Productive Use of Energy for Micro-hydro Power in Indonesia

Executive Summary

In mid-2012, EnDev Indonesia initiated a proof-of-concept project to assess whether productive use of energy (PUE) can enhance the sustainability of rural off-grid electrification infrastructure. In essence the project comprised the provision of electrical appliances to selected village-based businesses (small enterprises) with access to electricity from a community-operated micro-hydro power (MHP) plant. The project comprised a total of 53 businesses in 9 villages in regions of Sumatra and Sulawesi, Republic of Indonesia. The project’s objective was to assess the following assumptions:

1. PUE will strengthen the sustainability of community-based MHPs by expanding the revenue potential (increased electricity sales) and improving overall MHP cost effectiveness (optimisation of capacity factor)
2. PUE appliances will improve production and income and reduce work load and overall expenditure of rural businesses
3. Numerous small-scale, off-the-shelf appliances spread across several businesses are more cost effective and less technically vulnerable than single specialised/customised large appliance.

The project was implemented from August to December 2012 by two different non-governmental organisations (NGO), ProWater and Operation Wallacea Trust (OWT), in Sumatra and Sulawesi respectively.

PUE Pilot Project (August - December 2012)
Province	West Sumatra	South and West Sulawesi
NGO	ProWater	Operation Wallacea Trust (OWT)
Number of villages	6	3
Total number of households	401	210
Number of businesses	38	15
Number of appliances	63	49
Value of appliances	EUR 5,630	EUR 3,640
Average appliance cost	EUR 92/appliance	EUR 74/appliance
Average appliance power	563W	461W
Smallest appliance	10W egg incubator	100W sewing machine
Largest appliance	1,500W rice huller	900W circular wood saw

While findings for Sumatera lacked some key quantitative data, the results from Sulawesi conclusively suggest that the above assumptions are indeed plausible. The findings are most useful in terms of implementing and/or strengthening rural electrification initiatives and enhancing their sustainability through productive use of energy initiatives.

This report provides a combined overview of the project results for both Sumatera and Sulawesi in Chapter 2. More detailed findings for each region are compiled in Sections 3 and 4 for Sumatera and Sulawesi respectively. The report concludes with conclusions and recommendations in Chapter 5.

Additional information

• EnDev Indonesia - Productive Use of Energy - Findings of Pilot Project (GIZ, 2013) - Report
• 130410 EnDev Indonesia - PUE and MHP - Pilot Project Findings- Presentation
• GIZ Indonesia - PUE Database Explanatory Manual - 120416 - Report
• Productive Use of Energy through micro-hydro power in rural Indonesia (YouTube)