Synopsis
Most Sub-Saharan African countries try to promote rural electrification through both centralized and decentralized approaches. This guide focuses on the decentralized approach, providing practical guidance on how small power producers and mini-grid operators can deliver both electrification and renewable energy in rural areas. It describes four basic types of on- and off-grid small power producers, as well as several hybrid combinations that are emerging in Africa and elsewhere. The guide highlights the ground-level regulatory and policy questions that must be answered by electricity regulators, rural energy agencies, and ministries to promote commercially sustainable investments by private operators and community organizations. Among the practical questions addressed is how to design and implement retail tariffs, quality of service standards, feed-in tariffs, and backup tariffs. The guide also analyzes the regulatory implementation issues triggered by donor grants and so-called top-up payments. It provides a primer for nonengineers on interconnection and operating standards for small power producers connected to main grids and isolated mini-grids. It analyzes whether the option of small power distributors, used widely in Asia, could be employed in Sub-Saharan Africa, and addresses two often ignored questions: what to do “when the big grid connects to the little grid” and how to practice light-handed regulation. Finally, the guide considers the threshold question of when to regulate and when to deregulate tariffs. All these implementation issues are presented with specific ground-level options and recommendations rather than just general pronouncements. In addition, to make the discussion more useful to practitioners, the guide provides numerous real-world examples of successful and unsuccessful regulatory and policy actions taken in Kenya, South Africa, and Tanzania, as well as Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Many of the decisions are inherently controversial because they directly affect the economic interests of investors and consumers. The guide highlights rather than hides these real-world controversies by drawing upon candid comments of key stakeholders―national utility managers, mini-grid operators, government officials, and and consumers.
Review
'This book was desperately needed. For distributed generation and mini-grids, the fastest-growing element of the global energy equation, it fills the often wide gap between general policy pronouncements and the day-to-day ground-level implementation issues that confront practitioners in Africa and other developing regions. The book does this in a way that is eminently readable while also highlighting (rather than hiding) real-world controversies that exist between different stakeholder groups.' --Daniel M. Kammen, Professor at the Energy and Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley, Former Chief Technical Specialist for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, World Bank Group
'This book is unusual in that it also covers the unspoken areas that typically play more significant roles in policy formulation for this sector. As the first greenfield SPP developer in Tanzania, we have faced virtually all of the issues raised in this book during the course of project development and implementation. If this book had been available when we first began developing our project, a very significant amount of time, effort, and frustration would have been saved by all parties involved the developer, the grid operator, and the regulator.' --Mike Gratwicke, Technical Director, Rift Valley Energy
'This book will be genuinely helpful to African electricity regulators and policy makers who deal with rural electrification and renewable energy. It addresses real-world problems and offers real-world solutions.' --Elijah Sichone, Executive Secretary, Regional Electricity Regulators Association of Southern Africa
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