From the Bottom Up : How Small Power Producers and Mini-Grids Can Deliver Electrification and Renewable Energy in Africa

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 rene...

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Main Authors:	Tenenbaum, Bernard, Greacen, Chris, Siyambalapitiya, Tilak, Knuckles, James
Format:	Publication
Language:	en_US
Published:	Washington, DC: World Bank 2014
Subjects:	carbon credits decentralized electrification distributed generation electricity regulation electrification feed-in tariffs hybrid generators mini-grids off-grid regulation renewable energy rural electrification small distributors small power producers
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16571

id	okr-10986-16571
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-165712021-04-23T14:03:31Z From the Bottom Up : How Small Power Producers and Mini-Grids Can Deliver Electrification and Renewable Energy in Africa Tenenbaum, Bernard Greacen, Chris Siyambalapitiya, Tilak Knuckles, James carbon credits decentralized electrification distributed generation electricity regulation electrification feed-in tariffs hybrid generators mini-grids off-grid regulation renewable energy rural electrification small distributors small power producers 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. 2014-01-15T20:33:00Z 2014-01-15T20:33:00Z 2014-01-15 978-1-4648-0093-1 10.1596/978-1-4648-0093-1 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16571 en_US Directions in Development--Energy and Mining; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank Washington, DC: World Bank Publications & Research :: Publication Publications & Research Africa
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	en_US
topic	carbon credits decentralized electrification distributed generation electricity regulation electrification feed-in tariffs hybrid generators mini-grids off-grid regulation renewable energy rural electrification small distributors small power producers
spellingShingle	carbon credits decentralized electrification distributed generation electricity regulation electrification feed-in tariffs hybrid generators mini-grids off-grid regulation renewable energy rural electrification small distributors small power producers Tenenbaum, Bernard Greacen, Chris Siyambalapitiya, Tilak Knuckles, James From the Bottom Up : How Small Power Producers and Mini-Grids Can Deliver Electrification and Renewable Energy in Africa
geographic_facet	Africa
relation	Directions in Development--Energy and Mining;
description	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.
format	Publications & Research :: Publication
author	Tenenbaum, Bernard Greacen, Chris Siyambalapitiya, Tilak Knuckles, James
author_facet	Tenenbaum, Bernard Greacen, Chris Siyambalapitiya, Tilak Knuckles, James
author_sort	Tenenbaum, Bernard
title	From the Bottom Up : How Small Power Producers and Mini-Grids Can Deliver Electrification and Renewable Energy in Africa
title_short	From the Bottom Up : How Small Power Producers and Mini-Grids Can Deliver Electrification and Renewable Energy in Africa
title_full	From the Bottom Up : How Small Power Producers and Mini-Grids Can Deliver Electrification and Renewable Energy in Africa
title_fullStr	From the Bottom Up : How Small Power Producers and Mini-Grids Can Deliver Electrification and Renewable Energy in Africa
title_full_unstemmed	From the Bottom Up : How Small Power Producers and Mini-Grids Can Deliver Electrification and Renewable Energy in Africa
title_sort	from the bottom up : how small power producers and mini-grids can deliver electrification and renewable energy in africa
publisher	Washington, DC: World Bank
publishDate	2014
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16571
_version_	1764434231895785472

From the Bottom Up : How Small Power Producers and Mini-Grids Can Deliver Electrification and Renewable Energy in Africa

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