Post on 22-Mar-2018
Practical Action’s work on decentralized energy access 40 years experience working on energy access
Direct work on over 500 mini-grids & catalysed thousands more
Trained thousands of operators, micro-entrepreneurs, suppliers
Advising governments, private sector, academia and civil society around theworld
Key knowledge producer and discourse shaper through our Poor People’s Energy Outlook series
Necessary but not sufficient
Our Unique Selling Point
- Energy systems, not energy projects
- People centred approach and community engagement, particularly ofmarginalized & vulnerable groups
- Convening CSOs, facilitating effective multi-stakeholder engagementwhile reaching high level profile stakeholders & audiences
- Raising awareness and changingbehaviour to mainstreamdistributed renewable energy andknowledge management
- Market-building, productive usesof energy and women’sempowerment.
What are Productive Uses
of Energy (PUE)?
PUE: activities which use electricity that enhance
income and employment
Examples: carpentry, food/milk cooling, ice-making, irrigation and
water pumping, metalwork, food drying, poultry hatcheries, feed
production, milling…
Why PUE matters? 1 – enables rural
development …
Mechanism to improve incomes and livelihoods and create jobs
Can support existing businesses and enable new businesses
… and 2- Supports financial sustainability
PUE best way to increase demand, therefore improving
commercial viability of energy projects
But PUE doesn’t happen organically – access alone
is not enough!
– Energy providers need to play an active role
– PUE can’t be an afterthought
Success Story –
Sustainable Energy 4 Rural
Communities (SE4RC)
Gwanda district (Zimbabwe) and Chikwawa and Nsanje
districts of Malawi
5 mini-grid systems -174 kW – energy provision to 30.000
users
Funded by the EU
(2015-2019)
Stimulation of Productive
Uses of Energy
Management
Registered 5 CESCOs
Tariff scheme and norms
PUE
16 Energy Kiosks
established (ICT, recharging,
retail,…)
˃ 60 ha irrigation schemes
Success Story – SE4RC
Main messages and lessons
Access to Energy alone is not enough. Productive Uses of
Energy (PUE) is key to ensure mini-grid financial viability.
More inter-agency work needed (agriculture/water/energy)
Mini-grid early design stages shall include
participatory/market analysis mechanisms in order to
reduce the risk of failure.
Community Engagement and electricity demand analysis
are crucial for driving successful business models.