There are close to 1.5 billion people in the world without access to electricity, more than half in the Asia-Pacific region. Unfortunately, in today’s world it is almost impossible to find viable income--generating activities without access to electricity
Renewable energy technologies (RETs) are invaluable to those who live outside the boundaries of power grids. The Renewable Energy Policy Network for the Twenty-First Century (REN21) estimates that there are tens of millions of rural households served by renewable energy around the globe. However, this still translates into a mere drop in the ocean.
Why doesn’t the power grid reach these households in the first place? For starters, they are typically located in remote villages where grid access is prohibitively expensive. Governments lack both the means and motivation, owing to their inability to recoup costs from poor villagers, often because subsidized electricity prices depress revenues. In some cases, grid expansion makes sense after removing these distortions. However, where the villages and households are too remote, expanding the grid will never make economic sense.
These households resort to traditional fuels such as wood, oil and candles for heating and lighting, leading to severe indoor pollution, not to mention chronic fire hazards. Study after study has shown the devastating effects that indoor pollution has on women, children and public-health finances. Moreover, these fuels are not cheap, costing isolated households a significant proportion of their income.
Off-grid RETs represent a viable solution and come in various forms: solar home systems, mini-hydroelectric generators, rooftop wind turbines and village-level mini-grids using a mix of diesel generators and local renewable sources, to name a few. A solar home system connects a photovoltaic panel to florescent lightbulbs, radio and even TV, via a battery and load controller. A World Bank study has shown that a 20-watt solar home system can cut monthly kerosene consumption in rural households by roughly 15 liters.
Many ask why the most expensive technology should be used for the poorest people. A 20-watt panel could cost roughly US$200 — a huge sum for households earning US$2,000 or less annually. However, with installment financing, monthly costs become not only manageable, but competitive with traditional fuels. The monthly leasing cost of the 20-watt panel in question, when stretched over 10 years, can be as little as US$1.60. And off-grid RETs offer tangible benefits: better lighting, a safe and smoke-free home environment and the opportunity to connect to the world through TV or radio.
Governments in poor and developing countries have been promoting projects to distribute off-grid RETs for decades, supported by multilateral institutions, bilateral aid programs or non-governmental organizations. The private sector has typically stayed out, owing to long cost-recovery periods, small market size and lack of consumer credit.
However, the nature of these projects is now changing. The often-debilitating impact of the traditional foreign-aid model on developing countries’ nascent private sectors has led to a fundamental reconsideration. New projects are more market-driven, with donors’ focus gradually shifting to building the capacity of domestic regulatory and technical institutions, and to strengthening the position of existing private-sector firms to serve the market.
It was precisely such a model that led to the emergence in China of the World Bank’s famous “Golden Sun” standard for solar panels, which focused disproportionately on strengthening technical institutions. The project is often credited for leading to the boom in manufacturing of photovoltaic panels in China, which has dethroned Germany and the US to become the world’s largest producer.
There are many ways to undertake rural electrification using off-grid RETs. Governments can choose household-level technologies or village-level micro-grids; involve aid donors or use other modes of financing; offer subsidies to encourage private entrepreneurs or energy-service concessions to existing utilities; lease the equipment by providing consumer credit or sell it up front.
The important thing is to recognize that there is a broad spectrum of available options and that efforts need to be ramped up on a massive scale. In India alone, every third person lacks access to electricity. If we want to avoid isolating communities and ensure inclusive economic growth, we need to start with the basics.
Malavika Jain Bambawale is a research fellow at the Center on Asia and Globalization at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore. The views expressed here are her own.
Copyright: Project Syndicate
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.
As Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu’s party won by a landslide in Sunday’s parliamentary election, it is a good time to take another look at recent developments in the Maldivian foreign policy. While Muizzu has been promoting his “Maldives First” policy, the agenda seems to have lost sight of a number of factors. Contemporary Maldivian policy serves as a stark illustration of how a blend of missteps in public posturing, populist agendas and inattentive leadership can lead to diplomatic setbacks and damage a country’s long-term foreign policy priorities. Over the past few months, Maldivian foreign policy has entangled itself in playing