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How effective are small-scale energy interventions in developing countries? Results from a post-evaluation on project-level

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  • Terrapon-Pfaff, Julia
  • Dienst, Carmen
  • König, Julian
  • Ortiz, Willington

Abstract

In many developing countries large parts of the population are negatively affected by the lack of access to clean and affordable energy. Providing sustainable energy services to these people has been acknowledged as a key component to reduce poverty. One form of development assistance to address the needs of the energy-poor at the local level are small-scale renewable energy projects. Like all development interventions, these energy projects are not intended to produce short-term outputs, but to create long-term impacts. Thus, it has become increasingly important to evaluate and accurately assess their sustainability. But despite the widely recognized need to identify successes factors and explain failure only few studies exist that address the sustainability of small-scale of energy development efforts post implementation. Against this background the paper presents the results of a post-evaluation of 23 projects supported via the Sustainable Energy Project Support (SEPS) scheme of the WISIONS initiative run by the Wuppertal Institute. The analysis provides insights on the influence that socio-economic, environmental, geographic and gender factors can have on the sustainability of small-scale renewable energy projects in developing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Terrapon-Pfaff, Julia & Dienst, Carmen & König, Julian & Ortiz, Willington, 2014. "How effective are small-scale energy interventions in developing countries? Results from a post-evaluation on project-level," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 809-814.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:135:y:2014:i:c:p:809-814
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.05.032
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Ikejemba, Eugene C.X. & Schuur, Peter C. & Van Hillegersberg, Jos & Mpuan, Peter B., 2017. "Failures & generic recommendations towards the sustainable management of renewable energy projects in Sub-Saharan Africa (Part 2 of 2)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 639-647.
    5. Annika Groth, 2020. "Overcoming One-way Impact Evaluation of Rural Electrification Projects," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(2), pages 464-476.
    6. Katerina Troullaki & Stelios Rozakis & Kostas Latoufis & Chris Giotitsas & Christina Priavolou & Fausto Freire, 2022. "Sustainable Rural Electrification: Harnessing a Cosmolocal Wind," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-16, June.
    7. Sarah Feron, 2016. "Sustainability of Off-Grid Photovoltaic Systems for Rural Electrification in Developing Countries: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-26, December.
    8. Poudel, B. & Maley, J. & Parton, K. & Morrison, M., 2021. "Factors influencing the sustainability of micro-hydro schemes in Nepal," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    9. Joe Butchers & Sam Williamson & Julian Booker, 2021. "Micro-Hydropower in Nepal: Analysing the Project Process to Understand Drivers that Strengthen and Weaken Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-16, February.
    10. Mandelli, Stefano & Barbieri, Jacopo & Mereu, Riccardo & Colombo, Emanuela, 2016. "Off-grid systems for rural electrification in developing countries: Definitions, classification and a comprehensive literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1621-1646.

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