Grid and off-grid rural electrification and poverty alleviation: Lessons from Zimbabwe

1
Grid and off-grid rural electrification and
poverty alleviation Lessons from Zimbabwe

• Presented at the EUEI facilitation workshop and
  policy dialogue
• 12-15 April 2005
• Maputo, Mozambique
• Maxwell C Mapako

2
Presentation structure

• Country introduction
• Background to rural grid electrification
• Selected fuel use patterns and the poor
• Overview off-grid electrification
• Status of PV systems

3
Zimbabwe selected facts

• Population 13m
• Area 398 000 sq km
• Grid extension and pvt sales of solar home
  systems nationwide
• JICA Study Project was national but limited in
  geogr. coverage
• Chinese donation was in one locality north of
  Harare.

4
Rural Electrification (RE) background

• Colonial legacy of neglect of the rural poor
  1890-1980
• Independence in 1980. New government faced with
  high expectations
• Thrust to electrify all rural growth points
  service centres started in the early 1980s
• 1995 RE Masterplan Study (ADB-funded), approved
  by Cabinet in 1997
• GEF funded Solar PV project ran 1993-1998
• JICA Energy Service Company (PV) study 1997-2002
• 2002 new Electricity Act passed
  commercialisation of electricity utility (ZESA),
  setting up of RE Agency with own board having
  majority of Provincial Administrators
• RE Agency embarked on the Expanded RE Programme,
  funded by levy on electricity tariffs (rose 1-6
  in last 5 years) and government allocations

5
Expanded rural electrification programme in
Zimbabwe

• Rural electrification agency (REA) separate unit
  of utility
• Tariff levy proceeds directly available to REA,
  does not go to treasury
• Criteria for selecting eligible rural centres
  include proximity to grid and economic potential
• Funding windows for community groups
• Utility can procure hardware for productive rural
  end use, eg. grinding mills, welding machines,
  oil presses
• Utility can provide financing for the equipment,
  or end user can make own arrangements. This
  facility has recently started to be implemented

6
Electrification and the poor Zimbabwe

• High income households dominate the grid and
  solar electrified categories. Poor unable to
  satisfy project screening criteria
• Poor households show the opposite trend, being
  mostly unelectrified

7
Main cooking energy source

• Grid-electrified rural households generally use
  electricity for cooking
• The non-electrified (poorer) households use wood
  for cooking

8
Main fuels used by grid-electrified rural
households in SA (Limpopo)

• Grid elect used predominantly for lighting,
  radio, TV
• Thermal needs still met with wood (71 for
  cooking)
• Other fuels insignificant

9
Rural electrification approaches in South Africa
and Zimbabwe

• South Africa grid
• Includes households
• Govt subsidy for h/holds
• Plans not easily available
• Primary focus on household use
• South Africa off-grid PV
• Predominantly fee for service in concession areas
• Also sales

• Zimbabwe grid
• Focus on rural centres and institutions
• 6 levy on tariff for rural elect
• Plans, criteria, published
• Specific measures to support productive end uses
• Zimbabwe off-grid PV
• Predominantly sales outside any projects
• Also fee for service donation

10
Main lighting fuel by electrification category
Zimbabwe rural hholds

• Poorer rural households depend on paraffin for
  lighting
• Grid and solar electrified households use
  electric lighting

11
Summary of major solar PV dissemination
initiatives in Zimbabwe
Parameter GEF Solar Project JICA Study Chinese donation Private/DIY
Duration 19931999 19972004 19981999 Open-ended
Typical system configuration Module, controller, auto or deep cycle battery. Conduit. Module, controller, deep cycle battery. Conduit. Module, controller, deep cycle battery. Conduit. Module, automotive battery. Some conduit.
Module size (Wp) 25Wp to 83Wp 25Wp and 56Wp 70Wp 5Wp to 83Wp
Battery size (Ah) 40Ah to 110Ah 60Ah and 110Ah 105Ah 7Ah to 100Ah
Battery type Initially auto, later deep cycle Deep cycle Deep cycle Predominantly auto.
Light wattage 7W, 9W 7W, 9W and 11W No data 7W, 9W
Incandescent bulbs used Some systems Not used Not used Common
Power socket Present Present, optional Present Not common
Payment scheme Cash or terms Service fee only Free Cash or terms
TV/Radio load Often both Often both Often both Mostly radio alone
12
Summary of incomegenerating activities
benefiting from SHSs
Category Details of income generating activity
Handicrafts Husband makes artificial flowers (for sale) in evenings. Teacher during the day. Wife takes school orders for jerseys. Knits by hand in the evenings. Sews garments in the evenings. (Works in the fields during the day.)
Services Father grinds peanuts on manual machine at night clients collect peanut butter next day. Repair of radios and SHS charge/discharge controllers with electric soldering iron. Barber, using electric hair clipper with inverter. Wife bakes scones and other confectionery for sale to primary school children. Day/night baking shifts. Shop/ Bottle store lighting and radio. Husband is a teacher who gives supplementary lessons in the evening and charges for them.
Farming related Two wives involved in gardening. Grading and packing of tomatoes, and bundling of green leaf vegetables carried out at night. Raising poultry for sale.
13
Operational status of systems covered in the
BUN/JICA/DoE Survey
Parameter GEF Solar Project JICA Study Chinese donation Private/DIY
Present system status 63 partly operational Most working well Most working well 80 partly operational. Wiring poor.
Component failure trends 48 battery 18 lights 12 controller 14 battery 43 lights 10 battery All charge controllers and some batteries replaced 50 battery 25 lights 10 controller
Major failures Mostly battery failures Mostly light failures Charge controllers and batteries Mostly battery failures
User satisfaction level Complaints against companies Generally satisfied Generally satisfied (warranty repairs) Generally dissatisfied
14
Experiences with solar home systems

• Solar home systems were not accessed by the poor
• The power capacity of solar home systems renders
  them unable to contribute significantly to most
  productive activities/poverty alleviation
• Maintenance often becomes the major challenge
  after end of projects localised maintenance
  capacity essential
• Clustering of installations will facilitate
  maintenance fee collection
• Need for capacity building for local
  manufacturers - local components were less
  reliable
• Use local components as far as possible
  (especially BOS) long term availability of
  imported components may not be guaranteed
• Shortage of correct components will lead to
  substitution with any available equivalents eg.
  car batteries and incandescent lights solar
  home systems severely compromised
• Flexibility is needed since rural population is
  heterogeneous - one size fits all approach in fee
  for service projects led to client frustration
• Have clear contracts - revision of ESCO fees
  problematic

15
Environmental benefits of SHSsSome comments

• How many solar systems installed compared to the
  investment in the project? Could other options
  not have provided more long-term and reliable
  access for less or similar investment?
• What percentage of households has managed to
  switch completely from using candles and paraffin
  for lighting? What are the candle or paraffin
  consumption levels of those who have switched
  partially? Many promotional environmental
  calculations use fullswitch assumptions.
• What is the average downtime of the solar
  systems? Whenever the systems are not working the
  users revert to their paraffin lamps or candles
• For those systems working, what percentage is
  working fully and partially?
• Lead and Mercury environmental hazards How are
  old batteries and light tubes disposed of?
  Recycling provisions?

16
Thank you for your attention!