Supplying electricity to drive the country’s development

Project description

Title: Rural electrification through renewable energies
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Madagascar
Lead executing agency: Ministère de l’Energie et des Hydrocarbures (MEH)
Overall term: 2015 to 2016

Context

In Madagascar 67 per cent of the population live in rural areas, less than 5 per cent of whom had access to electricity in 2013. The majority of rural households meet their daily energy needs by using fuelwood, petroleum, candles, batteries and diesel-powered generators. Schools, health centres, administrative offices – including those of the municipal authorities – and other basic social infrastructure facilities are only able to work intermittently due to the limited power supply. Inadequate access to electricity is therefore a major constraint to rural development.

Against this background the government liberalised the energy sector in 2009 with a view to promoting socio-economic development in rural areas through electrification. The aim is to strengthen the private sector’s role in developing the energy sector and to increase the use of renewable energies, particularly hydropower.

Following the restoration of constitutional order in the country and the adoption of the new energy policy, the energy sector is now considered the key to developing the economy, which has been in a critical state for many years.

Objective

Conditions are created for electrification of rural areas on a broad scale. The private sector and state institutions are pushing this process forward.

Approach

The project is primarily working with the Ministry of Energy and Hydrocarbons (Ministère de l’Energie et des Hydrocarbures, MEH), the Rural Electrification Agency (Agence de Développement de l’Electrification Rurale, ADER) and the Board of Electricity Regulation (Office de Régulation de l’Electricité, ORE). GIZ is pursuing activities at different levels in order to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, and above all the quality of implementation of rural electrification projects:

Strategy and policy for electrification of rural areas. The project advises and supports the Ministry on developing a procedure to ensure comprehensive rural electrification.

Improving regional energy planning. Together with the Ministry, ADER and authorities at regional level, the project is drawing up plans for electrification and pre-electrification through renewable energies. The plans take into consideration the needs of both social infrastructure facilities and the country’s growth poles as prioritised by the government.

Planning process. The project provides methods for ensuring that the rural electrification projects are planned in an appropriate manner and that energy prices are set affordably and are commensurate with delivery performance.

Promoting the private sector. The project supports the private sector in developing and implementing investment projects within the context of public-private partnerships with the Ministry and ADER. Furthermore, pilot projects receive targeted financial support through the involvement of financial institutions. A concession model is used to carry out rural electrification.

Monitoring the sector. The project is planning to introduce an efficient monitoring system in the respective institutions.