Mini-Grid Webinar Series 2019 - 4th Webinar

►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
• 2nd Webinar
• 3rd Webinar (Sep 2019)
• 4th Webinar (Dec 2019)

Mini-Grid Planning: Integrated Energy Planning for Rural Electrification

Tuesday, 10 December 2019 at 10:00 pm CET
Registration Link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4895806823412214284

Although mini-grids are often boxed as a “pre-electrification” intervention, there is increasing evidence showing that mini-grids can achieve grid parity. Further, in countries that allow mini-grids to feed in electricity to the central grid, mini-grids have actually made the central grid more reliable!

Hydro mini-grids especially meet these scenarios, providing 24-hour reliable electricity, typically at lower LCOE and costs per kW than most other types of mini-grids, and leading to lower tariffs for rural consumers. Thereof, hydro mini-grids are generally financially viable for motorized loads (e.g. agri processing productive end use) and for feeding into the central grid.

Despite their obvious advantages, in most developing contents decentralization renewable energy mini-grids continue to be framed as “pre-electrification” solutions at par with solar home lighting, or “not as important as the central grid.” Often mini-grid development is housed in a separate and less influential ministry, while the central grid authorities have ultimate power and financial resources. Such a fragmented approach leads to:

• Redundant electrification interventions, and therefore wasteful use of funding resources;
• Confusion on timing of arrival of the central grid, which severely hampers the scale-up of mini-grids;
• Abandoned mini-grids and loss of investment upon the arrival of a reliable central grid;
• Business-as-usual of an intermittently reliable central grid, typically powered by fossil fuels or large hydro, in today’s age of climate crisis.

However, the reality is that all solutions for energy access, are equally important to meet the growing energy needs of rural communities, including productive end use innovations such as E-cooking and PV irrigation.

The Hydro Empowerment Network seeks to provide a spotlight on energy planning practitioners that are advancing integrated energy planning for rural electrification. This webinar – the 4th in our series – will feature integrated energy planning initiatives from African contexts and S/SE Asian contexts, including Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia, Malaysian Borneo, and Nepal.

The webinar will include:

• The basic criteria for a robust integrated energy planning process;
• Examples of country-wide and sub-region programs in Africa and Asia that are advancing integrated energy planning and their hindsight;
• Voice of a diverse set of energy planning practitioners – including private utility, national government, international development partner, and scientific research institute;
• Tools and processes for integrated energy mapping, modelling, and planning;
• Challenge and potential solutions that require further support and strategy.

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.