A “Quick Start Guide” For Ending Rural Energy Poverty
By William Brent, Power For All
Solving complex development issues doesn’t usually come with a quick start manual. New findings, however, suggest that delivering electricity access to 1 billion rural poor may be an exception.
It is now well understood that universal electricity access by 2030 (a core part of U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 7 -SDG 7) can only be achieved if decentralized renewable energy (DRE) — green micro-grids and rooftop solar paired with storage and ultra-efficiency appliances — gets adequate finance to reach scale quickly. And that can only happen if leaders overseeing international finance and national policy undergo a major shift in mindset.
A report released by Power for All in April not only identifies the most important national energy policies needed to kick-start ending electricity poverty for 1.1 billion people, it also offers governments in low energy access countries a framework for implementing those policies effectively, in particular by integrating DRE (also known as distributed or “off-grid) solutions into overall energy market and infrastructure design.
The report centers on new quantitative and qualitative analysis from the Platform for Energy Access Knowledge (PEAK) — a joint project between the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL), University of California, Berkeley and Power for All. PEAK examined the policies of five high-growth DRE markets — India and Bangladesh in Asia, and Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia in East Africa — to identify shared policies that correlate to growth.
“Decentralized renewable energy is the key to unlocking SDG 7. We’ve not only identified the policies necessary to jumpstart that process, but for the first time outlined specific actions that help national governments successfully implement these policies,” said Rebekah Shirley, Power for All research director and co-author of the report. “Energy access is possible, but only with political will and leadership at the national level.”
The Power for All report, titled “Decentralized Renewables: From Promise to Progress”, identified five policy levers that correlate to high-growth for DRE:
- Reduction of import duties and tariffs on DRE related products
- Support for the availability of local finance through loans and grants and microfinance
- Establishment of energy access targets or national commitments to electrification
- Establishment of rural electrification plans or programs that incorporate DRE
- Technical regulation through established licensing procedures for mini-grid operators and through adoption of quality standards for products and services
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