Rural Mini-grid Management Model (RUMI), Indonesia

Bringing the Cooperation on Rural Electrification Programme towards Regional Economic Development in Nusa Tenggara Barat

The Regional Planning Agency (Bappeda) of Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB) province, Indonesia, supported by the Energising Development Indonesia project implemented by GIZ, held a workshop on “Development Strategy of Solar Mini-grid Beneficiary Villages” on 15 March 2018 in Mataram, Indonesia. The workshop was a closure of Rural Mini-grid Management Model (RUMI), a pilot project implemented since May 2017, which aims at developing a management model for government-funded solar mini-grid in four hamlets in NTB province.

Ridwan Syah, the Head of Bappeda, urged all relevant stakeholders to pursue synergy and collaboration, among others the Agency of Energy and Mineral Resources (Dinas ESDM), Agency of Cooperatives and Small Medium Enterprises (Dinas KUKM), universities, Teams of Geopark Rinjani and SAMOTA Development, Bank Indonesia, KOMPAK, as well as the recently formed cooperatives. He also encouraged the cooperatives to proactively propose any support activities when required. Niken Arumdati, representing Dinas ESDM, expressed her optimism that next year the provincial government will allocate funds to regularly monitor and maintain the operational of solar mini-grids installed in the region.

Within eight months period, RUMI successfully facilitated the establishment oftwo cooperatives located in Pegadungan, Lombok Utara and in Moyo Island, Sumbawa. These cooperatives, previously informal villager groups, will manage the solar mini-grid systems constructed by the government. Additionally, the cooperatives also run businesses such as trading and credit service. Through close coaching conducted by Transform, a local civil society organisation experienced in village facilitation, the beneficiary community is now more confident in operating and managing their electricity facilities. Gender equality was strongly promoted throughout RUMI implementation. It was observed that women participation in village assemblies and activities related to electricity utilisation and management has improved up to 30%. RUMI also initiated a partnership scheme between solar companies and local technicians in order to make available technical support structure in the region.

Further Information

More information please visit http://endev-indonesia.info/.