همکاری های جدید و مدل های کسب و کار برای تسهیل دسترسی به انرژی

Twenty years since the Rio Summit, the global community is still struggling to develop a world with universal access to sustainable energy services. The discussion on energy and its linkages with sustainable development is at the heart of the debate in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This paper discusses the role of innovations in terms of partnerships and business models to enhance energy access, especially for those living at the so-called bottom of pyramid. The role of innovative energy options and policy choices that enable overall operationalization of energy access in developing countries as well as new forms of partnerships and innovative mechanisms that are based on established success, replicability and potential for scaling up has been examined through two case-studies, namely the Lighting a Billion Lives project and India's National Rural Electrification Programme. This paper suggests the need for new forms of public and private sector partnerships, especially the pro-poor ones that are effective in enhancing energy access.

Energy is an essential need for individual and economic development and is central to achieving the developmental goals. The discussion on energy and its linkages with all the three pillars of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental) is at the heart of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). While the conventional models of providing energy access (i.e. grid extension) have had limited success in reaching out to remote communities, there have been innovative technological and institutional solutions that have shown an alternative path to providing energy access in a reliable and successful manner. However, absence of sustainable partnerships and viable business models, that can effectively provide access and spur development, has hindered the scale up of these innovations. This paper discusses the role of innovations in terms of partnerships and business models to enhance energy access, especially for the bottom of pyramid (BoP) population. This paper first discusses the magnitude and scale of the challenge towards delivering energy access, primarily based on literature search, elaborating the challenges related to affordability, technology, business models, institutions and capacities. Subsequently, the paper examines the role of partnerships in addressing the challenges to deliver energy access in the context of innovations in technological, institutional and business models by taking two case studies from India; one from off-grid solar lighting initiative by an NGO and the other from grid based rural electrification programme of the national government. In its concluding remarks, the paper suggests that new form of partnerships that are pro-poor, show the potential of delivering energy access in a manner that is effective in addressing the MDGs.

According to a commonly understood definition of energy access, the focus is on creating an enabling environment that empowers each human being to be able to access the services provided by energy as per his/her need in high quality and in a timely manner. This definition recognizes varying contexts and the flexibility we have today to provide customized energy services and it recognizes that the demand for energy is dynamic and a function of a host of other developments. This definition focuses on framework conditions and not on absolutes and allows a more outcome based rather than targets based approach. The above case studies clearly indicate that for providing energy access, it is important to provide an ecosystem of innovation beyond “physical access” and the standard policies and implementation guidelines that will help new partnerships to emerge and grow. This ecosystem can be provided in both government led as well as NGO led initiatives. The prerequisite is recognition of the potential role that new forms of partnerships can play in addressing such mammoth challenges that daunt the global community, particularly, the policy makers. This paper, by taking two specific case-studies, has indicated that pro-poor partnerships could be effective in developing and customizing technologies that are state-of-the-art; are able to provide energy services in an effective, efficient and affordable manner; and can facilitate market development which provides the enabling environment for empowering rural communities through provisioning of energy access. The new pro-poor partnership models are needed to implement, operate, and sustain energy access projects. At the same time economic linkages, access to credit with flexible designs, bundling of smaller projects and community centric institutional arrangements also need to be organized appropriately, especially for off-grid areas to facilitate successful outcomes in the region.