A report on community mini-grids in Nepal, Peru and Kenya advises practitioners and institutions involved in rural electrification projects in developing countries to focus, in the project planning and implementation stages, on generating a sense of local responsibility for the electricity system and its upkeep across all key stakeholders, and to try to engage the private sector through more innovative partnerships and hybrid business models, among other ideas.
June 2012: The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) has released a report, titled “Delivery Models for Decentralised Rural Electrification: Case Studies in Nepal, Peru and Kenya,” which uses renewable energy mini-grid projects and programmes in each of the three countries to analyze the impact of delivery models for community mini-grids on the creation of sustainable welfare benefits.
The report’s five chapters address: rural electrification in developing countries; background to electrification in Nepal, Peru and Kenya; case studies; the impact of different delivery models; and reflections and lessons learned. The core recommendations of the report counsel practitioners and institutions to, among other things: focus, in the project planning and implementation stages, on generating a sense of local responsibility for the electricity system and its upkeep across all key stakeholders; attempt to influence and build the institutional framework and environment in which the project takes place; and try to engage the private sector through more innovative partnerships and hybrid business models. [Publication: Delivery Models for Decentralised Rural Electrification: Case Studies in Nepal, Peru and Kenya]