And then they lived sustainably ever after?—Assessment of rural electrification cases by means of indicators

Ilskog, Elisabeth; Kjellström, Björn

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2008.03.022

Cited by 95 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 5 publications

(5 reference statements)

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“…Failures in rural electrification have often been attributed to the lack of coherence in the legal frame (laws, regulations and standards) [25,27,29] or the absence of proper standards [31,32]. White et al [33] have also shown how unexpected policy changes can have negative impacts on investments and cause uncertainty.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Institutional sustainability demands for stability/durability [25][26][27][28][29][30], technical and service standards, as well as coherence between laws and regulations [24][25][26][27]. Failures in rural electrification have often been attributed to the lack of coherence in the legal frame (laws, regulations and standards) [25,27,29] or the absence of proper standards [31,32].…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sustainability of Off-Grid Photovoltaic Systems for Rural Electrification in Developing Countries: A Review

Féron

2016

Sustainability

110

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Abstract:A review on rural electrification programs and projects based on off-grid Photovoltaic (PV) systems, including Solar Pico Systems (SPS) and Solar Home Systems (SHS) in Developing Countries (DCs) was conducted. The goal was to highlight the main multidimensional drawbacks that may constrain the sustainability of these systems. Four dimensions of sustainability (institutional, economic, environmental and socio-cultural) were considered in this review. It was found that institutional flaws (such as the scarcity of durability/stability and enforcement of formal institutions, weak regulations or standards, incomplete decentralization/participation and the lack of institutional adaptability) seriously compromise the sustainability of rural electrification efforts in DCs. While the lack of an effective focalized subsidy scheme (e.g., cross-tariff scheme) for the electricity tariffs of the poor population often made projects economically unsustainable, the scarcity of environmental awareness, regulations or incentives has often turned presumably clean energy technologies into environmentally unsustainable projects. Progress regarding social acceptance, accuracy and cultural justice is urgently needed for ensuring the socio-cultural sustainability of rural electrification efforts in DCs. This review may help stakeholders to identify and (based on prior experiences) address the most severe drawbacks affecting the sustainability of rural electrification efforts in DCs.

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Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability of Off-Grid Photovoltaic Systems for Rural Electrification in Developing Countries: A Review

Féron

2016

Sustainability

110

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“…The importance of culture (traditions, values, identities, and cultural diversity) for sustainability has been stressed elsewhere (e.g., [26,35,53,56]). In this regard, cultural justice refers to justice through participation, as well as mutual learning and knowledge sharing [57].…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Failures in rural electrification have often been attributed to the lack of coherence in the legal frame (laws, regulations, and standards) [21][22][23], or the absence of proper standards (e.g., [24,25]). Therefore, strengthened formal institutions are considered to be essential for rural electrification [21][22][23]26,27]. According to Levitsky and Murillo [28], two factors determine the strength of formal institutions: their enforcement and their stability (durability).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…public agencies, NPOs, and private companies) on the other hand (see, e.g., [32,33]). These studies underline the importance of openness to participation in the decision-making process by considering the role of informal institutions [22,26]. Decentralization has also been stressed for facilitating participative decision-making, improving in turn the accountability of authorities [34], as well as the adaptability (i.e., the ability to meet the changing needs of the population in remote areas) [30,[35][36][37][38].…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Are the Rural Electrification Efforts in the Ecuadorian Amazon Sustainable?

2016

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Abstract:In this paper, we assess the sustainability of rural electrification programs in Ecuador, paying special attention to programs targeting small indigenous communities in the Amazon basin. Our assessment considers four dimensions of sustainability (institutional, economic, environmental, and socio-cultural) and is based on an exhaustive qualitative document analysis, complemented by semi-structured expert interviews. We found that disruptive changes have affected the electrification policies in Ecuador during decades of avoiding the development of strengthened institutions. Despite this major drawback, we found that there is a consensus on granting access to energy for all. This partially explains the national efforts, persistent through different administrations to fund rural electrification. However, in the case of off-grid photovoltaic solutions, these efforts have consistently neglected allocating funds for operation and maintenance, which has seriously compromised the sustainability. Moreover, although Ecuadorian officials declared to favor stand-alone photovoltaic systems in the case of indigenous communities in the Amazon, we found that environmental or socio-cultural aspects have a minor role in the selection of these systems. Progress regarding environmental awareness, social acceptance, and cultural justice, is still needed for ensuring the sustainability of rural electrification efforts in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

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Developing and Testing a Best Practice Framework for Energy Access Interventions

Chen¹,

Narkeviciute

Haselip

et al. 2015

Sustainable Development

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This article presents an attempt to operationalize the concept of "best practice", as applied to project-based interventions to expand energy access in developing countries. To this end a methodology has been developed to quantify project performance across five dimensions, each informed by three key indicators, and aggregate these into a composite indicator, using weights obtained from a survey of experts. The experience demonstrates the inherent limitations in developing a 'one-size-fits-all' methodology, revealing the implicit tension between the political desire to refer to objective, absolute, measures of best practice vs.highly contextual realities where baselines are often lacking. However the methodology does offer a comparative means to highlight the relative strengths and weaknesses of any given project, enabling both ex-post assessments and project learning. The study features an analysis of cases selected from the Energy Access Knowledge Base, published by the Global

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And then they lived sustainably ever after?—Assessment of rural electrification cases by means of indicators

Cited by 95 publications

References 5 publications

Sustainability of Off-Grid Photovoltaic Systems for Rural Electrification in Developing Countries: A Review

Sustainability of Off-Grid Photovoltaic Systems for Rural Electrification in Developing Countries: A Review

Are the Rural Electrification Efforts in the Ecuadorian Amazon Sustainable?

Developing and Testing a Best Practice Framework for Energy Access Interventions

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