Presentation WAME workshop June 17, 2015

1. Workshop: «Renewable Energy
and Innovation towards
Sustainable Energy for All»
Community involvement in rural electrification:
the practitioner perspective
Paolo Biella, Corporate Relations Manager – ACRA-CCS

2. ARE: Who we are, what we do
• International business association representing the decentralized energy sector
working towards the integration on renewables into rural electrification markets in
developing and emerging countries
• Enabling improved energy access through business development support for more
than 90 members along the whole value chain off-grid technologies by targeted
advocacy and facilitating access to international and regional funding
• Global platform for sharing knowledge and best practices to provide for rapid
implementation of available and advances RE technologies and services

3. MAWENGI – 2006 / 2014
HYDROPOWER PLANT
300KW built
ISOLATED, OFF-GRID
MANAGED BY LUMAMA
9 VILLAGES
1.400 CONNECTIONS
10k out of 20k PEOPLE
conntected
LUGARAWA– 2014 -
HYDROPOWER PLANT
1.7 MW to be constructed
WILL BE MANAGED BY
CO LTD
WILL BE CONNECTED TO
NATIONAL GRID
20 VILLAGES
4.000 CONNECTIONS
51.000 PEOPLE
ACRA experience
Projects co-funded by

4. ACRA approach: energy focus, sustainable
solutions through participatory process
Assessment and consultaton with communities and stakeholders
Convergence between communities, district and
village authorities, NGOs, private sector, research academy
Strong focus on human and social capital development
by setting community based social enterprises

5. Barriers
Assessment and consultaton with community and stakeholders
Convergence between communities, district and village authorities,
NGOs, private sector, academy
Strong focus on human and social capital development
by setting community based social enterprises
Feasibility studies, enviromental impact assessments and bureaucratic
procedures affect more heavily small clean energy mini grid projects
than bigger investments
Lowering connection costs to enable people to get access in rural
marginalized areas to increase the outreach
Isolated mini-grid can be profitable though much depends on the
community’s electricity use

6. Drivers
Unlock economic opportunities through SME and Households savings

7. Drivers
Improving quality of life

8. Drivers
Perceived benefits
across community in health and education

9. Drivers
Ownership

10. Community involvement models
• Full ownership of the power plant through a community-based social
enterprise: consumers are members (Mawengi –LUMAMA example)
• Consumers’ association as majority or minority shareholder together with
other public/non profit/private stakeholders (Lugarawa example)
• Split ownership between Production and Distribution (to be tested):
 Production entails big investments and sometimes sophisticated
technologies: more appropriate for private investors
 Communities could participate to the ownership of Distribution
networks, easier to manage

11. Get in touch with us on are@ruralelec.org and www.ruralelec.org !
• Events:
• 18-20 June: Vienna Energy Forum, Vienna (AT)
• 25-26 Sep: Phaesun Off-Grid Experts Workshop, Memmingen (DE)
• 4-7 Oct: SAIREC 2015, Cape Town (SA)
• ARE is part of the SE4All HIO Clean Energy Mini-grids: check out the overview
of public, philanthropic and commercial sources of funding, technical and
other support available for the implementation of clean energy mini-grids on
http://www.se4all.org/hio/clean-energy-mini-grids/
Alliance for Rural Electrification
Rue d’Arlon 69-71
1040 Brussels, Belgium
are@ruralelec.org
www.ruralelec.org
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