A short history of mini-grids for decentralized rural electrification

How has evolved decentralized rural electrification in the Global South? In this blog, I am summarizing what has been described by several authors as the three paradigms for energy development.

1970’s – 1990’s: the “donor paradigm”

If we can trace the use of mini-grids for electrification back to the late 19th century (ESMAP, 2019), they were recognized as a promising alternative to electrify rural populations in emerging countries only in 1970’s. Designed on a small scale, often based on renewable energies, mini-grids become more common in the 1970s and 1980s through internationl funding such as pilot projects carried out by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) (ESMAP, 2019; Martinot et al., 2002).

1990s – 2000s: the “market-oriented” paradigm

In the 1990s, this “donor paradigm” described by Martinot was followed by a “market-oriented paradigm” in a context of structural adjustments, investments’ disminution in the social sector and privatization of the electricity sector. Energy. This turnaround is justified by the mixed performance of mini-grids considered to be expensive and poorly maintained. One of the main reasons attributed to these failures is a technological “parachuting” by the North to the South that paid little attention to local ownership (Kruckenberg, 2015; Martinot et al., 2002). In the 1990s, the Bretton Woods institutions and in particular the World Bank (Cook, 2011) advocated for a major role of private actors in the rural electrification sector in order to both reduce costs and provide better quality services, as well as to ease a financial leverage effect (Massé et al., 2010), with a limited role of public authorities. This quote from a report by ESMAP[1], an organization linked to the World Bank, illustrates the atmosphere of this decade: “the optimal government role in the commercial PV market is the minimal involvement possible”. The State must therefore confine itself to the poorest populations, excluded from the market because of their insufficient income, and to improving information and regulatory frameworks to enhance the private sector’s profitability (Foley, 1995).

2000’s – today: the “Holistic sustainable energy paradigm”

At the same time, energy climbs to the podium of “elementary services” reaching out to water. This rank is formalized by its status of millennium development objective in 2000, then consolidated by its recognition of “essential service” at the Johannesburg summit in 2002 (Botton, 2006) and, more recently, as a sustainable development goal in 2015. This recognition of energy as a condition for development foreshadows what Sovacool calls the “holistic sustainable energy paradigm” (Sovacool, 2012), which can be dated back to the early 2000s. This paradigm recognizes that the vision of a decentralized rural electrification sector, almost exclusively private, is unrealistic given the limited profitability of expensive systems intended for customers with poor payment capacities. Communities’ participation, “type II” partnerships between national governments, NGOs, the private sector and international organizations[2] (Andonova & Levy, 2003) are supposed to solve the challenges that the private sector has not overcome as a lone ranger (Kruckenberg, 2015), in particular through productive uses of energy and by strengthening the water-energy-food link (“WEF nexus”, Hoff, 2011). In parallel, solar is taking the lead within renewable energies thanks to faster decreasing production costs than those of its hydro-electric competitor as well as its malleability, ensuring a deployment in most geographies and contexts, unlike wind and water-related energies.

Three paradigm of energy development (Sovacool, 2012)
Sovacool, Benjamin K. « Design principles for renewable energy programs in developing countries ». Energy & Environmental Science 5, no 11 (2012): 9157 62.

Ten years later, however, many challenges remain: solar systems, whether solar lamps, residential systems (SHS for Solar Home System) or solar mini-grid struggle to last in time and achieve economic viability  (André-Bataille et al., 2020; Berthélemy & Maurel, 2021; Cross & Murray, 2018; Dávalos & Herrera, 2019; Feron et al., 2016)[3]. Technological innovations for remote payments, control and monitoring of solar installations, coupled with cost clustering, are now heralded as the new El Dorado for the longevity and viability of solar systems[4]. This rapid mixing of the different phases of the decentralized rural electrification sector sheds light on the trial and error process to create sustainable models of electrification for rural populations, with shifting roles for the private, public and civil society sectors.

In the next blog, we will come back to this concept of “sustainability”.


[1] ESMAP (Energy Sector Management Assistance Program) is a technical assistance program of the World Bank on energy issues in emerging countries. Its reports are well-recognized in the sector.

[2] “Type II” partnerships were promoted at the Johannesburg summit in 2002 to complement “type I” partnerships between governments (Andonova & Levy, 2003).

[3] The figures, admittedly disparate, collected by these authors, question the sustainability of access to electricity: 34% of off-grid systems are reported as inoperative in Peru by Ferón, almost 20% of solar products are said to have ceased to function after 18 months in Kenya according to Murray and Cross, 90% of the systems stopped functioning after ten years in Bolivia according to Dávalos & Herrera while 50% of the mini-grids would have failed according to the estimates from Berthelemy and Maurel. Disconnection rates of up to half of the users of certain mini-grids in Madagascar are also reported (André-Bataille et al., 2020; Cholez & Trompette, 2019).

[4] “The typical third-generation mini grid is grid-interconnection ready; uses remote management systems, prepay smart meters, and the latest solar-hybrid technologies; and incorporates energy-efficient appliances for productive uses of electricity into its business model. ”(ESMAP), 2019).


OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
Emilie Etienne (13 août 2021). A short history of mini-grids for decentralized rural electrification. Sustainability in the Global South. Consulté le 1 mai 2025 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/umpa


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