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Micro Hydro Power (MHP) - Indonesia, Impact on Sustainability (Comparative Study)
Executive Summary
Energising Development (EnDev) Indonesia launched its second phase in 2009, known as EnDev2. EnDev2’s objective was to a) support sustainable access to modern energy services for rural communities in Indonesia and b) to consolidate the gained MHP expertise for the counterpart and sector stakeholders. Monitoring the provision of modern energy access is relatively straightforward however, sustainable access requires a long-term monitoring intervention ideally with comparison to a baseline.
In April 2013, EnDev2 launched a study, as a means to commence with assessing the sustainability impacts of its support to Green PNPM, by comparing its “success/failure” with other non-EnDev2 MHP support initiatives against a set of sustainability factors. This “comparative study” was concluded in June 2013 and its findings are reported herein.
Preceding the field-based survey of the comparative study, a situational analysis was conducted, in an attempt to collect and review available data on MHPs at a national level. Data was sought from different public and private agencies involved in funding and supporting MHP development in Indonesia. Apart from EnDev2 (and its predecessor EnDev1) data records were wholly inadequate and in the best case only provided some basic data (such as installation location, installed capacity and/or year of installation). Unfortunately in almost 40% of over 1,300 MHP sites recorded in Indonesia, not even this rudimentary data was centrally available. Particularly government-funded programmes (which account for over 75% of funding for MHPs installed) are at risk, since lack of data does not allow for planning, monitoring and adjusting their rural electrification programmes.
'Figure '1 MHP schemes data availability
Sustainability is a process of continuous improvement from lessons learnt, rather than a fixed position. Improvement requires monitoring, which in turn is only possible if sufficient data are meticulously collected, inventoried, regularly analysed and available. If data availability and comprehensiveness are regarded as necessary towards sustainability, EnDev2 sites have far great prospects than sites supported through any other programme.
The field-based comparative study undertook in-depth surveys of 32 sites in Sulawesi, Indonesia. The sites included EnDev2 and various non-EnDev2 MHP installations. The overriding finding was that EnDev2 MHP sites perform far better in terms of technical sustainability, while being amongst the top performers for economic and social sustainability. Environmental sustainability appears to lag behind, but this is due to natural events beyond control.
'Figure '2 Radar diagram based on four sustainability factors
Of particularly delight was the revelation that overall MHP sustainability in Indonesia appears to improve. While both EnDev1 and EnDev2 are reluctant to claim full credit, several sustained sector interventions by these projects undoubtedly contributed towards this steady improvement.
Figure '3 EnDev2 identification: 'Under EnDev2 the MHP power house door or wall is sprayed with the database site code, making the MHP clearly identifiable for third parties. Source: Andrea Ranzanici (GIZ, 2013) |
Chapter 2 of this report explains the rationale for this comparative study, while Chapter 3 provides contextual background information and describes the different MHP support schemes assessed. The chapter also present the results of the situational analysis conducted prior to the comparative study and field surveys. Chapter 4 is dedicated to the methodology of the comparative study to demonstrate that a scientifically objective approach was pursued, within the logistical and resource limitations at hand. Chapter 5 t
hen presents the findings of the comparative study. The comparative study was conducted by a master student for the elaboration of his master thesis, and this chapter extracts the most pertinent results. This report concludes with Annex A, which describes the non-operational MHP sites discovered during the field surveys in more detail.
