Mini-Grid Webinar Series 2019

►Link to Mini-Grid Webinar Series 2017

Mini-Grids Webinar Series 2019

The Hydro Empowerment Network (HPNET) is a south-south, knowledge exchange and advocacy platform to advance small-scale (<1MW) hydropower. HPNET, in partnership with the WISIONS of Sustainability Initiative and Energypedia, is conducting a 4-part, quarterly webinar series on mini-grids.

Renewable energy mini-grids are a cost-effective and reliable solution for energy access. Within the technologies available for mini-grids, micro and mini hydropower (MHP)¹ has added advantages. It's techno-economic characteristics, such lower levelized cost of electricity, per kilowatt cost, and no need for battery storage, make it economically viable for grid interconnection and productive end use applications. read more

Because MHP hardware can be manufactured locally and maintained by local actors, MHP development imparts local skills and jobs, which can evolve into local MHP enterprises. In addition, MHP strengthens catchment area and watershed protection, in turn increasing the climate resilience of vulnerable communities in hilly regions.

The number of hydro mini-grids in rural areas of Asia, Africa, and Latin America far exceed other types of mini-grids. As a proven technology with an extensive track record, micro and mini hydropower is the focus in this mini-grid webinar series. The objective of the series is to facilitate exchange among diverse actors advancing small-scale hydro, and promote approaches that lead to long-term success and optimal local benefits. Each of the four webinars will respectively provide insight on MHP reliability, sustainability, financing, and planning for scalability.

[1] In this context, micro hydropower refers to <100kW, and mini hydropower refers to 100 - 1000 kW (or 1MW).

1st Webinar

Mini-Grid Reliability: The Role of Training Centers for Micro/Mini Hydropower

Webinar Recording

Micro and mini hydropower (MHP) implementation involves technical expertise in hydrology, civil works, electro-mechanical, electrical, and electronics. Thanks to the pioneers of knowledge transfer for small-scale hydropower, e.g. the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG), Skat Foundation, HydroNet, and others, comprehensive and frequent training was made available in the 1990s to practitioners in the global south. While such training is rare in the present-day scenario, the earlier efforts led to the creation of local experts who have since established local training centers. The Southeast Asia region particularly benefits from micro hydropower training centers. This webinar – the 1st in a series of four webinars – will feature the following training centers that provide local capacity building for the development, operation, and maintenance of community-based micro hydro projects in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

• Tonibung Center for Renewable Energy and Appropriate Technology (CREATE), Malaysia
• ASEAN Hydropower Competence Centre (HYCOM), Indonesia
• SIBAT Center for RE and Appropriate Technology (CREATech), Philippines

read more

We will hear from the founders or coordinators of the centers, presenting the motivation, concept, and evolution of the centers. They will explain the training facilities, types of training, the center’s sustainability, and the impact the centers have had on the reliability of micro hydropower projects.

Presentations will be followed by a Question/Answer session open to all participants.

Download the Presentations

HPNET

Jade Angngalao SIBAT

Gerhard Fischer HYCOM

Speakers

	HON. ADRIAN BANIE LASIMBANG In 2018, Hon. Adrian Banie Lasimbang became a senator for the national government of Malaysia, representing the state of Sabah. With extensive experience in participatory mapping, conducting community awareness workshops, enrichment planting, gravity water supply systems, and designing community-based micro-hydro systems, his work centers on improving the socio-economic conditions of rural indigenous communities in Sabah and Sarawak. He has been the Executive Director of TONIBUNG, a local NGO promoting localized renewable energy solutions, including CREATE Borneo, a village-based workshop and training facility, educating the next generation of indigenous engineers in renewable energy technologies. In 2004, Senator Lasimbang was awarded the Seacology Prize for Indigenous Conservationist of the year for protecting watershed areas and improving livelihoods in rural indigenous communities in Borneo. In both 2007 and 2008 he received the Outstanding Young Person Sabah (TOYPS) award for his work integrating natural resource management and rural indigenous communities. He also runs Penampang Renewable Energy, a renewable energy consultancy company. He is a technical advisor for Indigenous Peoples Network of Malaysia (JOAS).
	JADE ANGANGALAO Jade Angangalao is the coordinator of SIBAT’s renewable energy program, and the supervisor of SIBAT’s Center for Renewable Energy and Appropriate Technology (CREATech). She oversees the administrative needs of the center's operations, including electro mechanical equipment fabrication and research on electronic load controllers. Her supervisory role also extends to the implementation of actual micro hydropower and solar projects; wherein she is very involved in field work, particularly in community organizing and conducting feasibility studies. Other areas of work she is involved with include liaising with technical foreign partners and academe. Jade is an Agricultural Engineer by profession.
	GERHARD FISCHER Gerhard Fischer has over 35 years of professional experience in the development of hydropower. He is specialized in technology transfer, concentrating on turbine design and manufacturing and has working experience in 27 countries. He worked 6 years as a researcher on the University Stuttgart in the hydraulic laboratory of the Institute for Hydraulic Machines and Fluid Dynamics. During this time he was in charge of construction and installing the hydraulic laboratory and research on simple turbine designs. Then he worked 5 years in Switzerland as project engineer for hydropower projects and trainings in a small engineering company (Chapallaz Engineering). From 1995 - 1997, he was an engineer with SKAT (Swiss Centre for Development Cooperation in Technology and Management), St.Gallen, Switzerland. From 1997-2013, he worked for entec AG Switzerland on several assignments covering all aspects of hydro power development in Switzerland, South America, Africa and Asia. From 2005-2013 until March 2013 he was director of PT entec Indonesia, a consulting and engineering company active in the hydro power sector in Bandung, Indonesia. In 2011 he helped to establish the ASEAN Hydropower Competence Centre (HYCOM), a hands-on training center for small-scale hydropower, located in Bandung, Indonesia. He has a diploma in mechanical engineering from the University Stuttgart and post graduate study in energy management in developing countries (TU Berlin). Gerhard lives in Bandung, Indonesia, tending his backyard biodiversity forest.
Moderator
	MOLLY HURLEY-DEPRET Molly Hurley-Depret has led communications and policy advocacy about sustainability since 2009 in Europe and globally. She is a consultant who works with WISIONS and other sustainability-focused clients. She has been at the forefront of developing innovative methods to impact policy. One of her main achievements was being invited by the European Parliament's Development Committee to speak to MEPs about energy and development and positively impacting their amendments. She developed her first energy-focused webinar series in 2016 and has been hosting them for clients ever since. She's proud to support HPNET's and WISIONS' amazing and impactful efforts. She will soon complete her Ph.D. in cultural anthropology.

Thematic Discussant

LANZ GABRIEL JABLA Lanz Gabriel Jabla is the Knowledge Platform Coordinator of the Hydro Empowerment Network and the Technical Support Officer at Yamog Renewable Energy Development Group, based in Mindanao, Philippines. Lanz has a BS degree in petroleum engineering and has completed certified training in community resource training, GIS/GPS, and technical writing. Upon completing his degree, he completed an internship at the Shell Foundation, focusing on business operations and social impact investment projects, including energy access. Having realized the consequences of fossil fuel extraction while with the Shell Foundation, he became inspired to work on renewable energy solutions, including volunteering with Yamog.

2nd Webinar: (June 2019)

Mini-Grid Financing: Enabling the Role of Local Banks

Friday, 28 June 2019 at 3:00 pm CEST.
Register: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/286958640442813452

Renewable energy mini-grids are a proven and cost-effective solution for sustainable energy access. To date, scaled replication of mini-grids has largely depended on international development aid, most commonly as concessionary loans or grants to national government, which are then distributed as grants or subsidies to beneficiary communities. However, in the case of hydro mini-grids access to credit can play a significant role in accelerating mini-grid implementation. read more

Where resources exist, small-scale hydropower produces the lowest cost energy. Its techno-economic characteristics (e.g. lower levelized cost of energy, per kilowatt investment cost, and no need for energy storage) allow for economic viability with high social impact, including affordable tariffs, extensive productive end use, and viable grid interconnection. Because its hardware can be manufactured locally and maintained by local actors, micro and mini hydropower development imparts local skills, jobs and enterprise development. It also strengthens catchment areas and watershed protection, which in turn increases climate resilience and integrated development of rural communities. While these financial viability and socio-economic impact aspects of hydro mini-grids make them conducive to soft loans, impact investment and other types of debt/equity, access to financing is a severe challenge for local, small-scale hydro practitioners across the global south. International financiers find it difficult to lend to projects located in very remote areas, which is often the case with local micro and mini hydropower. Therefore, local practitioners increasingly seek financing from local banks and other local financiers, who tend to be more accessible to local practitioners and amenable for dialogue that helps to clarify the local context and risks. Local banks that lend to rural areas can particularly be more open to lending to mini-grids for energy access. However, in most cases local banks have little or no experience in lending to mini-grids. They lack basic skills for project appraisal and servicing loans. In addition, most countries lack banking regulations that would allow the loan tenures required for mini-grid pay-back periods, e.g. 7-10 years. Collateral and interest rates are also critical obstacles for enabling local bank financing. In some cases local banks do not have adequate capital funds for lending. On the other hand, local developers also need skills building in developing the required documentation and data required to access local bank loans. In spite of these challenges, experience in South and Southeast Asia shows that local banks can be empowered to play a critical role in accelerating sustainable hydro mini-grids by lending to local practitioners.

This webinar – the 2^nd in a series of four webinars – will feature banks and financing specialists from South and Southeast Asia who have enabled local banks and local developers in the region to make financing available for small-scale hydro mini-grids. Using specific examples, speakers will present:

• Why and how local banks are critical to replication of sustainable hydro mini-grids
• Incentives for local banks in lending to hydro mini-grids and local developers
• How local banks can build internal capacity to lend to mini-grids
• How local developers can develop the necessary skills to access local bank financing
• How banking regulatory challenges can be overcome
• Roles of government and donors help to accelerate the process of enabling local bank financing.

Speakers

	DINESH DULAL Mr. Dinesh Dulal has completed Master’s Degree in Management and Bachelor’s Degree in Law. He has spent almost 18 years in banking sector, out of which he has spent more than 10 years in renewable energy financing. Currently, he is the Department Head of Energy and Development Organization Department at NMB Bank Ltd., Kathmandu, Nepal. He has played an instrumental role in renewable energy financing including micro hydro project financing.
	KAPILA SUBASINGHE Mr. Kapila Subasinghe is Vice President of Specialized Project Lending and the Head of Consulting at DFCC Bank, Sri Lanka.  He is the former Project Director of the World Bank and Global Environment Facility funded Renewable Energy for Rural Economic Development (RERED) Project of the Government of Sri Lanka.  He has 25 years of experience in project management and lending.  He has served both in SME and Corporate sectors at DFCC, specializing in project financing including lending to off-grid and grid-connected renewable energy sectors. In 2002, he joined the Project Management Department which managed credit lines to Sri Lanka from multilateral agencies. He headed the Department from 2007 to 2010 as Vice President (Project Management) managing four credit lines offered to the Government of Sri Lanka by The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Investment Bank, and KfW. Thereafter, he served as Vice President (Corporate Banking) from 2010 to 2015.  As Vice President (Specialized Project Lending)/Head of Consulting he oversees the evaluation and implementation of complex/specialized projects across the branch network of the bank, as well as management of DFCC Consulting (Pvt) Ltd. He is currently serves as Project Manager of the Project Implementation Unit of the ADB funded Rooftop Solar Power Generation Project of the Government of Sri Lanka. He has been a resource person to multiple local and international renewable energy forums, including for delegations to Sri Lanka from Asia and Africa to study the Sri Lankan renewable energy model. He was also the Team Leader of an assignment in Uganda undertaken by DFCC Consulting to develop an adoptable solar loan product for participating financial institutions, under the Energy for Rural Transformation Project of Uganda supported by the World Bank.   Mr. Subasinghe holds a degree in civil engineering from University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka and is a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK.
	MARGARITA MANZO Ms. Margarita Manzo is an energy finance specialist and has a background in both early-stage financing as well as corporate and project finance for utility scale projects in Southeast Asia, East Africa, and Sri Lanka. Having worked at an impact fund, an investment bank, a large developer, and a start-up, she has seen the various issues companies and projects face to get funded. She is driven by a passion for getting projects off the ground and would like to see great startups focus less on fundraising and focus more on execution. She is currently developing a data-driven platform to connect investment-ready early stage energy companies with potential funders. Ms. Margarita was most recently the Senior Investment Manager at Nexus for Development, where she managed Nexus’s portfolio of funds dedicated to supporting Asian energy, water, and sanitation enterprises serving underserved populations. She continues to serves as a consultant to the Nexus team. Ms. Margarita holds an MBA degree and an Energy & Finance Certificate from HEC Paris and a Bachelor’s Degree in Management Engineering from Ateneo de Manila University.
Moderator
	RANISHA BASNET Ranisha has more than 5 years of experience in knowledge management in the off-grid sector. She has worked with many national and international organizations to develop different knowledge products (webinars, database and knowledge portals) and also designed campaigns to raise awareness about trending off-grid energy topics. Currently, she is writing her master thesis on “ Gender and Renewable Energy Mini Grids” and is attending the master program, Renewable Energy Engineering and Management at the University of Freiburg, Germany.

Thematic Discussant

DIPTI VAGHELA Dipti Vaghela is the co-founder and manager of the Hydro Empowerment Network (HPNET), a south-south knowledge exchange platform that advances policy, technology, and socio-environmental aspects of small-scale hydropower across ten countries since established in 2013. Dipti brings sixteen years of experience in developing decentralized renewable energy solutions for rural electrification in S/SE Asia, bridging communities, local entrepreneurs, field-based NGOs, policy makers, and funding agencies. After a product design career in Silicon Valley, she spent ten years with indigenous communities in rural India, mostly in Kalahandi, Odisha, establishing localized energy solutions. In 2013, supported by the Switzer Foundation Environmental Leadership Grant, Dipti served as International Rivers' energy solutions coordinator to promote policy solutions that support equitable energy development. In 2016 she was awarded a Fulbright Public Policy Fellowship, placed at the Renewable Energy Association of Myanmar (REAM). Based in Myanmar, she supports and learns from Myanmar’s indigenous micro/mini hydropower, biomass energy, PV-irrigation practitioners. Dipti holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Science in Environmental Studies from San Jose State University.

3rd Webinar (September 2019)

Mini-Grid Sustainability: Transitioning to Enterprise-based Micro Hydropower

September 2019

Collective research and observations within the Hydro Empowerment Network reveal that the long-term sustainability of community-based micro and mini hydropower projects is dependent on whether the project is run as enterprise. This webinar – the 3rd in the series – will feature practitioners in Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan who are enabling enterprise-based micro and mini hydropower projects.

Stay tuned for details!

4th Webinar: (December 2019)

Mini-Grid Planning: Data Mapping Tools for Multi-Actors

December 2019

Map-based planning tools can be useful for various stakeholders of mini-grid implementation:

• Policy makers and advocacy groups can use map-based tools to assess the cost, time, and performance aspects of mini-grids versus the main grid for rural and remote areas, and opportunities for interconnection.
• Funding agencies and developers can use map-based data to determine the natural resource viability of different technologies, e.g. will the PV system be the viable during monsoon months, will the micro hydro system be viable during the dry months, etc.
• Civil society organizations and community-based groups can use map-based tools to develop local level energy planning, e.g. interconnecting mini-grids to each other.

These webinar will feature the latest in the state of the art mapping tools for mini-grids planning!

Stay tuned for details! <headertabs></headertabs>

Organizers

	The Hydro Empowerment Network (HPNET) is a knowledge exchange and advocacy platform for micro/mini hydro practitioners in south and southeast Asia, focusing on policy, technology, and socio-environment solutions for long-term sustainability. Core support for HPNET comes from the WISIONS initiative at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy.
	WISIONS of Sustainability initiative's main objective is to make clean energy a default solution for basic energy needs in developing regions, by helping local partners to identify successes and bring them to scale through regional networks, marketing and demonstration.
	Energypedia UG is a non-profit organization that runs and maintains the wiki-based platform, www.energypedia.info. Energypedia.info is an online platform for collaborative knowledge exchange on renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy access in the context of development cooperation.