Page 9 - Oasys South Asia Research Project - Towards Scaling Up of Electricity Access
P. 9
1 Introduction 3
Introduction
The Sustainable Energy for All initiative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations
(UN) in 2012 has crystallized the global attention on the energy access challenge.
It is estimated that about 1.3 billion people in the world in 2012 did not have access
to electricity and 2.6 billion did not have access to clean cooking energies (WEO
2014). It was further suggested (IEA 2011) that the universal access to sustainable
energy will not be achieved unless significant investment is targeted towards energy
access provision.
Electricity has traditionally been supplied through a grid system which
transported and delivered electricity from centralized power stations. However, with
the emergence of new generation technologies, there has been a shift away from central
stations leading to an alternative decentralized approach to delivering electricity. The
decentralization can lead to grid-connected or off-grid (stand-alone) options. When a
decentralized solution is not connected to the grid, it is known as an off-grid solution
(see Fig. 1.1 for a pictorial view). An off-grid electricity supply can take two forms—
individual product-based solutions and collective network-based solutions:
55 Individual solutions normally involve sale of a product or a service that enables
individual users to produce or generate a small quantity of electrical energy (often
at a low voltage) to meet some basic household needs of lighting or providing
energy for running simple electrical appliances, such as a television, a radio, a
fan, or such other items. Although the literature focuses mostly on renewable
technology options [such as Solar Home Systems (SHS) or solar lanterns or
battery systems], petroleum-fuel based small generating systems are widely used
in many developing countries either as the principal source of electricity or as a
backup system. The business activity depends on the product or service provided
and the business arrangement/ contractual arrangement used in a particular case.
For example, in the case of SHS systems, the business activity generally takes
the form of an equipment sale, followed by a regular maintenance arrangement
of the equipment when the purchaser takes the outright ownership. In a hiring
Introduction
The Sustainable Energy for All initiative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations
(UN) in 2012 has crystallized the global attention on the energy access challenge.
It is estimated that about 1.3 billion people in the world in 2012 did not have access
to electricity and 2.6 billion did not have access to clean cooking energies (WEO
2014). It was further suggested (IEA 2011) that the universal access to sustainable
energy will not be achieved unless significant investment is targeted towards energy
access provision.
Electricity has traditionally been supplied through a grid system which
transported and delivered electricity from centralized power stations. However, with
the emergence of new generation technologies, there has been a shift away from central
stations leading to an alternative decentralized approach to delivering electricity. The
decentralization can lead to grid-connected or off-grid (stand-alone) options. When a
decentralized solution is not connected to the grid, it is known as an off-grid solution
(see Fig. 1.1 for a pictorial view). An off-grid electricity supply can take two forms—
individual product-based solutions and collective network-based solutions:
55 Individual solutions normally involve sale of a product or a service that enables
individual users to produce or generate a small quantity of electrical energy (often
at a low voltage) to meet some basic household needs of lighting or providing
energy for running simple electrical appliances, such as a television, a radio, a
fan, or such other items. Although the literature focuses mostly on renewable
technology options [such as Solar Home Systems (SHS) or solar lanterns or
battery systems], petroleum-fuel based small generating systems are widely used
in many developing countries either as the principal source of electricity or as a
backup system. The business activity depends on the product or service provided
and the business arrangement/ contractual arrangement used in a particular case.
For example, in the case of SHS systems, the business activity generally takes
the form of an equipment sale, followed by a regular maintenance arrangement
of the equipment when the purchaser takes the outright ownership. In a hiring
