ownership and land administration aspects, extendable for policy implications. This paper aims to position the 'Energy Entitlement' of apartment owners as a critical research concept to promote the adoption of RES in MOBs. For positioning the concept, we holistically scrutinise the factors influencing the adoption of RES in MOBs and the existing energy allocation frameworks proposed in the literature while emphasising the necessity of 'Energy Entitlement'. We find that available literature predominantly focuses on the barriers and enablers to adopting RES in MOBs. However, the synergy between the 'RES' and 'Land Administration' is among the least focused. The research on the energy-spatial conundrum in MOBs is in its nascent stage, with debatable energy allocation principles proposed by a few studies. We conclude by highlighting the implication of 'Energy Entitlement' across industry, academia and policy regimes that calls for an equitable delineation of energy ownership integrated with land administration principles.
... The subject literature ever more frequently discusses the topic of the development of democratic and participatory bottom-up initiatives in the field of energy, their role in the process of energy transformation and the regulatory context [50]. The work covers both developed and developing countries [51][52][53]. The contemporary phenomenon of civic energy may be an interesting topic for future research initiatives. ...
Study of the literature and personal research experience have resulted in the identification of many challenges in the field of energy poverty, both in terms of social and technical dimensions. The research problems indicated in the paper and the proposed topics for further methodological and analytical work appear to be important not only from the perspective of the categories of energy poverty but also in the contexts of climate change, the ongoing energy transformation and attempts to implement a new energy model based to a large degree on unconventional and renewable sources of energy. This article also contains both methodological and scientific considerations.
... In South Africa, a top-down approach is practiced. The absence of an inclusive policy for electrification in rural areas also acts as a bottleneck to GETs, as confirmed by past studies (Madriz-Vargas et al. 2018;Kawabata 2020). In addition to that, the political environment of a country is structured in a way that while formulating a policy, consultations from external sources are not done, leading to the same policy being used for years and years regardless of any major changes done taking into view the prevailing situation of the country. ...
Energy security, job development, and minimal environmental damage are just a few of the reasons why green energy technologies have gained popularity. Still, developing these technologies in underdeveloped countries is sluggish due to several bottlenecks. To find and prioritize the bottlenecks to development of green energy technologies (GETs), this study has used the case of South Africa. In this study, technical, financial, social, regulatory, geographical, and institutional bottlenecks are six headings under which 22 bottlenecks are further subdivided. For prioritizing these bottlenecks, a Multi-Objective Optimization based on Ratio Analysis (MOORA) strategy combined with an Evaluation based on Distance from Average Solution (EDAS) method was used. The top three bottlenecks impacting the GETs’ development involved social, institutional, and regulatory, whereas in sub-headings, corrupt political systems, knowledge of the public, and fixed investments were revealed to be the most significant hurdles. In addition to that, a framework is also developed for assessing how each bottleneck hinders the development of green energy technologies. The results of this study recommend that formulation of policy using the bottom-up approach is important. Notably, politicians at the highest levels should work together to bolster government agencies so that they can monitor and carry out the policies designed to advance GETs. Building the institutional capacity of government offices is crucial for eliminating corruption in political offices and progressing GETs in South Africa.
... Citations a Able to mainstream community energy projects while helping with industry concerns like local opposition (n = 8) [4,84,102,107,112,114,118,126] Hybrid approaches that prioritize local funding/ participation are the most socially acceptable [compared to COP or COI-based CE] (n = 2) [104,114] The best roll-out of technical solutions require both community leadership/involvement and outside expertise (n = 2) [124,127] Local energy interests are best shared when forming networks at higher (e.g. national) levels (n = 2 [102,108] Ability to access partnership-specific funding (n = 2) [98,102] Results in both cost reductions and increased community engagement (n = 1) [101] Greater variety of expertise (i.e. ...
Following its growing popularity in practice, social scientists have turned their attention to a greater understanding of community energy (CE). Beginning with Walker and Devine-Wright's 2008 framework, researchers have consistently been critical about the use of the term – especially when doing so to further powerful, non-local interests. Unpacking what the ‘community’ in CE means has been of particular interest and a few recent studies have shown that different sets of outcomes largely depend on what definition is used. At the same time, many in this literature have pointed to the value of geographic concepts – for example, characterizing communities as either Communities of Place (COPs) or Communities of Interest (COIs). Yet these two characterizations have largely remained in the background, rather than the focus, of CE studies. Here, we attempt to add conceptual clarity to the term CE by tracing the benefits of COP, COI, and hybrid-based (i.e. a combination) projects. We do so through a qualitative content analysis of 133 research articles from more than 30 countries published from 2010 to 2020. The benefits of COP-based CE (i.e. greater social acceptance, creating ‘energy citizens’) are mostly associated with popular descriptions of CE, while the benefits of COI-based CE were cited as those that address the perceived shortcomings of COP-based CE. Finally, it might be the hybrid approach that can effectively marry both COPs and COIs. More specifically, we find that the order of this ‘marriage’ matters and recommend that approaches centered around Communities of Place, then Interest (COPTI) should be prioritized. The paper closes with a discussion of some possible next steps, in terms of social scientific research and the practice of CE.
... Thus, accelerating deployment in developing countries may require policy intervention that focuses not only on the product itself, but on incentivizing businesses to provide services, including maintenance and after-sales support as well as innovative financing services (Friebe et al., 2013). Support for Community Renewable Energy projects may also address barriers relating to a lack of local maintenance capability as well as generating local employment (Madriz-Vargas et al., 2018). In such contexts there may be great potential for a repeat of the "leapfrogging" paradigm demonstrated by the growth of mobile communications (Arndt et al., 2019). ...
Change is not linear. Time and again, industries, policymakers, and commentators in markets, technologies, and societies. This report outlines the potential dynamics of the transition to net-zero emissions; explains the general principles, characteristics, and common drivers of growth of emerging technologies; and explores progress against metrics of transition in electricity generation. Given that rapid technological progress and diffusion of zero-carbon technologies are critical to reduce emissions at the pace and scale required, this report looks at the deployment levels and rates of change needed to achieve global climate goals, assuming the widely observed “S-curve” and pace of change. The electricity sector has to lead the global transition required to avoid dangerous climate change. Meeting the goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C, as set out in the Paris Agreement, requires global power sector 1 Namely: “Holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C.” (UN, 2015). CO2 emissions to reach net zero before 2050, with most studies showing that solar and wind are likely to become dominant sources of zero-carbon power. Many assessments of deployment levels to date are very pessimistic, extrapolating linear growth and looking at the absolute contribution from renewable energy sources, which, though growing, is still limited. This report probes deeper and anchors its analysis in the more commonly observed nonlinear dynamics of technological transition, comparing the trends since 2010 with the pace of transition required. The results may surprise, and bring clarity to where progress is being made and where and how it needs to be pushed faster. A rapid transition is underway and appears now unstoppable, though its pace and depth will depend on policy. But inconsistency with dynamic indicators for fossil fuel-based generation points to a high risk of stranded fossil fuel generation assets irrespective of future policy decisions.
... Extending electricity access through the national grid can have important technoeconomic limitations in rural and remote areas because of the dispersion of demand and low end-user consumption. In contrast, standalone systems based on renewable energy are appropriate for isolated communities [4]. In particular, hybrid wind-photovoltaic (PV) systems can reduce costs and improve supply quality in comparison with singletechnology projects [5]. ...
Rural areas in developing countries have the highest concentrations of unelectrified communities. There is a clear link between electricity consumption and the Human Development Index, as highlighted by the 7th Development Goal of the United Nations. Estimating the energy needs of the previously nonelectrified population is imprecise when designing rural electrification projects. Indeed, daily energy demand and peak power assessments are complex, since these values must be valid over the project’s lifetime, while tight budgets do not allow for the systems to be oversized. In order to assist project promoters, this study proposes a fuzzy mixed integer linear programming model (FMILP) for the design of wind–PV rural electrification systems including uncertainty in the demand requirements. Two different FMILP approaches were developed that maximized the minimum or the average satisfaction of the users. Next, the FMILP approaches were applied to six Latin American communities from three countries. Compared with the deterministic MILP (where the energy and peak power needs are considered as specific values), the FMILP results achieved a better balance between the project cost and the users’ satisfaction regarding the energy and peak power supplied. Regarding the two approaches, maximizing the users’ minimum satisfaction obtained globally better solutions.
... Relevant explorations outside China are as follows: (i) highlighting the social value of renewable energy policy (e.g. in Denmark and Canada [22], Pacific [23], Ghana [24], Sub-Saharan [25]); (ii) subsidy incentives (e.g. solar home systems (SHS) in Nepal [26], sustainable community renewable (CRE) in Panama and Nicaragua [27], Small-scale photovoltaic technology (SPT) in Bangladesh [28]; (iii) rural electrification (e.g., in Indian [29] and African [30]); and (iv) renewable energy adoption (e.g., Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in the UK [31] and wind energy in Germany [32]). These explorations generally demonstrated the potential of developing renewable energy for poverty alleviation, particularly social value. ...
In 2014, China began to deploy a large-scale solar energy program in poor areas to alleviate rural poverty. This unconventional new energy policy innovation is endowed with strong political will by the Chinese government, which is of great significance to the social empowerment of the poor people. However, is the solar photovoltaic poverty alleviation program (PPAP) effective for the social empowerment of the poor? Compared with other programs, is PPAP the best way to enhance social empowerment? Based on the field survey of 1251 poor families, this paper discusses the significance of PPAP on the social empowerment of the rural poor in the project areas by principal component analysis, data envelopment analysis and grey relation analysis methods. The results show that: (1) six China's poverty alleviation programs including PPAP have played significant roles to contribute the social empowerment of the poor; (2) PPAP is the best way to improve the social empowerment of the poor among several poverty alleviation models; (3) due to the small scale and the unreasonable investment allocation, 60% of the samples does not reach the investment ideal efficiency frontier; (4) there are large regional differences in the social empowerment efficiency in various regions of China.
... The Hirmer wheel was developed with a focus of electrification in the rural developing countries (Hirmer and Cruickshank, 2014) and has been tested in seven villages across rural Uganda (Hirmer and Guthrie, 2016). Many studies have mentioned the importance of addressing the social aspect in order to build a robust approach to energy system design and referred to the Hirmer's wheel in their arguments (Kumar et al., 2018;Murugaperumal and Vimal Raj, 2019;Madriz-Vargas et al., 2018;Chatterjee and Kar, 2018;Riva et al., 2018). However, demonstration of how to apply it in practice is limited to the one proposed by the Hirmer group themselves in the form of the "User-Perceived Value Game", where all of the 46 items in the wheel are used (Hirmer and Guthrie, 2016). ...
Access to clean energy for communities living in remote areas where grid extension is considered unfeasible can be provided by off-grid electrification systems using renewable energy (RE). Especially in developing countries, ensuring the appropriateness of such systems is crucial because it will determine the system's sustainability despite its limited resources. This study demonstrates the design process of an appropriate system by assessing the potential of three RE sources: solar, wind, and biomass in an oil palm and rubber-tree plantation village in South Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. This study tries to avoid sustainability issues of the previously introduced technology intervention by identifying correlations between residents' attributes and satisfaction levels on a selection of social values through the application of multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and nonparametric methods to user data collected through door-to-door survey interviews in the village. The results identified the need for a more appropriate energy supply for cooking, the possible role of modern technology and access to information and communication in income generation, among other indicated needs and opportunities that can be linked with the energy system design. The technical assessment showed that a centralized solar power plant paired with a diesel engine could provide power to the village. However, the cost of electricity (COE) is much higher than the price cap introduced by the national electricity company. This study urges a clear mechanism and a guarantee for the delivery of feed-in-tariffs (FIT) and a price cap exemption for off-grid RE systems. Furthermore, a people-centered public–private partnership business model and a remote capacity-building intervention are also needed. An appropriate energy system design must be supported by an enabling environment and supporting policies to be feasible.
... In this regard, it has been argued that the utilization of Bio-Tech at the micro-level is feasible and acceptable in the societal setup because of its environment-friendly dimension. Nevertheless, financial affordability may prove to be an inhibitory force to the acceptance of Bio-Tech [52]. By conducting a cost-benefit analysis on various microgeneration options in the UK, it was found that the electricity generated through microgeneration was unsuccessful because of the long PBP of those investments [53]. ...
The energy shortfall and escalating energy demand in developing countries require emergent alternatives to cope with the situation. In this regard, biogas technology (Bio-Tech) may assist in meeting the increasing energy demands. This research comprehensively reviews the literature on the driving and inhibitory forces of biogas acceptance. As a further step, a questionnaire survey is conducted to examine the respondents’ perception-based impact factors of Bio-Tech acceptance under the five dimensions of Roger's model. The obtained responses are analyzed and interpreted to identify the driving and inhibitory forces affecting Bio-Tech acceptance. Based on the findings, first, grid connection independency is revealed to be the most important driving force of Bio-Tech acceptance according to the users and non-users of biodigesters. Second, the respondents agreed that social approval was an important contributing driving force. Third, energy safety is proven to be another major driving force. In addition, the high rates of conventional energy; uninterrupted electricity supply; best energy alternative; positive word of mouth; financial feasibility; trial options, such as “money-back guarantee”; environmental amicability; and the sustainability-based behavior of the respondents are declared to be among the significant driving forces of Bio-Tech acceptance. Concerning inhibitory forces, first, the frequent maintenance of biodigesters is found to be the most significant. Second, the long payback period is exposed to be a critical inhibitory force. Third, the lack of ease of access to biogas-based local markets and the inaccessibility of experts are indicated as significant inhibitory forces. Moreover, the complications in handling the new technology, inadequate incentives, applicability to limited energy appliances, reconstruction of houses, drop in efficiency, escalated installation cost, and energy supply insufficiency are established to be vital inhibitory forces of Bio-Tech acceptance at the respondent level.
... Energies 2022,15, 1776 ...
This paper shows the technical–economic, operational and environmental feasibility of four off-grid hybrid power systems to supply energy to the Cerrito de los Morreños community in Ecuador. These configurations consist of combinations of diesel generators, solar photovoltaic systems, and battery energy storage systems. Each configuration was simulated and the results were analyzed for two different load conditions: (1) the existing load profile and (2) a reduced load profile by incorporating an energy efficiency initiative. Homer Pro software was used to perform the simulations. The planning horizon for the simulations was selected to be 15 years. The results showed the diesel/photovoltaic/battery configuration with energy efficiency showed the best performance, which was achieved with a photovoltaic system of 160 kWp, the existing generator of 165 kW and a storage system of 283 kWh. The stand-alone diesel generator and photovoltaic/diesel configurations showed higher Net Present Costs, instability problems and higher CO2 emissions. Additionally, the configurations without energy efficiency had increases of between 15% and 40% higher costs compared to their respective energy-efficient scenarios. The information in this work could be useful for some organizations in Ecuador who are interested in investing in rural electrification projects with renewable energy to reduce and/or compensate their CO2 emissions.
... Such significant research has looked into, for example, the costs of a wide range of energy solutions (i.e. grid connected and stand-alone options such as micro-grid, single or hybrid systems); and how to address limited resources, affordability and technical improvement of energy access and services (e.g [11][12][13]). However, such research often fails to appreciate the supply-demand dynamics of both local and regional markets, something which may well ultimately affect the limited electricity access of the poor. ...
Access to clean and affordable electricity is crucial to reduce global poverty. Yet, for many in developing countries, electricity continues to be costly and out of reach; moreover, consumption levels are often lower than required for subsistence. Stimulating electricity consumption in poor regions is clearly necessary, but electricity must become more affordable, accessible and clean. The present situation compels the consideration of alternative renewable energy sources. The comparative viability of diesel, gasoline and photovoltaic home systems technologies is examined here with respect to ease of access, cost and technical features in the face of the harsh socio-economic conditions found in off-grid regions.A novel off-grid electricity access feasibility model (OffG-El) has been developed to assess the extent to which photovoltaic solar home systems, diesel and gasoline may be more financially viable for increasing energy consumption among the poor in the mid- to long term. The OffG-El model is based on the levelised cost of energy (LCOE) approach to obtain the lowest cost option. This model compares the LCOE for solar, diesel and gasoline micro-generation, draws on three different levels of solar irradiance (climatic conditions), and factors in the cost of transporting the fossil fuels to their destination. The model compares both the potential opportunities and the limitations of adopting solar PV, diesel or gasoline in poor off-grid communities. Three scenarios – favourable, unfavourable and standard – have been selected to represent local conditions. The investment needed to implement photovoltaics electricity systems (for which a 20-year lifetime is assumed) under these selected scenarios is calculated using the prices for 2019 and price forecasts for 2026 and 2033. It is anticipated that PV module costs will fall by approximately 50% and 75% in 2026 and 2033 respectively. Future price cuts result from anticipated improvements to the technology and the length of time taken for these economies to be reflected in the cost of photovoltaics to the end consumers.The approach was tested in the Department of Chocó, Colombia. Results indicate that diesel and gasoline power are not only polluting the air but, importantly, these fuels can be very expensive and often difficult to obtain. Although solar technology requires comparatively high capital outlay, with some initial incentives, it emerges as the cheapest and a largely affordable, present and future solution to supply electricity, thus contributing to poverty reduction.KeywordsPhotovoltaicsOff-grid areas Energy povertyRural fossil fuel Financial feasibility
... (ii) Establishing off-grid mini-generation systems. This model is extremely flexible, and can freely choose energy according to the local natural environment, and can also make full use of various renewable energy sources ( Madriz-Vargas et al., 2018 ). However, this model cannot guarantee the stability of the system, and it faces the constraints of a variety of environmental factors in the implementation process ( Gollwitzer et al., 2018 ). ...
China's large-scale renewable energy program, Photovoltaic Poverty Alleviation Projects (PPAP), has been successful in fighting poverty. However, the energy transition, energy consumption and environmental impact of this program on the rural poor are not yet known. We analyzed the environmental impacts of poor residents’ domestic energy consumption (DEC) using an Ecological Footprint (EF) model and a Hierarchical linear model (HLM) model. The results of the study show that: rural electrification is still an important way to improve the rural environment while respecting the survival and development of the residents; the energy and environmental perceptions of poor residents are crucial; PPAP currently does not have a sufficient impact on the ecological footprint. Furthering access to electricity in rural areas, raising environmental awareness among the poor, and focusing on household off-grid PV plants can help improve the performance of PPAP.
... Some evaluations, such as renewable energy projects in Central America, noted that private models faced issues integrating the technology in the society [102]. Acceptance of the system was crucial for the project to continue, let alone thrive, and thus community participation was deemed necessary. ...
Mini grids are increasingly recognized as a solution for the 840 million people globally without access to electricity and for the additional millions of people poorly served by traditional grid infrastructure. Understanding the role and importance of community participation in mini grid inception, design, build, and operations and maintenance will be essential to sustainably achieving universal access. This review analyzes the literature on community participation in private mini grid projects: how community participation is defined, in which phases of the project it arises, and how it affects the project's sustainability. We find that community participation is almost universally invoked as essential to system sustainability. Community participation most often appears in the operations and maintenance phase, leading to a positive social sustainability. We compile best practices, such as initiating participation early, pursuing wide inclusion, investing in community technical capacity, and creating clear governance models. Finally, we provide a framework and accompanying survey tool to gather information on community participation in mini grid systems to attenuate literature gaps. Community participation in mini grid projects should be leveraged to accelerate universal electricity access and green economic recovery, but it must go beyond surface level customer acquisition.
... Many studies have focused on identifying the factors that have led policy programs and RE projects to succeed or fail [38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50]. This approach investigates multiple aspects influencing the outcomes of projects encompassing technical design, policy and regulatory framework, government support, effective planning, managerial sustainability, credit and funding availability, related infrastructure, local involvement, and capacity building. ...
Decentralized energy systems have numerous advantages over mega energy projects, including environmental friendliness, lower upfront costs, greater affordability and reliability, lower risks, an easier ability to cope with system failures, and community empowerment. Despite these advantages, the type of governance used when constructing these systems can play an important role in yielding these positive impacts to local communities. This study investigates how renewable energy projects can fail under certain types of governance. We use case studies in Indonesia and Nepal to demonstrate the problems and factors in terms of the governance structures that have diminished the performance of decentralized small-scale renewable energy projects. The Indonesian case study focuses on the top-down governance of a renewable energy project. The project’s promotion under a conventional central government-led framework resulted in a process of granting renewable energy plants to local governments without considering stakeholders. In the Nepalese case, a renewable energy project was designed using a polycentric approach to governance. However, the donor (the European Commission) remotely controlled the project process, thereby hampering the intended polycentric governance strategy, which was originally conceived to include multi-level stakeholders. By focusing on real cases throughout a project’s progress, this study illustrates how monopolized power excludes the interests and commitments of multi-stakeholder interests and commitments to a project, which impinges on the final result.
... Spółdzielnie energetyczne są najczęściej określane jako energy cooperatives, jednakże w piśmiennictwie określa się je również jako Renewable Energy cooperatives (RE cooperatives, RECs), w celu podkreślenia, że są to przedsięwzięcia ściśle powiązane z odnawialnymi źródłami energii (Tarhan, 2015, s. 107). Rzadziej używa się sformułowania electric cooperatives -charakterystycznego dla źródeł opisujących spółdzielnie, których przedmiotem działalności jest przede wszystkim wytwarzanie energii elektrycznej (Madriz--Vargas, Bruce i Watt, 2018). Odnotować należy również silne związki spółdzielni energetycznych z obszarami wiejskimi oraz rolnictwem. ...
Pojęcie „spółdzielni energetycznej” funkcjonuje w polskim systemie prawa od 2016 roku. Jej przedmiotem działania jest wytwarzanie energii w instalacjach opartych na odnawialnych źródłach energii oraz równoważenie zapotrzebowania energii, wyłącznie na potrzeby własne spółdzielni. Odwołując się do systemów prawnych państw, w których spółdzielnie energetyczne mają duży udział w transformacji energetycznej, analizowany jest polski model prowadzenia działalności przez spółdzielnię energetyczną. Ustawa z dnia 20 lutego 2015 r. o odnawialnych źródłach energii kompleksowo reguluje wymogi, od których spełnienia uzależnione jest uzyskanie przez spółdzielnię wpisu do wykazu spółdzielni energetycznych prowadzonego przez Dyrektora Generalnego Krajowego Ośrodka Wsparcia Rolnictwa, natomiast wraz z uzyskaniem wpisu związana jest możliwość korzystania z systemu wsparcia opartego na prosumenckim mechanizmie rozliczeń. Obecnie (kwiecień 2021 r.), pomimo informacji prasowych o inicjatywach założenia takiego podmiotu, żadna spółdzielnia energetyczna nie została zarejestrowana w wykazie. Celem niniejszego artykułu jest zidentyfikowanie barier utrudniających założenie spółdzielni energetycznych w Polsce oraz analiza prawnych możliwości zniwelowania tych problemów.
... Focusing on the initial priority to drive energy efficiency prior to offsetting demands through RE, different opportunities and challenges for urban and rural water services, which can be represented as centralised or decentralised systems respectively (Nair et al., 2014). The integration of RE to support water services needs to consider its technical, economic and social viability, and to account for the trade-offs between these factors in the assessment (Madriz-Vargas et al., 2018, Fuentes-Cortés et al., 2019, Maisanam et al., 2019. The energy demands of different processes in the water cycle vary globally, as water and wastewater treatment requirements and extraction and/or supply by pumping is significantly affected by local characteristics (Wakeel et al., 2016). ...
This paper employed a socio-technical approach to assess the feasibility of solar PV installations by independent Group Water Schemes in Ireland, examining the complex relationship between water and energy demands in conjunction with stakeholder perspectives in these communities. The temporal resolution of energy data and the unique characteristics of the schemes (size, connection type; energy demand breakdown, etc.) were key factors influencing the solar PV design process. A poor daily correlation (R² = 0.22) contrasted with strong weekly (R² = 0.91) and monthly (R² = 0.99) correlations between energy demands and water consumption, highlighting the technical design challenges for a balanced solar PV and water services system. The presence of a water storage tank offers a potential water and energy storage facility for a solar PV installation, to balance the intermittent energy demands with the diurnal water consumption profile. Community stakeholders were aware of solar PV’s potential, with two GWSs moving towards installation. Key priorities were economic viability and associated environmental benefits i.e. added value to these communities. Stakeholders require knowledge sharing on solar PV, its operations and financial support, to help make an informed decision on this technology. The successful implementation of solar PV can provide energy and water security in these rural water communities.
... So far, the solar PV capacity installed in Cuba does not exceed 163 MW (Jäger-Waldau, 2019). Although most countries of the Central America lie within the Sun Belt region of highest solar radiation, in general the installed solar PV capacity in the power sector is pretty low and varies from one country to another (De Souza et al., 2017;Madriz-Vargas et al., 2018;REN21, 2020). For example, the solar radiation in El Salvador is also remarkable and constant all over the country, ranging from 4 to 6 kWh/m 2 and reaching a solar PV capacity of 273 MW in 2019 (IRENA, 2020a). ...
Photovoltaic power generation capacity is increasing tremendously as a result of strong renewable energy policies and environmental concerns. In particular, the use of solar modules to generate electricity has grown significantly in Cuba recently. Based on the statistics published by the European Commission, the installed capacity of the photovoltaic modules increased from 15 to 100 MW in the timeframe of 2015–2019. In this context, efficiency is one of the most critical figures of merit of a photovoltaic module. It describes the ratio of the produced electrical power to the received solar irradiance. In this work, a widely-used model of efficiency is considered, and the incorporation of the pre-module losses due to light reflections is our original contribution. Experimental data recorded during eight months in a plant connected to the Cuban National Electric System are employed to examined and check the proposed approach. Our findings provide a key achievement in the estimation of the module efficiency within a system. In addition, based on the previous results, we perform a rough evaluation of the prevision of the photovoltaic system energy production using levelized cost of energy within the framework of the discounting method, showing a drastic drop by a factor two in the coming two decades.
... La información proporcionada durante las capacitaciones concientizó a la comunidad sobre la importancia de los cuidados y mantenimiento de los equipos como parte esencial para garantizar la sostenibilidad del sistema. Líderes comunitarios están en la capacidad de coordinar las actividades operativas relacionadas con el sistema, lo cual provee una base para la integración de la comunidad y brindarles un sentido de pertenencia sobre el sistema Madriz et al. (2017). ...
... Furthermore, the degree of urban-rural electrification inequality, i.e. the difference between urban and rural electricity access levels, is greater in SSA than it is anywhere else in the world [3][4][5]. About 70% of the urban population in SSA has access to electricity compared to about 25% in corresponding rural areas [6], figures that are significantly lower than the global average rate of 87% and that of other developing regions such as Asia and Latin America where electrification is at least 85% [3,5,7]. It is therefore not surprising that many SSA governments have embarked on rural electrification programmes to accelerate electricity access. ...
It is widely accepted that community engagement is vital for achieving sustainable development outcomes. While governments in several low-income countries have introduced community engagement for their electrification initiatives, the adequacy of traditional top-down approaches to capture community needs has been contested. In this paper, we holistically assess the barriers to needs-centric community engagement. Based on a community survey with 1.016 participants and 54 semi-structured interviews with government institutions and energy businesses in Uganda and Zambia, we unpack the relationships between communities and the public sector, and between communities and energy companies to interrogate the realities of community engagement in rural electrification. We find considerable gaps between community preferences for needs-centric engagement and how public and private sectors are currently engaging. Key institutional barriers for needs-centric community engagement are vertical and horizontal disconnections within the public sector as well as challenging and ineffective sharing of crucial information. For energy companies the main obstacle is the limited value attributed to a deep understanding of community needs. Based on our results, we develop an integrated model for community engagement focused on capturing energy needs. The model combines top-down and bottom-up engagement approaches where public institutions play a catalytic role in setting a flexible enabling environment for energy companies to establish deep connections with local communities, and where communities are given a platform to define and communicate immediate and long-term needs through context-specific means.
... Monyei et al. [49] argue that isolated community service projects should consider a diesel-solar hybrid generation to accommodate increasing energy demand. Moreover, the needs and patterns of development sought by these communities should be considered [11,51,82,91], as certain basic foods that are cooked in biomass are almost impossible to replicate in electric stoves, and this should not be understood as a barrier to energy transition [11] but rather as socioeconomic specificities that must be taken into account for the elaboration of a sustainable energy transition. ...
Sustainable Developing Agenda, through initiatives such as Agenda 21 and 2030, provides a series of goals and targets to support decarbonization and improve quality of life conditions. It is essential to assess if the challenges faced by developing countries for the energy transition to a low-carbon electricity sector are being addressed in this agenda. We undertook a systematic bibliographic review of the energy transition in the electricity sector in low- and middle-income countries from 2016 to 2018. This enabled us to identify the main challenges for energy planning and policy making. We then assessed if they were addressed in Agenda 21 and Agenda 2030. The main challenges found are related to the lack of data collection and systematization and political destabilizations that hamper the establishment of coherent long-term energy planning. The challeges were better addressed in Agenda 21 than in the Agenda 2030. Developing countries must keep in mind Agenda 21 statements to improve the capacity of collecting data beyond the Agenda 2030 indicators for the energy transition. In addition, developed countries and international bodies could potentially provide scientific support for the development of tools and methods customized for developing countries as part of the efforts to low-carbon electricity.
URL providing free access until February 27, 2021: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1cNcb1H%7Ec%7EBQxl
... Asumadu-Sarkodie et al. [20] review the national energy statistics of Ghana's energy sector, seeking to improve wellbeing and end poverty. The long-term operation and the sustainability of the community renewable energy power system in rural areas of Central America (including Panama, Nicaragua and Costa Rica) are also important research topics [21]. ...
Since 2014, China’s photovoltaic poverty alleviation projects (PPAPs) have developed rapidly with the strong support of the Chinese government. Nevertheless, empirical evidence on the contribution of PPAPs in improving the livelihoods of poor rural families is lacking. In order to overcome this knowledge gap, this study adopted a quasi-experimental research method based on a sample dataset of 735 poor families in Chinese rural areas before and after the project. Using five types of livelihood capital values for poor families as poverty proxy indicators, we quantified the net contribution of PPAPs to poverty reduction in rural low-income families through probability distribution comparative analysis, mean comparison analysis, and difference-in-difference regression model. Results demonstrated that the PPAPs were able to precisely target rural families requiring relief and significantly reduced poverty in China, with the net effect on livelihood capital increases for rural families determined as 31.9%. PPAPs have effectively enhanced the economic conditions and social capital of poor families, yet increases in human and natural capital performed poorly. Differences existed in the anti-poverty effect of PPAPs across the three types of solar photovoltaic resource areas. The rural socioeconomic development and access to roads were undoubtedly important factors affecting the livelihoods of rural families.
Starting from the EU vision for Energy Communities (EC), our purpose is to support them by proposing a Digital Twin (DT) that includes a bi-level optimization model to deliver coordination, economic, social, and environmental benefits to its members that can be quantified as Key Performance Indicators (KPI). The diversity of EC members from the size and interest perspectives leads us to consider a bi-level optimization model. It offers support to individual consumers/prosumers (first level) and coordination for EC (second level). This model is embedded into a DT that replicates the EC and the operation of individual entities such as consumers/prosumers and public assets. The DT is created as an automatic assistant with two components: iEMS – as a member's assistant and eEMS – as an EC assistant. These components optimize the schedule, generate bids for the Local Electricity Market (LEM) and control the flexible appliances of the participants to deal with deficits and surpluses. The DT receives input from EC members, LEM, metering system and improves the operation of the EC in a two-way continuous exchange data flow. Furthermore, it is a reliable framework to test and improve models, regulations and policies in emergent EC as DT provides alternatives regarding its functionalities: optimization, market operation, setting the clearing price, settlement, value sharing for distributing benefits, etc. It can be extended to support grid operators to design tariffs, testing regulation and offer additional energy services. The proposed DT model is tested within an EC case study, both on a seasonal and an annual basis. The average trading index on LEM is 0.6 during the summer and 0.3 during the winter months, while the Degree of Local Sufficiency (DLS) for the EC is 0.45 in summer and 0.28 in winter. Moreover, the proposed LFM model reduces the exchanges with the main grid by an average of 45 kW in summer, that represents almost 15% of the average exchange at peak hours.
https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1iAus14YGgpcuM
En el departamento de Córdoba de manera particular, se busca avanzar en una transición que logre superar al marco 1 de I+D, teniendo como horizonte de aplicación del presente Plan estratégico Departamental de CTeI, para los próximos
10 años. Así, se espera generar avances sustanciales en materia de Investigación,
Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, articulando las acciones de los actores del
Sistema Departamental de CTeI: Universidad, Empresa, Estado y Sociedad civil
Collective action has always been a powerful driving force for social change. Thus, by assigning new responsibilities to residents and local communities, community energy initiatives can contribute to the efficient generation and distribution of energy and promote climate goals. Against this background, the present work aims to provide a unified and synthesised overview of the current state of knowledge concerning the determinants of citizens’ involvement in community energy initiatives either through volunteering in specific activities, investing, or participating in managerial positions. The determinants of citizens’ involvement in community energy initiatives were classified into attitudinal factors (environmental concerns, energy-related motives, perceived innovation adoption), contextual factors (return of investment, social recognition, interpersonal trust, spatial factors, institutional framework, policies, benefits, and barriers), and personal capabilities (demographic and socioeconomic characteristics). The findings will facilitate decision-makers and policymakers to design successful and suitable support policies, promoting active involvement and community-level investment.
This study solves the mismatch in a solar-rich county for evolving into a giant electricity producer. The temporal mismatch between renewable generation and electricity consumption exists globally due to renewable-energy intermittency, which can be measured by the insufficient ratio. Through examining the unique county in China whose renewable supply reaches demand, it is found that 45.6% of annual demand cannot be fulfilled by renewable energy instantaneously. When renewable energy generation is 1.5 times the demand and solar proportion is 40%, the insufficiency ratio is reduced to 29.0%. Since adjusting the renewable profile could partially resolve this mismatch, electrical energy storage is further considered. When storage capacity is optimized, the capacity is reduced by 76% if renewable generation is expanded to 1.5 times demand. However, electrical energy storage efficiently stabilizes daily operations but fails to counter the seasonal mismatch effectively. Therefore, the seasonal mismatch should be eliminated by exploiting controllable zero-carbon energy, such as biomass power. Eventually, the required storage capacity would be cut by 98%, while the storage and additional energy cost would be reduced by 87%.
The systematic review of rural energy research is important to accurately identify the existing shortcomings and future research directions for the advancement of the rural energy upgrading (REU). This article selects the research on rural energy from the perspective of the economy, environment and society published in the ScienceDirect database after 2010, systematically sorts out and classifies the research content, and summarizes and reviews the main conclusions, findings and solutions to the problems. At the same time, based on factual observation and logical analysis, the gaps and deficiencies of studies on various topics are summarized, which identifies the directions for further research on this topic. The results found that most of the current research on rural energy focuses on the utilisation of agricultural biomass energy and energy consumption in rural life (RL), with little research being conducted on the energy use of agricultural production (AP). Research on rural energy systems (RESs), AP and RL energy use examines the general energy use characteristics and influencing factors, but RES research lacks an investigation of the interaction between AP and RL in REU. Research on energy use in AP and RL has focused insufficiently on the impact of energy use habitats and spatial effects and lacks a systematic and comprehensive study of various types of energy consumption. In the research of REn and agricultural biomass energy, the spatial spillover effect of technology and the role of human capital are likewise underinvestigated. The overlooked issues and the insufficiency of research theories and methods of the research on REU have been identified in order to guide further advancement to appropriate research directions and routes to form systematic and comprehensive policies to promote REU.
The adoption and encouragement of community energy, that is, the incentive to develop renewable energy projects with community participation and ownership, is a key ingredient of energy transition. Government policies and other instruments can pose both barriers and opportunities for community energy development; however, there has been little analysis of the state of research on the range of government tools to facilitate energy transition and the implications of these instruments for community energy. This paper analyses the current scholarly research on government instruments for community energy, focusing on the multiple scales of governance. Our analysis identified 108 articles addressing government instruments and community energy. Research addressing government instruments and community energy has increased substantially in recent years, with most of the emphasis on national or state instruments, situated in the European context, and focused on grid-connected communities. We identified four global categories of government tools designed to support community energy: payment-based, grid access, environmental protection and community planning and capacity. Within these categories, nineteen different government instruments emerged with tools for financial support, feed-in-tariffs, grid services, and fiscal incentives receiving the most attention. Findings emphasize the need for further research on community-focused instruments for renewable energy, the importance of coordination between levels of government to support such instruments, and analysis of the suitability of current instruments for community-appropriate energy solutions in remote and off-grid communities.
Since the Water-Energy-Food Security (WEF) nexus was officially established during the Bonn 2011 Conference, nexus research has grown rapidly. As a result, and due to its interdisciplinary nature, an array of academic literature now engages in the WEF nexus, often in seemingly separate disciplines. Solar energy is one of the most popular renewable energy sources; however, its role within the WEF nexus has only recently gained traction. Through a systematic review, this article examines the current state of knowledge regarding solar energy's role within the WEF nexus, how solar energy impacts water, energy, and food (in)security, and its potential synergies and trade-offs within the WEF nexus. Accordingly, all the relevant English-language peer-reviewed publications from 2011 and onwards that focus on solar energy's role within the WEF nexus are reviewed, followed by qualitative conventional content analysis. Four main themes emerge from the review and analysis process: general solar energy deployment, agrivoltaics, aquavoltaics and solar energy greenhouse desalination systems. This article shows that, although the current state of knowledge about solar energy's role within the WEF nexus is sparse, solar energy creates great synergies regarding improving water, energy, and food security and has an overall positive impact within the WEF nexus. However, threats to local water sources remain a challenge since increased access to unregulated solar energy in areas without or with little previous access to energy can create water overuse, often due to extensive irrigation of food crops. On the other hand, agrivoltaics and aquavoltaics create strong synergies, and both offer water-efficient means of producing energy and food. However, aquavoltaics often undermine food production, while agrivoltaics impact on food production varies depending on what crops are grown and their location. Solar energy greenhouse desalination systems offer a way of creating self-sufficient food production but have only been examined on a small-scale level. All main research areas require more research to identify the full scope of solar energy's role within the WEF nexus.
Many countries around the world are planning to reach 100% renewable energy use by 2050. In this context and due to the recent sharp increase in RE utilization in the global energy mix along with its progressive impact on the world energy sector, the evaluation and investigation of its effect on achieving sustainable development goals are not covered sufficiently. Moreover, an assessment of the emerging role of artificial intelligence for renewable energy utilization toward achieving SDGs is conducted. A total of 17 SDGs were divided into three groups, namely, environment, society, and economy, as per the three key pillars of sustainable development. Renewable energy has a positive impact toward achieving 75 targets across all sustainable development goals by using an expert elicitation method-based consensus. However, it may negatively affect the accomplishment of the 27 targets. In addition, artificial intelligence can help renewable energy enable the attainment of 42 out of 169 targets. However, with the current exponential growth of renewable energy share and artificial intelligence development and addressing certain present limitations, this impact may cover additional targets in the future. Nevertheless, recent research foci overlook essential aspects. The exponential growth of renewable energy share and rapid evolution of artificial intelligence need to be accompanied through the requisite regulatory insight and technology regulation to cover additional targets in the future.
Water, energy, and food security are interdependent and crucial to supporting human welfare and livelihoods. The lack of clean and affordable energy is a major underpinning factor to energy, water, and food insecurity for the rural poor, further undermining access to basic services and opportunities. Latin America has some of the world’s best renewable energy conditions. Still, 17 million people lack energy access due to living in rural off-grid locations in hard-to-reach areas, which further increase their water and food insecurity, and associated impoverishment. Therefore, this article aims to analyse small-scale rural renewable energy project’s potential in rural areas through the Water-Energy-Food security (WEF) nexus. The Wayuu people, an indigenous tribe in La Guajira, Colombia, have shown a favourable attitude to renewable energy deployment in past research projects and will therefore be used as an example of rural communities that would benefit from small-scale rural renewable energy. This article argues that small-scale rural renewable energy projects can create energy security, which subsequently will lead to water and food security in La Guajira, with the potential to improve the livelihoods of poor rural communities, especially in areas with vast wind and solar potential.
Geographic isolation limits energy access in remote Philippine islands. Among the few islands electrified, most are diesel-powered, a costly and unsustainable electricity source. Efforts on energy access should therefore consider affordable and sustainable renewable energy (RE) technologies. In this study, we simulated solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind power integration in 147 diesel-powered Philippine off-grid areas. Different configurations of solar PV, wind turbines, lithium-ion batteries, and diesel generators were evaluated based on levelized electricity costs and RE shares. The simulations show that solar PV should be utilized in all areas considered and wind power in 132 areas to guarantee reliable and continuous energy access with minimal costs. The hybrid energy systems have an average electricity cost of USD 0.227/kWh, an average RE share of 58.58 %, and a total annual savings of 108 million USD. The sensitivity analysis also shows that dependence on solar and wind power in Philippine off-grid islands is robust against uncertainties in component costs and electricity demand. With the promising off-grid solar PV and wind power potential in the country, policies that support RE-based hybrid grids should be implemented to address the trilemma of energy security, equity, and sustainability.
Dnia 14 stycznia 2021 r. Ministerstwo Klimatu i Środowiska opublikowało projekt Polskiej Strategii Wodorowej, która jako jedno z głównych zadań do realizacji w zakresie rozwoju gospodarki wodorowej w Polsce stawia stworzenie stabilnego otoczenia regulacyjnego, w związku z czym polski rząd zapowiedział przygotowanie ustawy – Prawo wodorowe, która ma uregulować działanie rynku wodoru w sposób kompleksowy. Jednocześnie w strategii wymieniono i pokrótce opisano kilka obszarów, które będą stanowić obszar regulacji podjętej w ustawie – Prawo wodorowe. Niniejszy artykuł ma na celu przedstawienie tych obszarów oraz ocenę zaproponowanych zmian legislacyjnych pod kątem zarówno ich wpływu na rozwój gospodarki wodorowej w Polsce, jak i spójności
z planami Komisji Europejskiej przedstawionymi w lipcu 2020 roku.
The grid congestion and imbalance problems are nowadays approached through a new perspective of the energy flexibility services that are usually acquired through a bidding process by aggregators on behalf of grid operators and electricity retailers and traded via Local Flexibility Markets (LFM). They can be also acquired at a fixed price under specific conditions of interruption and operation. The flexibility services are offered by electricity consumers and prosumers that own generation and storage facilities and controllable appliances, adding value to the emerging Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and smart metering technologies. In this paper, we propose an adaptive direct load optimization and control with an Internet of Things (IoT) architecture and compare it with a classic approach of Direct Load Control (DLC). The optimization process consists in a day-ahead scheduling that aims to minimize the electricity expense using programmable appliances (shift) and their operational constraints, whereas the adaptive DLC comes on top of it with additional load control (shed) using flexibility to cope with real-time uncertainties including the temperature comfort of the consumers. As the consumption is recorded using smart meters and appliances that continuously generate large volumes of data at different time resolution and formats requiring fast analytical and decisional processes, the challenge consists in correlating and integrating the optimization requirements with IoT and appliance control within an edge and fog computing architecture to overcome grid congestion, power capacity scarcity and forecast errors. The simulations are performed using real open datasets consisting in 114 single-family houses that form a small community with modern and flexible appliances, providing that the electricity bill reduction is up to 22.62%. Furthermore, to validate, several indicators for consumers and aggregator are proposed: total daily used flexibility decreased on average by 21.05%, number of interruptions also decreased on average by 20.51%, maximum number of interruptions per appliance decreased by 58.33%, while Peak to Average Ratio (PAR) improved by 32% when implementing the proposed DLC architecture.
Agro-industries have the potential to catalyse energy access and promote development. Mauritius is one of the most advanced countries in the use of waste from sugar processing (bagasse) to simultaneously generate heat and electricity (cogeneration) to feed into the grid, but developments have evolved over several decades with complex dynamics between different actors. A multi-level perspective is used in this paper to examine this process and to extract policy lessons for other countries. The analysis shows how policies influenced the development of the bagasse cogeneration niche and changes in the sugar and energy regimes over time. The formation of independent power producers, centralisation of sugar mills, the use of a complementary fuel (coal) in the off-crop season, and targeted financial incentives were important for the development of bagasse cogeneration in Mauritius. Mauritian sugar mills are at the forefront of niche technological and organisational innovations in response to recent reduction in sugar prices. The country has been able to respond to changes and manage niche innovations strategically due to the deployment of finance, technical expertise and strong governance structures which enabled the government to coordinate with industry. Therefore, local capacity and institutional context are important for managing transitions towards sustainable energy.
Electricity systems are so strongly path dependent and deeply embedded in society that vertically integrated monopolistic or oligopolistic supply are justified. However, over-incentivize for capacity investment, excess dependency on fossil fuel, inefficient supply, and lack of customized services, accountability and participation raise dissatisfaction with the prevailing system, urging system transition. Given high potential of renewable energy in breaking the lock-in and generating positive feedback effects, this paper aims to explore how niche innovators and incumbents capitalize on their resources and power to create, augment or weaken prevailing political path-dependencies and lock-in of the prevailing electricity supply system to prospect a future energy transition, taking China as a case. Main findings are: (a) renewable energy has generated feedback effects in China; (b) regime actors have capitalized on their resources and power to organize alliances to be consistent with the government policy orientation while blocking institutional reforms for energy transition; and (c) their resources and power are derived from the monopolistic or oligopolistic electricity supply system and the government price control, both of which are justified for the sake of energy security and economic stabilization.
This paper presents a case study of a community renewable energy project implemented in the
community of “Boca de Lura” located in rural Panama. This is a 2.17kW stand-alone PV-Wind-Battery hybrid
power system supplying energy to a local school also serving as a community facility. A novel sustainability
assessment framework is used to examine the Boca de Lura experience and future perspectives for the power
system and the project as a whole. The main challenges for Boca de Lura are discussed and recommendations to
overcome some of the obstacles encountered are provided. Findings suggest that, even though the project was
successfully implemented, its long-term operation is jeopardized due to non-technical aspects rather than
technical ones. A potential solution is upgrading the stand-alone system into a minigrid; however, more studies
and external advice are required to understand the implications for Boca de Lura, local institutions and possible
national and international sponsors.
Access to electricity is a priority within the United Nation’s sustainable development goals. Among rural electrification options in off-grid areas of developing countries, community renewable energy (CRE) initiatives have the potential to a) allow better community integration and engagement; b) increase user education and level of satisfaction with renewable energy technologies; and c) enable an environment for technical and managerial local capability building. Therefore, CRE may lead to higher electricity access rates and rural livelihood improvement. However it is still not clear which implementation models or mix of community capabilities are required to deliver a sustainable community-based energy venture, and the literature has highlighted the need for more field evidence on relevant projects. Hence, this paper will present a case study of a CRE project implemented in the ” Boca de Lura ” community located in rural Panama. This is a stand-alone 2,17kW PV-Wind hybrid power system suppling energy to a local school, which serves also as a community facility. A novel sustainability assessment framework is used to examine the Boca de Lura project. The framework is structured around six main capability areas that are considered important for CRE initiatives. The main challenges for sustainability of the Boca de Lura RE system are discussed, including: coordination with national institutions, access to budgets for maintenance and developing local technical know-how. Findings suggest that, even though the project was successfully implemented, its long-term operation is jeopardized due to legal and organizational aspects rather than technical ones. Recommendations to overcome some of the obstacles encountered in this project are also provided.
Sustainability enables the creation of new opportunity through innovation to achieve competitive advantage and drive cost reduction programs. Organizations that acknowledge and embrace the key drivers for sustainability will obtain the ultimate benefits of market opportunities and efficient business operations. Numerous organizations are involved in sustainability initiatives and they need a holistic vision to achieve sustainability. This requires a comprehensive framework that shows the perspective of sustainability. This study aims to review the existing sustainability frameworks and highlight the gaps and inconsistencies in the related literature. The literature revealed that there are two important paradigms that need to be considered in sustainability implementation frameworks. They are the sustainability paradigm (environment, social, and economic) and the decisional paradigm (strategic, tactical, and operational). The sustainability and decisional paradigms show the main perspective of sustainability implementation. The integration of these two paradigms is significant for a successful sustainability implementation project. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment
A review on rural electrification programs and projects based on off-grid Photovoltaic (PV) systems, including Solar Pico Systems (SPS) and Solar Home Systems (SHS) in Developing Countries (DCs) was conducted. The goal was to highlight the main multidimensional drawbacks that may constrain the sustainability of these systems. Four dimensions of sustainability (institutional, economic, environmental and socio-cultural) were considered in this review. It was found that institutional flaws (such as the scarcity of durability/stability and enforcement of formal institutions, weak regulations or standards, incomplete decentralization/participation and the lack of institutional adaptability) seriously compromise the sustainability of rural electrification efforts in DCs. While the lack of an effective focalized subsidy scheme (e.g., cross-tariff scheme) for the electricity tariffs of the poor population often made projects economically unsustainable, the scarcity of environmental awareness, regulations or incentives has often turned presumably clean energy technologies into environmentally unsustainable projects. Progress regarding social acceptance, accuracy and cultural justice is urgently needed for ensuring the socio-cultural sustainability of rural electrification efforts in DCs. This review may help stakeholders to identify and (based on prior experiences) address the most severe drawbacks affecting the sustainability of rural electrification efforts in DCs.
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. Methods
Our assessment of the rural electrification efforts in Chile takes into account four dimensions of sustainability (institutional, economic, environmental, and socio-cultural). It is based on an extensive qualitative document analysis, complemented by semi-structured interviews to key stakeholders. ResultsWe found that, despite several successful pilot off-grid PV projects, the deployment of off-grid PV solutions for rural electrification lagged behind the enormous solar potential of the country. Part of the problem is that decisions favoring other technologies have been made without considering costs over the lifetime and environmental co-impacts. Moreover, the social acceptance of off-grid PV solutions has been seriously compromised due to problems regarding the accuracy (systems were unable to meet the user’s needs) and reliability (systems often failed due to lack of mandatory standards and the uncertain maintenance). Conclusions
Although Chile has conducted remarkable efforts on electrification during the last 20 years, the indigenous communities still have less access to electricity. This disparity is a major drawback that underscores the need for adjusting the electrification approach (which means that the communities or the local authorities have to request electrification at first place) adopted by the Ministry of Energy in rural electrification. Indeed, this approach favors better organized communities leaving behind others—normally the poorest indigenous communities. Moreover, major progress on cultural justice, equity, and environmental awareness is needed for ensuring the sustainability of rural electrification efforts in Chile.
In this article we conceptualise energy use from a capabilities perspective, informed by the work of Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum and others following them. Building on this, we suggest a corresponding definition of energy poverty, as understood in the capabilities space. We argue that such an understanding provides a theoretically coherent means of comprehending the relationship between energy and wellbeing, and thus conceptualising energy deprivation, that makes sense across settings including both the global North and South: a coherence which has previously been lacking. At the same time, it has the flexibility to be deployed in a way that is sensitive to local contexts. Understanding energy use in the capabilities space also provides a means for identifying multiple sites of intervention, including some areas that are currently largely overlooked. We argue that this is advantageous for attempts to address energy poverty in the context of climate change and imperatives for the containment of aggregate energy consumption.
Minigrids are expected by the UN Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) initiative to play a significant role in ensuring universal energy access. Despite this, there are a range of technical, organisational, social and financial barriers to their successful deployment, including lack of community integration, unrealistic user expectations and poor local maintenance capabilities. Community Renewable Energy Minigrids (CREMs) are expected to increase community engagement and therefore potentially mitigate some of these problems, improving outcomes when compared to minigrids with other ownership and operation structures. CREMs are also likely to offer other important socioeconomic benefits and improved rural livelihoods. However, a range of challenges for existing CREMs are reported in the literature. Specific barriers include the need for extensive liaison (e.g. community engagement), technology choice risks, controversies around governance of benefits and, often, non-existing technical and organizational local capabilities. At this stage, it is not clear which implementation models or community capabilities are required to overcome these challenges. This paper will present a review of recent experiences, exploring the factors that influence the success of CREMs, which might require special input and attention by practitioners, donors, and community activists in order to deliver a sustainable and successful CREM.
In many parts of Africa, the spread of grid electrical networks into rural areas has remained a pernicious challenge. There has been a persistent bias towards expanding electricity access to urban centres, perhaps understandably as they are the main drivers of national economic growth. In contrast, the expansion of grid electricity networks into rural areas is largely seen as being financially unviable and thus is unlikely to be achieved in the foreseeable future. Using the example of energy kiosks in Sierra Leone, this paper examines the potential commercial and policy implications of a social enterprise approach to address this impasse. Specifically, the success of the community charging station model of one non-governmental organization, Energy For Opportunity, is evaluated in the context of ongoing commercial viability, the overcoming of financial and technological barriers, and the lack of for-profit entities in the market. This case study demonstrates how an innovative blending of non-profit and for-profit models of development interventions can provide effective institutional arrangements to realize solar electrification in rural Africa.
This paper examines the relations between financing institutions and more local ownership structures for energy provision. This research defines municipal and civil society structures involved in energy provision as the 'Civic Energy Sector'. It argues that the financial institutions of nations are key enabling institutions for this sector to contribute to a low carbon energy transition. The path of development of these financial institutions helps to shape the ownership structures and technology choices of energy systems and futures in different nations. This paper presents findings from case analysis comparing the United Kingdom's latent civic energy sector, with the expansion of this sector in Germany. Using an institutional economics framing, the paper demonstrates the importance of the German local banking sector in facilitating civic ownership structures in that country. In contrast, the neo-liberal, market-led financial institutions in the UK, reinforce energy pathways less reliant on civic ownership models. Hence, the forms of low carbon energy transition being pursued in these countries are constrained by path dependence of institutions both within and beyond the energy sector.
The dominant model of energy infrastructure has historically been conceived in a very centralized fashion, i.e. with hardly any citizen involvement in energy generation. Yet, increasing attention is being paid to the transition process towards a more decentralized configuration. This article examines the factors likely to foster citizen and community participation as regards wind power cooperatives in Denmark, Germany, Belgium and the UK. Using Elinor Ostrom’s Social-Ecological System Framework, the analysis highlights a double-edged phenomenon: prevailing and growing hostility towards cooperatives, on the one hand, and, on the other, strategic reactions to this evolution. What comes out indeed is that, throughout most of these countries, the emergence of some coordinated inter-organizational actions among cooperatives enables them to survive in their critical environment.
Sustainability assessment (SA) is a complex appraisal method. It is conducted for supporting decision-making and policy in a broad environmental, economic and social context, and transcends a purely technical/scientific evaluation. This paper focusses on the systematisation of knowledge on technical/scientific sustainability evaluation, by addressing critical decision-making elements focussed on by domain experts. We make a distinction between integrated assessment and SA. Our systemic approach outlines how to move from integrated assessment to SA. The fundamental differences involved concern three levels: ontological, methodological and epistemological. We present a novel methodological framework for SA, based on a literature meta-review of multi-scale and multipurpose appraisal methodologies, models and indicators. SA is essentially a structured procedure encompassing different field-specific analytical methods and models, for specific applications and decision contexts. External inputs to the methodology are " values " considered in the analysis and boundaries defined, including the relevant sustainability framework. Internal methodological elements comprise approach to be adopted (e.g. " what-if " vs. " what-to "), scenario design and analytical models and measurable indicators for an operational analysis. Methods to quantify uncertainty are key ingredients of the assessment framework. The paper highlights the relevance of and policy challenges for SA development, with due attention for applicability in real-world decision contexts.
Population growth, connected with rising incomes, urbanization, fidelity to dogmas and climate change, places pressure on the food industry. This significantly increases the inextricably-linked demand of production systems for water and energy. Technological solutions - such as increasing accessibility and further reducing costs - can be employed to overcome the limitations created by the local availability of resources. This paper develops a new methodology generating sustainable value, and thus achieving a competitive advantage in business ecosystems. The methodology addresses both the key requirements of sustainable development and the preferences of stakeholders. A set of design conditions are proposed to develop eco-efficient, socio-eco-effective, and adaptable production systems under changing limitations. An international project is launched to demonstrate the superiority of the design methodology and to create awareness about interdependencies among the prevalent design conditions and regional limitations. The task aims at developing technological solutions, which can be retrofitted in existing production systems to increase the sustainable local added value and capacity for regions affected by climate change. The impact of climate change is more obvious in semi-closed ecosystems. Cyprus is one of the Mediterranean islands with such a semi-closed ecosystem. Combined with water scarcity and rising prices in electricity, this made Cyprus an ideal testing ground for the methodology. The selected solution includes the use of hybrid energy and water generation to process agricultural products and to recycle organic waste. This solution achieves a nearly zero emission, zero water footprint and increases the local added value by product-service systems. To support decision-makers, various technologies and their feasibility are considered, evaluated and recommendations are made for implementing the modular solutions.
In this article, we explore the process of economic change following the NGO-led implementation of a small-scale off-grid hydropower system in Tanzania. We examine how the implementing actor deals with economic challenges and local ownership in order to achieve sustainable electricity supply. The qualitative case study shows that the NGO, ACRA-CCS, has overcome a number of constraints, which are sometimes associated with donor funding. This has been achieved by having multiple donors, an integrated approach and a longer presence. The ‘logic’ of implementation included active enhancement of productive electricity use, community services and benefits. As a result of these actions, the customer base grew quickly, rather than it taking many years to develop. The case illustrates the process whereby an off-grid system becomes economically viable. Local ownership has led to the project becoming an arena for community collaboration and problem solving, and creating values such as effective load management and protection of infrastructure. We suggest that attention should be given to possible public private community partnerships (PPCPs) – involving communities as crucial partners. The choice of a socio-technical system perspective was fruitful and provided crucial insights into how different factors manifested, interacted and played out in practice.
Community-owned renewable energy (CRE) projects are on the rise across the world, including in Australia. This article applies a STEEP (social, technological, environmental, economic, political) analysis to CRE case studies to elucidate the opportunities, benefits and limitations for CRE in the rural Australian context. While CRE is a new sector in Australia, many opportunities exist for it to contribute to addressing climate change, community development and rural economic health. Case studies indicate, however, these benefits will be difficult to realise on a large scale without a supportive state and federal government policy context.
This study highlights gender-related factors and attempts to understand their influence in residential energy consumption. This pilot study was done in Bandung City, Indonesia. It employed a questionnaire survey and face to face interviews. Questionnaires were randomly distributed to the households in Bandung City. In this study, energy consumption included household uses of power for lighting, entertainment, thermal comfort and cooking. Energy consumption was estimated based upon electrical and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) consumption. The results showed that when the decisions about energy expenditure and control of energy consumption in the household were solely made by a woman, energy consumption tended to be the lowest. There are three possible ways decision can be made, by the wife, husband and a joint decision. This evidence suggests several things. They are that (1) women are good household energy managers, (2) men may be careless with respect to energy consumption, (3) women may be more cautious about household expenditures, and (4) when joint decisions were made the husband and wife relied-upon-each-other in reaching agreement. This suggests useful entry points for energy efficient initiatives.
Village-level solar power supply represents a promising potential for access to electricity services. Increased knowledge is needed for the development of solutions that work for the users and are viable in the long run. This article analyzes a solar power model developed and tested through action research in collaboration between a community in Kenya and a team of social scientists and technical experts. The analysis includes the reasons for its socio-technical design, and the actual functioning of the model. The research shows that an energy center model can cover basic electricity needs in areas with dispersed settlement patterns, where mini-grid based systems as well as conventional grid extension meet significant challenges. Such areas are representative for large geographical areas in Africa. We show that portable lanterns and low prices may enhance access to suitable services. Committed follow-up of the local actors, and a flexible socio-technical design – allowing for improvements after implementation – contribute to economic sustainability and smooth functioning. Close attention to the socio-cultural context and the challenges of users, operators and managers is required. Our research draws on theories of socio-technical change and users’ innovation, and presents a five-step analytical framework for analysis of village-level power provision.
Recent decades have witnessed a surge in international programmes established to assist the adoption of renewable energy technologies (RETs) in low and lower-middle income countries. So far, such programmes have yielded mixed success. While partnerships between international, national and local organisations have become the pre-eminent model for RET programmes, we know relatively little about their contribution. This article traces the role of renewable energy partnerships in development cooperation, shifting the analytical emphasis from barriers and drivers to key actors and their relationships. It presents a relational approach for the analysis of development assistance for renewable energy, drawing on theories concerning the role of strong and weak ties in inter-organisational networks. Through an analysis of seven empirical cases from Central America, the article provides insights into how different forms of inter-organisational relationships can facilitate implementation of RET programmes but do not necessarily enhance the capacities of local organisations in a way to support a more sustainable adoption of RETs. On the basis of this analysis, theoretical and policy implications are given concerning the potential of relational approaches for researching technology diffusion processes, and the role of strong and weak ties for the success – or failure – of renewable energy partnerships.
Over the past two decades there has been a proliferation of energy kiosks across Africa and other parts of the developing world. Typically drawing on solar power, these enterprises provide services such as mobile phone and lantern recharging to (largely) rural communities with limited or no other access to electricity. This article develops a broad analytical framework for evaluating the outcomes of energy kiosks, taking into consideration long-term commercial viability, positive community impacts, the dissemination of improved lighting products, and the provision of credit. Using three energy kiosks as case studies, this article applies the developed framework to critically evaluate a NGO's energy kiosk programme in Sierra Leone, West Africa.
The Honduran Science and Technology Council (COHCIT) installed innovative solar electric school projects with funding from the World Bank (WB) and the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB). COHCIT implemented nine solar electric systems for rural schools and community centers between 2003-05. COHCIT partnered with New Mexico State University and Sandia National Laboratories, who assisted with technical specifications, bid review, design, training, and acceptance testing. This new electrification program for schools in Honduras has raised the bar for better quality code compliant solar electric installations in Central America.
Access to sustainable and affordable energy services is a crucial factor in reducing poverty in developing countries. In particular, small-scale and community-based renewable energy projects are recognized as important forms of development assistance for reaching the energy poor. However, to date only a few empirical evaluations exist which analyze and compare the impact of these projects on local living conditions and their sustainability ex-post implementation.
To better understand the impacts and the conditions that influence sustainability of these projects, the research presented in this paper evaluated 23 local development projects post implementation. By applying an standardized evaluation design to a cross-sectional sample in terms of renewable energy sources (solar, wind, biomass, hydro), user needs (electricity, food preparation, lighting, productive uses), community management models, finance mechanisms and geographical locations, the review results provide valuable insights on the underlying conditions that influence the success or failure of these small-scale local energy interventions. The empirical evidence suggests that the sustainability of small-scale energy implementations (≤100 kW) in developing countries is determined by the same factors, independent of the socio-cultural, political and ecological context. These findings allow to better predict the long-term success of small sustainable energy projects in developing countries, this can help to improve project designs and increase the certainty for future investment decisions.
A 'humanitarian market' for off-grid renewable energy technologies for displaced populations in remote areas has emerged. Within this market, there are multiple stakeholder agendas. End-user needs and sustainable development goals are currently not considered through the customer-enterprise relationship and the applied product and service design process. Challenges inherent in the attempt to satisfy multiple stakeholder interests are complicated by short-term planning by humanitarian funding agencies. These challenges have led to poor technical performance, accountability issues and increased mistrust between stakeholders. Enterprises looking for sustainable and predictable markets in the humanitarian relief context will benefit from reflecting upon and communicating their role in this market to organisations and end-users. Including a more participatory development approach may ensure progress towards a more 'sustainable' and 'real needs'-based market, with products that take long-term considerations into account.
This article unpacks the institutional bottlenecks and path dependency holding back energy transition in two part-desert states with a sixth of India’s land, despite potentially high scope for solar growth and a systemic move towards a sustainable profile. As heavily-indebted electricity distribution companies in Rajasthan seek to emulate thriving counterparts in Gujarat and turn to technology adoption, efficiency enhancement and loss reduction measures, this study offers an in-depth stakeholder analysis, reflecting on implications for energy futures. Based on 56 expert interviews, it pries open the political economy of distribution within energy transition in Western India, spanning concerns of various consumers and providing insights into the roles played by several institutions, from regulatory commissions to renewable energy agencies. The article adds to existing scholarship by explicating how institutional conditions promote and hold back transitions to sustainable energy futures, bookmarking stakeholders’ expectations with regard to current developments on tariffs, renewable energy growth targets and compliance, the advent of competition, and public participation. It contributes a comparative understanding of the current issues, concerns and ideologies that characterise this transforming sector at the state level, interweaving electricity distribution trajectories and regional political economic developments to explain the dynamics of change and nature of resistance.
Renewable energy can provide sustainable energy services in rural areas. However, ensuring the continued functioning of the technology in remote locations has been a major challenge. The aim of this study is to identify strategies that have been most successful in enabling access to sustainable energy services in rural areas of developing countries. This thesis draws on literature from the fields of capacity development, technology studies, and renewable energy project implementation. The strategies were identified by comparing existing frameworks with empirical data from three case studies of renewable energy projects in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. Data for the case studies were collected via literature search, project document collection, site visits and interviews with a wide variety of stakeholders. The key findings of this thesis are that expanding energy access in developing countries will require significant capacity development efforts. Delivering energy services using decentralised renewable energy systems require the involvement of a diverse range of actors, including governments, program planners, equipment manufacturers, system designers, service networks and end-users. The most suitable delivery mechanism for sustainable energy services will vary from one location to another because of differences in the actors involved, their existing capacity and the history of their interaction. Assessing and building upon existing capacity is essential for delivering energy services in rural areas effectively. A major contribution of this thesis is the development of the “renewable energy capacity pyramid”, an analytical framework that explains how rural electrification projects can enhance local capacity in a systemic way. The framework includes tools; skills and knowledge; organisational structures; sectoral networks; and the institutional environment. This study found that the provision of sustainable energy services in rural areas of developing countries is most successful when each project contributes to the evolution of these interrelated elements over a long timeframe. The capacity pyramid can be used to guide the design and assessment of renewable energy rural electrification projects within China and in other developing countries. The framework also contributes to a deeper understanding of capacity development in other sectors, especially where infrastructure is central to the challenge of service provision.
The futures of energy are cosmopolitan, dynamic, and full of contradictions. There are multiple actors and institutions with multiple aims and interests advancing the futures of energy; at the same time, these futures are envisioned differently and will, therefore, be produced and negotiated heterogeneously. This context highlights that energy futures are not free of cultural, political, and economic influence, and hence can be best-approached with cosmopolitan and plural lenses. This collection evidences plurality in terms of the disparate geographic locations, disciplinary foundations, conceptual frameworks, and methodological choices of our authors and their papers. This breadth points to the many roads of imagining the sociotechnicality of energy futures and of making these expectations real and durable. We suggest embracing plurality and reflexivity, and understanding the politics of energy futures, at the same time that we also issue a caveat on the complexity of these processes. Claiming no comprehensiveness or closure, our collective contributions should be taken as works-in-progress in the unending quest to understand, analyze, and critique the plurality of the futures of energy and the ways we imagine, navigate, and contest them.
The futures of energy in developing countries need to be catalyzed, created, and nurtured in a process hinged towards achieving the ambitions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement. This paper looks at how Thailand produces this normative energy future. Using the STS concept of sociotechnical imaginaries and empirical evidence gathered through interviews and document analysis, this paper critically engages, describes, and compares the dominant and resistant imaginaries in the ongoing production of Thailand’s energy future. I highlight three core imaginaries and describe how they intertwine with political economy, are determined by value sets and value systems, and present either visions of continuity or transformation. The dominance and/or marginalization of an imaginary, it appears, are contingent upon issues of power and resources. This entails that the production of energy futures in Thailand and beyond would be an ongoing process intertwining with heterogeneous actors and institutions, their value systems, interests and politics. Understanding these tensions and allowing alternative imaginaries to permeate policy-setting processes would be key in delivering a coherent and effective public policy.
Despite significant natural potential for renewable energy in Argentina and the political intention to generate 8% of electricity from renewable sources by 2017, by 2016 the share was only 1.95%. Although this aggregated picture appears unfavourable, several diverse initiatives promoting the development and application of decentralised renewable energy technologies are in place across the country. The aim of this study is to characterise those initiatives promoting decentralised renewable energy and to assess their potential role in inducing the wider transformation of the Argentinian energy system. To achieve this, we apply conceptualisations for the development of sociotechnical niches and use qualitative research techniques to characterise the sociotechnical dynamics of the decentralised renewable energy sector in Argentina. A niche in an advanced stage of development, in which lessons are systematically aggregated in networks, was identified and examples of generic lessons being used to frame new projects or programmes were also found. In addition to considering the internal niche development processes, we investigate how external factors affect the development of the niche. Finally, we suggest two possible development pathways by which the niche might exert stronger influence on the broader sustainability transformation of the Argentinian power system.
Nearly a decade after the Philippines began promoting renewable energy through legislation, the country has seen gains and encountered roadblocks in its transition to low carbon. This paper examines the Philippines’ experience in attempting to escape conditions of lock-in and path dependency on fossil fuels, and attempting a governed transition to low-carbon energy sources. The Philippines is a developing country with substantial economic growth aspirations, yet it is among the most vulnerable to climate change, so it has great interest in mitigating global carbon emissions. Yet, the country itself is heavily dependent on imported coal for its energy needs. In the context of its existing regulatory and techno-institutional landscape, the authors examine the Philippine experience in governing its energy transition. The paper discusses challenges in balancing the trilemma of energy security, equity, and sustainability. It then identifies some priorities for the Philippines as it attempts to move away from fossil fuel dependency and accelerate its transition towards low-carbon energy. The authors consider developments beyond the energy sector, particularly the early entry-into-force of the Paris Agreement, as a tool to favor the trilemma’s sustainability pillar. The Philippine case may provide lessons for other developing countries undergoing their own transitions.
Although in academic literature several analyses can be found concerning energy policy instruments and their effectiveness in supporting renewables, usually no distinction is made between different investor groups that these instruments address. The present article focuses on an emerging group of investors, namely renewable energy communities, and on policy instruments fostering their operation and spread. The aim of the article is to assess and compare national support systems in Germany and in the Netherlands, respectively to identify which instruments are perceived as the ones most effectively supporting community-based renewable energy projects. To do so, first we adopt an investors’ risk framework to evaluate the effectiveness of support systems according to their ability to decrease investors’ risks, and we operationalize this framework by introducing indicators for a theory led analysis. Second, we also explore the investors’ perceptions of the policy instruments by conducting interviews with community members to see which instruments are perceived supportive in practice and which ones are less popular among community investors. Our results show that in both countries instruments designed and expected to reduce specific types of risk do not always achieve that goal practice, and this is reflected in the perception of the aforementioned investor groups.
The goal of providing universal energy access to all by 2030 under the UN ‐led SE4ALL initiative calls for new and innovative solutions to rural electrification and is fuelling the recent interest in mini‐grids. Mini‐grid solutions are emerging as a third alternative to rural electrification, coming between the option of large‐scale grid extension and pico‐scale stand‐alone solutions like solar home systems or solar lanterns. International expectations of mini‐grids are high, with the International Energy Agency suggesting that they will play a significant role in reaching the goal of universal access. Based on a detailed review of past, ongoing, and planned mini‐grids in East Africa, this study seeks to deconstructs the popular notion of mini‐grids for rural electrification in East Africa. The study reveals that so far activities carried out under the heading of mini‐grids to a large extent consist of the hybridization of existing utility‐owned electricity systems for medium‐size towns located far from the grid, which does not necessarily contribute to rural electrification. However, limited but increasing activity is identified regarding the use of mini‐grids to bring electricity to rural villages and smaller rural towns. This is of specific interest because it is for this type of mini‐grid that the main challenges are to be found with respect to identifying and testing adequate financing, ownership, and business models. Based on the trajectories identified for mini‐grids for rural electrification and the challenges identified in the literature, the study concludes by proposing three avenues for further research. WIREs Energy Environ 2016, 5:570–587. doi: 10.1002/wene.205
This article is categorized under: Energy and Development > Systems and Infrastructure
Energy and Development > Climate and Environment