A battery-powered flashlight is rigged to provide electricity to a single lightbulb in a house in the village of Janack in Gambia's Western Region, Monday, May 14, 2007. Photo: Oxfam America/Rebecca Blackwell

A new report launched this week by ODI and Oxfam tries to clarify some of the critical issues and refocus the discussion squarely on the needs of the energy poor.

You can’t fight poverty without energy. The UN convened an important meeting last week to discuss providing universal energy access for all. But, important questions on how best to serve the energy poor remain unanswered. A new report launched this week by ODI and Oxfam tries to clarify some of the critical issues and refocus the discussion squarely on the needs of the poor.

Energy access can be a major contribution to poverty reduction. More and better energy is needed for cooking, heating, lighting, and other services that promote equitable growth and employment.  Over two-thirds of the people living in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity. That’s 620 million people -twice the population of the United States – that can’t just “turn the lights on.” And it’s not just homes, more than half of all primary schools in the region lack electricity. That’s a mind-blowing reality for our 21st Century world. And it’s no wonder that energy poverty is high on the development agenda.

But the discussion around how to meet the needs of the energy-poor households is being dominated by a focus on scaling-up centralized, large scale generation capacity.  The latter is more helpful for industrial and commercial needs rather than for households and schools, primary health clinics, and small businesses. These needs are probably better served through decentralized off-grid, clean energy sources.

Energy distribution is important, not just energy generation

The report separates the problem into two parts: the ‘energy access gap’:  the number of people without access to modern energy services and the ‘industrial energy gap’: the huge gap between installed electricity generation capacity in the industrialized and unindustrialized world. The industrial energy gap, and the increase in on-grid generation capacity that this needs gets most of the attention, and often muddies the picture of energy poverty in Africa.

Don’t get us wrong, energy for industrialization is important for economic growth, and can have trickle-down impacts for poverty reduction.  But the history is checkered (or lousy) when it comes to translating this kind of energy development into benefits to the poor, especially in Africa.

Significant challenges exist in on-grid service delivery, transmission and distribution which limit the access – and benefits – to poor people.  Even in communities that gain access to the electricity grid, connection tends to occur regressively where poor households often remain without electricity for years, sometimes decades, as they are unable to afford the connection charges.

Clean technologies can better meet the energy needs of the poor

The infographic from the report below shows that the majority of the incidences of energy poverty, both those lacking in access to clean cooking and access to electricity, are best served by distributed, off-grid sources. On-grid sources serve 20% of the energy poverty needs – yet receive more of the funding.

Incidences of energy poverty in sub-Saharan Africa and the technologies and investment needed to secure universal access:

Some argue that an emphasis on distributed clean energy such as solar panels, wind, small-scale hydro power and biogas digestors, is small-fry and won’t get the job done. They dismiss the impact of single light-bulb. But that’s easy to say from air-conditioned offices.  Basic energy services like lighting can have huge impacts. Evidence shows that incremental shifts can have lasting impacts on poverty through improved livelihoods, such as for example children being able to spend more time after hours on education. It’s an important first rung on the energy ladder, without which, poor people cannot start the climb upwards.

Rebalance the playing field

Prioritization of distributional policies and technologies, over a rush for increased power generation, will be essential if we truly intend to meet the needs of the energy poor. In cold hard numbers the report shows that the playing field is unbalanced. More than 2.5 times additional investment is required for distributed systems over on-grid connections. As well, international donors presently don’t prioritise energy access the way that they should towards the poor.

It just goes to show that in providing energy for all, we should never forget to ask ‘energy for whom?’ and look toward clean, off-grid solutions that better serve the energy needs of poor households.

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