REA handbook for field auditors

Form FI-176, Revised March 194

Rural Electrification Programmes in Kenya : Policy Conclusion from a Valuation Study

Developing countries have struggled with low electrification rates in the rural areas. This study investigates one major issue impeding the rural electrification programmes in rural Kenya: high connection payments. The paper uses estimates obtained from a stated preference study, namely a contingent valuation method completed in 2007, to examine the willingness to pay to connect to grid-electricity and photovoltaic services. Expanding rural electrification will need subsidies, but the study shows that some forms of subsidy are more effective than others. The key findings suggest that the government needs to reform the energy subsidies, increase market ownership and performance of private suppliers, establish financial schemes and create markets that vary according to social-economic and demographic groups.rural electrification; willingness to pay (wtp); affordability; sub-saharan africa; energy

Welfare impacts of rural electrification : evidence from Vietnam

Access to electricity is crucial for economic development and there is a growing body of literature on the impact of rural electrification on development. However, most studies have so far relied on cross-sectional surveys comparing households with and without electricity, which have well known causal attribution problems. This paper is one of the first studies to examine the welfare impacts of households’ rural electrification based on panel surveys conducted in 2002 and 2005 for some 1,100 households in rural Vietnam,. The findings indicate that grid electrification has been both extensive (connecting all surveyed communes by 2005) and intensive (connecting almost 80 percent of the surveyed households by 2005). Vietnam is unusual in that once electricity is locally available, both rich and poor households are equally likely to get the connection. The econometric estimations suggest that grid electrification has significant positive impacts on households’ cash income, expenditure, and educational outcomes. The benefits, however, reach a saturation point after prolonged exposure to electricity. Finally, this study recommends investigating the long-term benefits of rural electrification - not just for households, but for the rural economy as a whole.Energy Production and Transportation,Electric Power,Engineering,Access to Finance,Rural Poverty Reduction

Rural electrification in central america and east africa, two case studies of sustainable microgrids

This paper deals with the electrification of rural villages in developing countries using Sustainable Energy Systems. The rural electrification feasibility study is done using Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable PRO (HOMER PRO). The HOMER PRO energy modelling software is an optimization software improved by U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. It helps in designing, comparing and optimizing the design of power generation technologies. In this paper, two rural electrification case studies are modelled and analysed using HOMER PRO. Technical and economic evaluation criteria are applied to study the feasibility of a micro-hydro plant in El Díptamo (Honduras), and a hybrid plant composed of photovoltaic module arrays, Diesel generators, and flow batteries, in a small island on Victoria Lake. For both cases, we show the results of the studies of the daily and yearly loads, of the resources available in the area and the economic evaluation of the chosen plants configuration

Welfare impacts of rural electrification : a case study from Bangladesh

Lack of access to electricity is one of the major impediments to growth and development of the rural economies in developing countries. That is why access to modern energy, in particular to electricity, has been one of the priority themes of the World Bank and other development organizations. Using a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2005 of some 20,000 households in rural Bangladesh, this paper studies the welfare impacts of households'grid connectivity. Based on rigorous econometric estimation techniques, this study finds that grid electrification has significant positive impacts on households'income, expenditure, and educational outcomes. For example, the gain in total income due to electrification can be as much as 30 percent and as low as 9 percent. Benefits go up steadily as household exposure to grid electrification (measured by duration) increases and eventually reach a plateau. This paper also finds that rich households benefit more from electrification than poor households. Finally, estimates also show that income benefits of electrification on an average exceed cost by a wide margin.Energy Production and Transportation,Access to Finance,Engineering,Electric Power,Rural Poverty Reduction

Solar PV rural electrification and energy-poverty: A review and conceptual framework with reference to Ghana

In spite of the intention of governments to increase the use of renewable energy in electricity supply, particularly the use of solar photovoltaic (PV) for energy poverty reduction in rural and peri-urban areas of Africa, there is relatively little information on how solar PV electrification impacts on energy poverty reduction. Therefore, there is a gap in the literature and hence the need for continuous research. Using Ghana as a reference country, the historical trend, donor cooperation and other aspects of solar PV rural electrification are discussed . The paper illustrates the intersectoral linkages of solar PV electrification and indicators on education, health, information acquisition, agriculture and micro-enterprises. It also reviews sustainability related issues including costs and market barriers, subsidies, stakeholders involvement, political and policy implications, which are critical factors for sustainable market development of solar PV and other renewables. Finally, a common framework is developed to provide a basic understanding of how solar PV electrification impacts on energy-poverty. This framework provides a structure of the interrelated concepts and principles relevant to the issues under review.Rural electrification; solar PV electrification; energy-poverty; renewable energy; economic development; Ghana; Africa

Impacts of power sector reforms on rural electrification in the Philippines : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Inspired by neo-liberal principles, waves of electricity industry reforms have swept the world over the last two decades. To a great extent, the traditional government-extended electrification service was transferred to the hands of private actors and market forces. While these reforms are expected to bring about efficiency gains as a result of market liberalization and private competition, the provision of electrification service to relatively poorer rural areas is less certain. In this light, it is of great interest in development studies to therefore understand the impacts of these reforms on the delivery of public service goals in cash-strapped developing countries like the Philippines. Through assessments of relevant Philippine government data and case study findings, this thesis outlines how the restructured Philippine electricity industry has impacted on the accessibility, service quality and affordability of electrification, especially in rural areas. In a nutshell, electricity industry restructuring in the Philippines resulted in better delivery of public service goals to the rural beneficiaries, but not necessarily resulting from privatization, competition and deregulation that is fostered by a free market regime

Explaining Rwanda's prioritisation of rural electrification over rural clean drinking water through institutional path dependency

The Tennessee Valley Authority and Rural Electrification Administration became the World Bank's template of choice for development projects. They remained so due to both institutional inertia within the World Bank and path dependent thinking of electrification as a means to economic growth. Consequently, electrification took the front seat for development projects worldwide, extending to rural areas, while water remains perceived as an amenity, rather than as economic infrastructure. This explains in part why the Government of Rwanda has prioritised rural electrification over rural clean drinking water in spite of recent evidence showing that rural electrification does not deliver growth in the Rwandan context

Rural electrification in Spain: territorial expansion and effects on the agricultural sector (c. 1900–c. 2000)

Rural electrification is closely linked one way or another to rural development, and enables the understanding of the complexity of social and economic development paths. The objective of this work is to analyse rural electrification in a European peripherical country like Spain throughout the twentieth century, contributing to the international debate on the issue. The article studies the territorial expansion of electricity in the Spanish countryside, tracing different phases and explaining the delay in the construction of a national network. It also analyses the relationship that arose in the long term between electrification and the evolution of the agricultural sector. The article concludes that, in the Spanish case, rural electrification played a modest role in agricultural change until the 1980s and was, to a great extent, the consequence, rather than the cause, of the modernisation of the sector to these years.Spanish Government PGC2018-096640-B-I0