Solar mini grids can provide high-quality uninterrupted renewable electricity to underserved villages and communities across Sub-Saharan Africa, Word Bank says
It estimates that the mini grids could sustainably power up to 380 million people in Africa by 2030, if action is taken now, providing the least-cost solution to close the energy access gap on the continent.
Kenya is among the countries listed as having high potential.
Climate action efforts can equally benefit from the solar mini grids that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions related with diesel-fuelled systems and kerosene-based appliances.
The World Bank’s: "Mini Grids for Half a Billion People: Market Outlook and Handbook for Decision Makers" notes that to realise the full potential of solar mini grids, governments and industry must jointly identify mini grid opportunities, drive costs down, and overcome barriers to financing.
The handbook was launched in Nairobi on Monday.
Kenya has been deploying mini grids to serve communities that are not connected to the main grid.
According to Energy Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir, there are currently about 62 fully operational mini grids while 28 are under construction.
"We hope to deploy more mini grids to close the energy access gap and ensure universal access to electricity by 2030,” Chirchir said during the launch.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, 568 million people still lack access to electricity.
Globally, nearly eight out of 10 people without electricity live in Africa.
At the current rate of progress, 595 million Africans will remain unconnected in 2030.
“While Africa remains the least electrified continent, it also has the biggest potential for solar mini grid deployment,” said World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) manager, Gabriela Azuela, said.
According to Azuela, solar mini grids have the potential to transform the power sector in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Through World Bank operations and advice to governments, ESMAP is helping take mini grids from a niche to a mainstream solution.
The deployment of solar mini grids has markedly accelerated in Sub-Saharan Africa, from around 500 installed in 2010 to more than 3,000 installed today, and a further 9,000 planned for development over the next few years.
This is the result of falling costs of key components, the introduction of new digital solutions, a large and expanding cohort of highly capable mini grid developers and growing economies of scale.
The cost of electricity produced by mini grids could be as low as $0.20/kWh (Sh25.40) by 2030, making it the least-cost solution for more than 60 per cent of the population, World Bank notes.
In Nigeria, a market-driven approach to mini grid development under the World Bank-supported National Electrification Project has catalysed the deployment of more than 100 new solar-powered mini grids.
In Ethiopia and Zambia, new regulations and policy directives are making mini grids more attractive for private sector investment.
In Kenya, geospatial planning, favourable policies and regulations, and a robust business model based on public-private partnership are underpinning the World Bank-supported Kenya Off-Grid Solar Access Project.
The project targets almost 150 new mini grids in areas with low electricity access rates.
