Conference Report/Policy Summary
DRAFT 2.0
Recommendations from the SLYFF Forum on Distributed Electricity Services in Africa Cape Town, 3-5 June 1999
The SYLFF Forum on Distributed Electricity Services (DES) brought together 50 graduate students and practitioners from around the world. The Forum was generously sponsored by the Sasakawa Foundation and was organized by the Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy (STEP) Program of Princeton University, the Energy & Development Research Centre (EDRC) of the University of Cape Town, and the Energy and Resources Group (ERG) at UC Berkeley.
Participants examined a number of topical areas of interest to energy policymakers in developing countries in general, and Africa in particular. The unifying theme was Distributed Electricity Services (DES), where "distributed" refers to the emergence of a range of new technologies that can be used to generate small-scale power close to end-users. There is a continuum of system configurations providing flexible and reliable, often low-cost electricity services, from traditional 'grids' powered by central station generation plants to mini-grids, to stand-alone systems.
The Forum title emphasizes "services" for two reasons. First, for on-grid applications in particular, energy efficiency can help to alleviate local transmission and distribution capacity constraints while maintaining or improving electricity service levels. Second, in the off-grid context, some of the most important challenges lie in developing policies, programs and business models for efficiently providing end-users with access to distributed electricity technologies. A focus on services and not quantities of power (e.g. kilowatt-hours) is an important departure from many previous approaches to development that have emphasized power generation instead of the needs of end-users.
Discussions and presentations assessed trends in DES and the potential economic and environmental impacts of this paradigm shift. Particular considerations included the policy, technological, and financial barriers to providing improved off-grid distributed electricity services; the role of subsidies; the potential of various distributed electricity technologies to meet Africa's growing energy needs while improving environmental performance; and the merits of demand-side management.
Based on these discussions, we offer the following observations:
・DES projects can provide a number of distinct advantages vis a vis traditional, centrally-managed grid-connected approaches. Generating power in closer proximity to end-users reduces distribution and transmission losses, thereby minimizing costs. In addition, the flexibility, modularity, and short construction lead times of DES projects may allow for easy scalability which, in turn, means that load growth can be matched more closely to demand. This reduces the cost of both generation as well as transmission and distribution capacity while also notably reducing financial risk.
・The process of energy sector reform underway in many developing countries has the potential to level the playing field for DES ventures. Ideally this will result in the removal of cumbersome licensing procedures, clarifying the role of regulatory agencies, reforming tariff and tax structures, and facilitating both domestic and foreign direct investment in independent power projects.
・In some cases, developing countries may benefit by waiting for the cost of new DES technologies to fall before encouraging their use; nonetheless, there are also important benefits to early adoption since technologies must often be substantially modified for the unique circumstances in each region, and there is important "learning-by-using" that must always occur in order to take full advantage of any new technology.
