Off-grid solar market in Rwanda: Integrated SWOT analysis

Niyigena, Jeanne Baptiste; Wang, Yongli

doi:10.1109/icecet52533.2021.9698740

Cited by 1 publication

(8 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Electricity access plays a vital role in accelerating economic development and improving the standards of living [1]. Rwanda has a lower starting point for electrification compared to other countries in Africa [2]. In 2000, only 6.2% of the population had access to electricity [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 2000, only 6.2% of the population had access to electricity [3]. The government of Rwanda has a target for electrifying the whole country with 52% on grid and 48% off grid by 2024 [2], attaching great importance to the promotion of electrification. Evaluation of the expected electrification progress is important for Rwanda and can help the national government and international community to adjust the electrification strategy for this country.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In many African countries, power grid expansion has been proved to be the greatest way to increase electrification [2]. However, the conventional electricity supply system provided by grid expansion is economically unfeasible for people living in rural areas who are far from the existing power grid [33][34][35][36][37].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the conventional electricity supply system provided by grid expansion is economically unfeasible for people living in rural areas who are far from the existing power grid [33][34][35][36][37]. Recently, off-grid access has served as an alternative with lower costs and higher efficiency and has the potential to deliver equally technically and economically feasible electrification solutions for rural households and those without access to the grid [2]. The government of Rwanda has supported offgrid electricity generation to increase electricity access and inexpensive systems [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, off-grid access has served as an alternative with lower costs and higher efficiency and has the potential to deliver equally technically and economically feasible electrification solutions for rural households and those without access to the grid [2]. The government of Rwanda has supported offgrid electricity generation to increase electricity access and inexpensive systems [2]. Now, Rwanda's off-grid electricity market is dominated by the Solar Home System (SHS), providing 550,000 people with access [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tracking Spatiotemporal Patterns of Rwanda’s Electrification Using Multi-Temporal VIIRS Nighttime Light Imagery

Belay

2022

Remote Sensing

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After recovering from the Rwanda Genocide in the last century, Rwanda is experiencing rapid economic growth and urban expansion. With increasing demand for electricity and a strong desire to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is significant to further investigate the electrification progress in Rwanda. This study analyzes the characteristics of electrification in Rwanda from 2012 to 2020 using VIIRS nighttime light imagery. Firstly, by analysis of the nighttime light change patterns on a national scale, we find that the electrification in Rwanda is seriously unbalanced, as electrification progress in Kigali is much faster than that in the rest of the country. Secondly, there is a common phenomenon where power grid expansion in Rwanda fails to keep pace with rapid urbanization, especially in areas with an inadequate electricity infrastructure foundation. Quantitatively, original electricity infrastructure level shows a positive impact on the grid access of new settlements, with an R2 value of 0.695 in the linear regression. In addition, new settlements inside the urban boundary tend to achieve more extensive grid access compared to those outside the boundary. Finally, the grid access rates are calculated on multi-spatial scales. By comparing the calculated results with the official electricity access rate data, we analyze the development of off-grid access in Rwanda. The results imply that, since 2016, off-grid access has rapidly developed in Rwanda, especially in the rural areas, playing an important role in achieving the SDGs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%