Session 11: Meeting the Challenges and Barriers of Energy Access

May 8th, 2018

The presentations in this session will feature project examples highlighting a range of specific challenges and barriers (spanning policy, regulation, technology, and finance) that affect the implementation of energy access initiatives. The presenters will explore how these barriers have been addressed to enable projects to succeed in providing affordable energy access in a sustainable manner.

 

Session Chair: Akanksha Chaurey, CEO, IT Power

Presenters

Porferio R. Jabla, Jr., Board Member, Yamog Renewable Energy Development Group, Inc.

Accelerating Energy Access in Off-Grid Communities in Rural Mindanao: Knowledge Transfer from Indonesia to the Philippines

Rural populations on the island of Mindanao face marginalization in the face of inequitable economic and separatist movements. In this difficult context, over the last 20 years the Yamog Renewable Energy Development Group, Inc. has pioneered community-managed minigrids for energy access. This presentation will discuss the core of its work: an approach to energy access that integrates watershed strengthening, local government partnership, and community governance of the technology, ensuring long lived minigrid projects. Having implemented more than 40 micro hydro and solar PV projects, Yamog now focuses on scaling its work with the establishment of the Renewable & Sustainable Energy Technologies (ReSET) Center in Mindanao, with the goal to accelerate minigrids deployment for energy access, by developing the skills of local youth and by synergizing the various energy access practitioners on the island.

Sohail Hasnie, Principal Energy Specialist, Energy Division, Central and West Asia Department, Asian Development Bank

Electricity-in-a-box—An Example of Technology Leapfrogging for Access to Energy

Cheap solar power and high density Lithium-ion battery technology is giving us an alternative technology solution to connect millions of people who do not have access to modern forms of lighting. This presentation will explain ADB’s concept design, and its pilot and scale up plans for off-grid solar using super-efficient 12 Volt DC appliances, solar panels and Lithium-ion battery. A full specification for the electricity-in-box solution will be made available to audience. Along the side of the presentation, the electricity-in-box solution will be available for demonstration.

Andre Susanto, Founder, PT Inovasi Dinamika Pratama

Indonesian Policies and Business Models for Rural Minigrids

Since 2012, the Indonesian government has funded, tendered and commissioned almost 600 solar PV and micro hydro systems across Indonesia’s remote communities. The asset ownership lies with the provincial government which appoints a community entity at a village administrative level to operate them. Surprisingly to many people, the majority of these sites are still operational even with unsophisticated operation and maintenance schedule and minimal monitoring and evaluation of their performance. Examples of how the systems are managed by the community members, including tariff collection, will be provided in this presentation.

Menaka Rajaguru, Assistant Director, Department of External Resources, Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs, Sri Lanka

A Forward March towards an Energy Empowered Nation – A Case Study in Sri Lanka

This presentation will discuss how Sri Lanka has achieved 100% electrification in the country, which has further triggered rapid development in rural areas and created new opportunities for investment. The presentation will explore the consistently applied national policy for providing electricity access to everyone, adaptation of innovative policies, strategies and the government’s moves to ensure adequate investments through various financial modalities. Having identifying diverse challenges in rural electrification; financial difficulties of the citizen, geographical barriers etc., the government took various approaches including extending electricity supply to premises of the households up to 50m, establishing a credit line for last-mile service connection to low-income households and recovering the loan in installments through a monthly electricity bill.

Mini Govindan, Fellow, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)

Breaking the Shackles: The Case of a Women-Run Energy Programme from Rural Bihar, India

Microfinance programs for women hold great promise, not only for accelerating universal energy access but for gender and social inclusion. This presentation will review a study conducted in rural Bihar, India, which analyzed the JEEViKA-TERI Programme, which created opportunities for women to be able to take decisions and own distributed renewable energy systems for lighting and cooking. The program not only helped to address material deprivation in energy-poor communities, but also created a sense of security, status and recognition for women in an otherwise socio-economically underdeveloped patriarchal society.