Challenges of decentralized electrification for economic development: lessons from experience

Jean-Claude Berthélemy (1, 2, 3)

1 FERDI - Fondation pour les Etudes et Recherches sur le Développement International
2 CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne
3 UP1 UFR02 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - École d'économie de la Sorbonne

This paper uses a meta-analysis to investigate the challenges of decentralized electrification for economic development. It uses an original database which has evaluation data on more than 400 projects. Technological innovations, notably for solar energy, are opening new space for electrification policy, based on off-grid systems, which are particularly relevant for remote rural areas. However there are two main challenges. Firstly due to the threshold effects associated with the size of the projects based on nano size systems, typically the popular Solar Home Systems (SHS). Nano systems do not reliably lead to the transformation effects which are necessary to ensure economic sustainability. This may lead to a poverty trap. Secondly the bigger the system, the bigger the need to organize collective action for planning, installation, and management. This collective action requires proper governance structures, which can be designed using Ostrom's framework for the management of common pools of resources.

Mots clés: Decentralized electrification; sustainable development; impact assessment; meta-analysis; poverty traps; common pool of resource

Domaines: Economies et finances; Méthodes et statistiques

Jean-Claude Berthélemy. Challenges of decentralized electrification for economic development: lessons from experience. 2019. ⟨hal-02394467⟩