IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v150y2021ics0301421520308387.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unattainable proximity: Solar power and peri-urbanity in central Burkina Faso

Author

Listed:
  • Cantoni, Roberto
  • Skræp Svenningsen, Lea
  • Sanfo, Safiétou

Abstract

In the community of Zagtouli, close to Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou, lies West Africa's largest solar power plant. This is a 33 MW, on-grid, photovoltaic plant. Operational from late 2017, it produces electricity for Burkina Faso's public energy company, SONABEL. The electric grid built between the plant and Ouagadougou crosses Zagtouli in its middle: however, electricity connections throughout the community are markedly non-homogeneous. In particular, most of the southern half of Zagtouli suffers from a condition known in the literature as ‘under-the-grid’: namely, close to the grid but unable to connect to it. The benefits stemming from the presence of the nearby plant, therefore, remain unattainable for a large share of the local community. Drawing on an ethnographic investigation of energy practices and uses conducted in Zagtouli, we employ the theoretical framework of energy justice to analyse the connection between local justice issues and national electrification strategies. We claim that the national preference for on-grid, centralised plants may not adequately respond to the need for a more just local energy distribution; and that for peri-urban areas that are not planned to be fully connected to the grid in the short term, smaller-scale, decentralised solutions may be more appropriate to achieve full electricity access.

Suggested Citation

  • Cantoni, Roberto & Skræp Svenningsen, Lea & Sanfo, Safiétou, 2021. "Unattainable proximity: Solar power and peri-urbanity in central Burkina Faso," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:150:y:2021:i:c:s0301421520308387
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2020.112127
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421520308387
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2020.112127?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Opiyo, Nicholas, 2016. "A survey informed PV-based cost-effective electrification options for rural sub-Saharan Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 1-11.
    2. Deichmann, Uwe & Meisner, Craig & Murray, Siobhan & Wheeler, David, 2011. "The economics of renewable energy expansion in rural Sub-Saharan Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 215-227, January.
    3. Monyei, C.G. & Jenkins, K. & Serestina, V. & Adewumi, A.O., 2018. "Examining energy sufficiency and energy mobility in the global south through the energy justice framework," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 68-76.
    4. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Burke, Matthew & Baker, Lucy & Kotikalapudi, Chaitanya Kumar & Wlokas, Holle, 2017. "New frontiers and conceptual frameworks for energy justice," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 677-691.
    5. Mathilde Brix Pedersen, 2016. "Deconstructing the concept of renewable energy-based mini-grids for rural electrification in East Africa," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(5), pages 570-587, September.
    6. Azoumah, Y. & Yamegueu, D. & Ginies, P. & Coulibaly, Y. & Girard, P., 2011. "Sustainable electricity generation for rural and peri-urban populations of sub-Saharan Africa: The "flexy-energy" concept," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 131-141, January.
    7. Bensch, Gunther & Grimm, Michael & Huppertz, Maximilian & Langbein, Jörg & Peters, Jörg, 2018. "Are promotion programs needed to establish off-grid solar energy markets? Evidence from rural Burkina Faso," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 1060-1068.
    8. Heltberg, Rasmus, 2004. "Fuel switching: evidence from eight developing countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 869-887, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Brunet, Carole & Savadogo, Oumarou & Baptiste, Pierre & Bouchard, Michel A., 2018. "Shedding some light on photovoltaic solar energy in Africa – A literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 325-342.
    2. Trotter, Philipp A. & McManus, Marcelle C. & Maconachie, Roy, 2017. "Electricity planning and implementation in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 1189-1209.
    3. Robert Lindner, 2023. "Green hydrogen partnerships with the Global South. Advancing an energy justice perspective on “tomorrow's oil”," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 1038-1053, April.
    4. Isaacs, Stewart & Kalashnikova, Olga & Garay, Michael J. & van Donkelaar, Aaron & Hammer, Melanie S. & Lee, Huikyo & Wood, Danielle, 2023. "Dust soiling effects on decentralized solar in West Africa," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).
    5. Come Zebra, Emília Inês & van der Windt, Henny J. & Nhumaio, Geraldo & Faaij, André P.C., 2021. "A review of hybrid renewable energy systems in mini-grids for off-grid electrification in developing countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    6. Trotter, Philipp A., 2019. "Ambitions versus policy design: Addressing issues of the Power Africa initiative's quantitative targets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 900-906.
    7. Rowlands, Ian, 2011. "Co-impacts of energy-related climate change mitigation in Africa’s least developed countries: the evidence base and research needs," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 37575, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Darren McCauley & Rebecca Grant & Evance Mwathunga, 2022. "Achieving energy justice in Malawi: from key challenges to policy recommendations," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 170(3), pages 1-22, February.
    9. Ian H. Rowlands, 2011. "Co-impacts of energy-related climate change mitigation in Africa�s least developed countries: the evidence base and research needs," GRI Working Papers 39, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    10. Relva, Stefania Gomes & Silva, Vinícius Oliveira da & Gimenes, André Luiz Veiga & Udaeta, Miguel Edgar Morales & Ashworth, Peta & Peyerl, Drielli, 2021. "Enhancing developing countries’ transition to a low-carbon electricity sector," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    11. Pillot, Benjamin & Muselli, Marc & Poggi, Philippe & Dias, João Batista, 2019. "Historical trends in global energy policy and renewable power system issues in Sub-Saharan Africa: The case of solar PV," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 113-124.
    12. Abubakar Mas’ud, Abdullahi & Wirba, Asan Vernyuy & Muhammad-Sukki, Firdaus & Albarracín, Ricardo & Abu-Bakar, Siti Hawa & Munir, Abu Bakar & Bani, Nurul Aini, 2016. "A review on the recent progress made on solar photovoltaic in selected countries of sub-Saharan Africa," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 441-452.
    13. Apfel, Dorothee & Haag, Steffen & Herbes, Carsten, 2021. "Research agendas on renewable energies in the Global South: A systematic literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    14. Javadi, F.S. & Rismanchi, B. & Sarraf, M. & Afshar, O. & Saidur, R. & Ping, H.W. & Rahim, N.A., 2013. "Global policy of rural electrification," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 402-416.
    15. MacCarty, Nordica A. & Bryden, Kenneth Mark, 2016. "An integrated systems model for energy services in rural developing communities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 536-557.
    16. Klege, Rebecca A. & Amuakwa-Mensah, Franklin & Visser, Martine, 2022. "Tenancy and energy choices in Rwanda. A replication and extension study," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 26(C).
    17. Van Uffelen, N. & Taebi, B. & Pesch, Udo, 2024. "Revisiting the energy justice framework: Doing justice to normative uncertainties," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PA).
    18. Zell-Ziegler, Carina & Thema, Johannes & Best, Benjamin & Wiese, Frauke & Lage, Jonas & Schmidt, Annika & Toulouse, Edouard & Stagl, Sigrid, 2021. "Enough? The role of sufficiency in European energy and climate plans," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    19. Marian Leimbach & Niklas Roming & Gregor Schwerhoff & Anselm Schultes, 2016. "Development perspectives of Sub-Saharan Africa under climate policies," EcoMod2016 9336, EcoMod.
    20. Fujii, Tomoki & Shonchoy, Abu S., 2020. "Fertility and rural electrification in Bangladesh," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:150:y:2021:i:c:s0301421520308387. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.