Renewable Energy: A New Pathway to Electricity for All

Renewable Energy: A New Pathway to Electricity for All

Early February turned out to be a very busy time for the countries
participating in the SREP - the Program for Scaling up Renewable Energy in
Low Income Countries - one of the four programs of the Climate Investment
Funds (CIF). First, representatives from over 20 SREP countries traveled to
Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for the SREP Pilot Countries Meeting, and then to Nay
Pyi Taw, Myanmar for a mini-grids learning event organized jointly by the
CIF and the World Bank Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP).

Cambodia is the newest SREP country that presented its investment plan last
June. Myanmar expressed its interest to join the SREP three years ago but
was not selected mainly due to the lack of an enabling policy environment
for renewable energy development. Both of these rapidly growing Southeast
Asian countries have set ambitious electrification targets. The Royal
Government of Cambodia aims to expand electricity grids to all villages by
2020 and to 70 percent of all households by 2030, while the Republic of the
Union of Myanmar is committed to achieving universal electricity access by
2030 through implementation of both grid and off-grid programs.

Renewable energy is at the nascent stage of development in these two
countries. Cambodia's electricity generation - growing at 20 percent a year
during the last five years - has been dominated by coal and large
hydropower. No doubt that Cambodia needs electricity - lots of it - in
order to power its economic growth and to lift the poor out of poverty.
Renewable energy has started to make its way to Cambodia, with the first 10
megawatt solar PV plant at Bavet under construction and scheduled to be
commissioned this year. It is a good beginning, but a lot more can be done.


According to a recent study by the Asian Development Bank, up to 1,000
megawatts of solar PV can be integrated into the grid in Cambodia. Biomass
and other renewable energy potential also exists that can be harnessed for
power generation, especially for those who do not have access to electricity
in rural areas. SREP meeting participants had the opportunity to visit the
operations of biogas digesters, rice husk gasifiers, and a rooftop PV system
installed by the newly opened Coca Cola plant in Phnom Penh.

We hope that the SREP is sowing the seeds in Cambodia for scaling up
renewable energy in the years to come.

In Myanmar, 70 percent of the population (in 2014) and 84 percent of the
rural households do not have access to grid electricity. The task to
achieve universal electricity access by 2030 is daunting, and the country's
aggressive grid expansion drive has been complemented by off-grid and
mini-grid programs. Participants of the CIF-ESMAP mini-grid learning event
visited two villages in central Myanmar that are currently served by
mini-grids, one powered by diesel and one by solar PV. Both are owned and
operated by the local Village Electricity Committee (VEC). The 10 kilowatt
diesel generator at Ton Lon Village serves about 30 percent of the 100
households in the village, and each household pays about a $2 monthly fee
for a 26-watt CFL or $3 to also include a television. That one CFL per
household is used to light either the house or a family business.

At Myin Chi Naing Village, we visited the newly-installed solar PV
mini-grids that are providing electricity to 200 households in the village.
The pilot project has benefited from a grant from the Asian Development Bank
that pays 80 percent of the capital costs to put the infrastructure in
place, such as power poles, solar panels, batteries, and meters.

200 households in Myin Chi Naing Village, Myanmar, get access to electricity
from newly-installed solar PV mini-grids
Each household has two 5-watt LED bulbs, and many also use the electricity
to charge cell phones and watch TV. But for now they can consume up to 3
kilowatt-hours per month, and pay about $1.2, based on their consumption.
The villagers are delighted that their houses - and their streets -are no
longer dark at night, and they all want to consume more.

The good news is that the private sector in Myanmar is gearing up and is
bullish on the solar business. Mr. Kyaw Min Tun, Managing Director of
SolaRiseSys, the company that installed the systems at Myin Chi Naing
Village, told me that they are ready to replicate and expand, even without
subsidies. What he needs is conducive mini-grid policies and regulations by
the government.

The pathway to electrification in most countries in the past has been
through the expansion of the national electricity grids and by adding
thermal and hydropower generating units. For the developing countries in
Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, where 1.1 billion people still live without
electricity, a new pathway is needed to "ensure access to affordable,
reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all", set forth by the world
leaders as one of the Sustainable Development Goals. With technological
advancements and cost reduction, renewable energy, especially solar, has
emerged as a viable option to achieve universal energy access by 2030, while
renewable energy mini-grids have the potential to bring electricity to rural
villages, before the main grid arrives, if ever.

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Link to Original Article:
https://www-cif.climateinvestmentfunds.org/blog/new-pathway-electricity-all

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com