View source for Publication - The Elusive Quest for Sustainable Mini-Grid Electrification: New Evidence from Indonesia

{{Pub Database
|Pub Title=The Elusive Quest for Sustainable Mini-Grid Electrification: New Evidence from Indonesia
|Pub Organization=Energy for Sustainable Development
|Pub Author=Mike Duthie, Jörg Ankel-Peters, Carly Mphasa, Rashmi Bhat
|Pub Month=May
|Pub Year=2024
|Pub Abstract=High hopes are pinned to mini-grids for rural electrification, especially in remote and sparsely populated areas. This note presents new evidence from a large evaluation of a US Millennium Challenge Corporation investment into mini-grids in Indonesia. We find that, a few years after commissioning, many mini-grids in the program do not operate properly, corroborating older concerns about the sustainability of mini-grids that have been voiced for several years. Operational costs are typically high and electricity demand low. Our findings are not novel; they rather resonate with a growing literature on the high-cost-low-demand dilemma in mini-grid electrification projects. Therefore, mini-grid programs should take these structural challenges into account, and especially abstain from overly optimistic electricity demand projections.
|Pub Download=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0973082624000802?via%3Dihub
|Pub Newsletter=No
|GBE filter=No
|Pub Tag Minigrid=Mini-grid
|Pub Tag Other=Other
}}