Title: From the Bottom Up: How Small Power Producers and Mini-Grids Can Deliver Electrification and Renewable Energy in Africa

Languages: English

Type: Document

Published: January 1, 2014


Region: Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, East Asia and Pacific

Country: Global / Non-Specific, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand

Sectors: Energy and Power

Topics: Climate-Smart

Keywords: Renewable Energy, Climate Smart, Energy and Power Core

DocumentLink(s):

Document Summary:

From the Bottom Up: How Small Power Producers and Mini-Grids Can Deliver Electrification and Renewable Energy in Africa by Bernard Tenenbaum, Chris Greacen, Tilak Siyambalapitiya and James Knuckles, World Bank 2014.

Most Sub-Saharan African countries try to promote rural electrification through both centralized and decentralized approaches. Focusing on the decentralized approach, this guide:

  • provides practical guidance on how small power producers and mini-grid operators can deliver both electrification and renewable energy in rural areas
  • examines ground-level regulatory and policy questions that must be answered to achieve commercially sustainable investments
  • discusses design and implementation of feed-in tariffs for small power producers in developing country contexts with a view towards their expanded use in sub-Saharan Africa
  • addresses two often ignored questions: what to do "when the big grid connects to the little grid" and how to practice light-handed regulation.


Document Details:

The implementation issues are presented with specific ground-level options and recommendations rather than just general pronouncements. To make the discussion more concrete for practitioners, the guide provides numerous real-world examples of successful and unsuccessful regulatory and policy actions taken in Kenya, South Africa, and Tanzania, as well as Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. 

For more information on rural electrification visit Rural Electrification Funds: Sample Operational Documents and Resources.

Tracking Number: Africa_From the Bottom Up_EN.pdf

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Updated: October 6, 2021