helene smertnik gsma - esi-africa.com · 2019-09-02 · mobile money and scratch cards for payments...
TRANSCRIPT
The use of mobile to scale mini-grids for rural electrification
• Helene Smertnik
• Advisory Services Manager
• GSMA
Agenda
GSMA Mobile for Development Utilities – in a nutshell
CPM vs Mini-grid model
How can mobile support mini-grid for rural electrification
Where do we see these models develop
Examples from the field
Recommendations
GSMA M4D Utilities in a nutshell The programme leverages mobile technology & infrastructure
to improve access to basic energy, water and sanitation
services
Activities
Knowledge Sharing and Convening
Advisory Services
Innovation Fund
Market Building (e.g. investor partnerships)
Funding & Timeframe
£10M funding, including £5.6M Innovation Grant Fund from
DFID’s (2013-2017)
CPM and Mini-grids models
Community Power from Mobile (CPM) Mini-grid
Telecom towers serve as anchor
customers for an energy service
company
Households & businesses in the
vicinity of towers also gain access
to a clean electricity source for
their energy needs
The MNO is able to increase
revenue and brand loyalty by
helping to provide energy which
keeps mobile phones charged and
usable
Decentralised energy source to
power the mini-grid
Serving a small number of
households and businesses, for
which customers pre-pay for
electricity
The MNO is able to increase
revenue and brand loyalty by
helping to provide a convenient
pre-paid payment method
Mobile for mini-grids in rural areas
1. Mobile infrastructure for CPM • Outsource power solution to ESCo who sells
community energy services or
• Sell power from over-capacity of BTS power
• equipment (DG)
2. Mobile agent distribution network • Leveraging extensive rural sales dealer/ retail network for distribution or
sale of charging/ lighting devices through commercial partnerships
3. Mobile money • Opportunity for micro mobile payments:
High volumes of small payments for off-grid
domestic & small business energy
4. Machine-to-machine
communication • Opportunity for remote monitoring/ control
• Growing interest in using smart metering to
improve mini-grid load management, especially
useful when variable demand. Remote monitoring
and control allows theft detection and reaction
5. Connectivity • GSM networks, alone or in a hybrid model (mix with
mesh networks, e.g. Zigbee), to enable 2-way
communication between each household meter and
the service provider’s management system
Where do we see it happen Phase 1 Grantees: £2.4M awarded to 13 grantees
Phase 2 Grantees: £3.4M to 21 grantees
Water
Energy
Mini-grid/CPM models • Emergence BioEnergy,
Bangladesh • Persistent Energy Ghana • African Solar Design,
Kenya
Mini-grid/CPM models • Devergy, Tanzania • Gham Power, Nepal • ME SOLshare, Bangladesh
Examples from the field
Devergy: Mini-grid in rural Tanzania
Tower & battery in background with smart meter in foreground
Challenge: Electrification rate in Tanzania of ~25% while over 80% of
population is covered by mobile networks 29 million people have
access to mobile network before access to the grid
Mobile - Energy bundles sold
through Tigo’s agent network;
Use of mobile payment
Aimed number of Units/Beneficiaries:
1,500 households / 7,500
beneficiaries
Duration: May-15 to Nov-16
Rural electrification through low-cost, scalable, solar PV-based mini-grids, to
provide access to basic lighting, charging and appliances to communities.
Mobile everywhere
For customers
2-way communication (through SMS)
Mobile money and scratch cards for
payments
Stopped using scratch cards after 2
weeks (lack of usability, hard to read)
For staff
Use mobile apps / Whatsapp to talk to technicians in the field
For machines
M2M communication to run operations: use ZigBee between meters and gateway.
Costly to have a SIM card in every meter + Coverage issues
3 years to build the expertise and their own mesh network
Between gateway and base station, use GPRS
EBI: Testing the CPM model Challenge: Electrification rate in Bangladesh of 60% while over 99% of
population is covered by mobile networks 61 million people have
access to mobile network before access to the grid
Implement the CPM model with a
biomass-fuelled engine to power
telecom towers, businesses and
households in rural communities
Evaluate the commercial potential of the
service to generate revenues from the
sale of power and organic fertiliser, a by-
product of energy generation
Emergence BioEnergy Inc. (EBI) awarded a grant in January 2014 to
EBI: Results
During the project, EBI successfully:
Powered two Grameenphone
towers for a short period
Achieved 20 h. of operation/day, at
peak, at one of their sites
However:
Due to technical issues with the
engine prototypes, EBI decided to
halt operations and close down the
company in July 2015
Charged lanterns for rental use
by shop keepers and other
businesses
Further tests of the CPM business model are necessary to
explore the right conditions under which it can be viable.
Gham Power: Piloting CPM in Nepal
Challenge: Electrification rate in Nepal of 7 million people without
electricity. Those connected suffer up to 16hrs of daily blackouts. Solar
home system have a high level of penetration in Nepal.
Gham Power, in partnership with Mobile Operator NCell, will install solar
micro-grids
Provide energy to mobile towers,
households and businesses, bringing
energy access and mobile connectivity
to remote communities in Nepal.
Prepaid smart meters will deployed
at households and businesses
Units/Beneficiaries: 160 households,
47 businesses/ 938
Duration: May-15 to Oct- 16
Gham Power: Early results For Customers
Offer customers the possibility to move up the energy ladder and grow their energy
demand: A large part of Gham customers have moved from a baseline energy package
(lighting and mobile charger) to a larger energy package
Example: A customer subscribed to a package 1 (load limit of 20w), within a month
they upgraded to package 2 (load limit of 100w) to use appliances such as fan, TV
For Utilities and Government
Gham has designed the mini-gird to ensure that the mini-grid is compatible with the grid.
If the grid reaches a mini-grid network, it will plug into the mini-grid directly.
For MNOs
Provide sufficient power for the MNO to upgrade its connectivity if wish to upgrade
from 2G to 3G already upgraded
Reliable mobile coverage enables the growth of Mobile Money
Partnering with Mobile Network
Operators Opportunity Challenge
CPM model - Infrastructure
MNO’s BTS acts as an anchor
tenant and guarantees a
consistent demand for energy
MNOs as a client guarantees
the ability to pay for the service
Potential spill over for
productive users, giving them
the opportunity to move up the
energy ladder - grinding mill,
internet café , farming
CapEx & time intensive and
operationally complex
MNOs’ expectations of rapid scale are
difficult to meet
Similar difficulties in accessing
distribution networks
Mobile money Convenience of mobile money,
in terms of flexible payments
and availability of the service
Integration with a MNO’s MM platform
can prove time-consuming
M2M Long range, secure, reduced
interferences
Can be part of a hybrid model,
using other mesh networks
Mobile coverage is not always 100%
reliable
Concluding remarks
Mini-grid model: developing a viable business
A tough business model to crack: high CAPEX, sufficient population density, reliable
mobile coverage, policy and regulatory environment
Some early champions are proving the viability of the business model
Mobile technology: a solution to support viability of mini-grids
Mobile to facilitate payments from customers, connectivity for metering and, in the
case of the CPM model, providing the anchor load
Ncell provides security as a strong anchor tenant, giving Gham access to investment
GSMA supporting decentralised and centralised utilities
In 2017, the Programme plans to roll out a new round of grants to support utility
service providers, using mobile technology, to improve access to energy, water and
sanitation
Thank you!
For more information:
Visit our website
www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/m4dutilities
Contact the team:
Helene Smertnik: [email protected]