Energising Development (EnDev) Indonesia

Project description

Title: Energising Development (EnDev) Indonesia
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UKaid, Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC), Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)
Country: Indonesia
Lead executing agency: Directorate General of New, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (DG NREEC), Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Republic of Indonesia
Overall term: 2009 to 2019

Context

Electricity is not universally accessible in Indonesia. With a population of approximately 260 million people, there are an estimated 20 million people still living without electricity. Those people reside in remote villages, where electricity is sporadically generated from diesel generators with high operational costs and negatively impacting the environment.

Since 2012, the Indonesian Government has been deploying photovoltaic (PV) mini-grids to supply electricity in remote villages, on top of micro hydro power which has been flourishing in the past years. PV mini-grids are the most effective in addressing electricity access to the small outer islands where electricity and power grids are lacking. However, in the absence of long-term support to the beneficiaries, many systems are vulnerable to hasty deterioration. Maintaining sustainability of the system is hindered by limited skills of the local operators, while both technical and financial support is sparsely available.

Objective

The project is ensuring sustainable access to modern energy for 228,000 people in rural areas, as well as 1,650 social institutions such as schools and health centres, and 2,350 rural businesses through the application of renewable energy technologies. It is also institutionalising the know-how and experiences to the local actors.

Approach

The EnDev Indonesia Project specialises in rural electrification through small-scale renewable energy powered mini-grids. The systems are operated, maintained, managed and administered by the community or village cooperatives. The mini-grid infrastructures are mostly funded by the Indonesian Government through various ministries and local government offices, while  the project is working on:

• Technical assistance and policy advice
• Capacity development measures through training, mentoring, and facilitation
• Sustainability monitoring methods
• Gender equality in energy management and utilisation

EnDev Indonesia has been implementing a series of capacity development measures among others training for rural facilitators to assist the community in managing their electricity facilities, training for cooperative members and rural entrepreneurs on business skills. Knowledge and experiences from the implementation are documented and transformed into knowledge products such as guidelines and best practices disseminated to mini-grid operators, local government agencies, and other relevant actors in the sector.

EnDev Indonesia is working toward a sustainable infrastructure setup and believes in strong collaboration with various ministries. Aligned with Indonesia’s current agenda in maritime sector and rural development, the project facilitates inter-sectoral collaboration with sustainable energy supply as a common thread in the agenda.

Results

• Up until the end of 2017, EnDev Indonesia has supported the provision of electricity to over 198,000 people, 1,500 social institutions and 2,200 rural businesses. The electricity is provided by 892 mini-grids, both micro-hydro and solar power, installed throughout the archipelago by various government and non-government initiatives.
• An Inspection Guide for the PV Mini-grid is available for public use, which was compiled based on technical inspection implemented throughout three years. It has been used widely by both public agencies and private companies to help check the installation quality of hundreds of PV mini-grids.
• A Training Manual for the Village Management Team is available as a manual to conduct training on the operation and management of a mini-grid. The manual was used at least by 30 field facilitators working on small outer islands.
• A Series of Training Modules and Posters on Rural Mini-grids, covering technical, managerial, and gender equality topics, are disseminated to the supported villages and are available for public use. This includes the Troubleshooting Poster for Micro Hydro Power and photo voltaic Mini-grids,  the Poster on Catchment Area Protection, and the Poster on Gender Equality in Management and Utilisation of Electricity.
• A Rural Electrification Map (or RE-Map) is the consolidation of geo-location information of mini-grids in Indonesia. This interactive map aims at assisting the government in collecting, storing, and later sharing the information of rural electrification projects in the country. This could be a tool for better coordination and planning.