The limits of off-grid rural electrification: realities, risks and challenges in Base-of-the-Pyramid markets

Venkata Bandi

The limits of off-grid rural electrification: realities, risks and challenges in Base-of-the-Pyramid markets

Julkaisun otsikon käännös: Verkosta irrallisen maaseutujen sähköistämisen rajat: Base-of-the--the-Pyramid –markkinoiden realiteetit, riskit ja haasteet

Venkata Bandi

Energia- ja konetekniikan laitos

Tutkimustuotos: Doctoral Thesis › Collection of Articles

Abstrakti

Sähköverkosta irrallisten (off-grid) järjestelmien käyttöönotto on välttämätöntä kestävän kehityksen tavoitteiden (SDG-7) saavuttamiseksi. Ottaen huomioon julkisten palveluiden rajoitukset, off-gird -järjestelmät luovat uusia markkinoita. Tämä asettaa päättäjät hankalan ongelman eteen: miksi maaseutujen Base-of-Pyramid (BoP) –markkinoiden kehitys on hidasta vaikka sosio-tekniset ratkaisut ovat olemassa? Usein ajatellaan että hidas kehitys johtuu markkinoiden epätäydellisyydestä ja muista resurssirajoitteista. Yhteiskunnalliset yritykset voivat potentiaalisesti auttaa tämän ongelman ratkaisemisessa. Tässä tutkimuksessa keskitytään yhteiskunnallisen yrittäjyyden, maaseutujen BoP-markkinoiden ja off-grid-järjestelmien välisiin suhteisiin alhaisen tulotason alueilla. Tapaustutkimuksen keinoin teorisoidaan off-grid -järjestelmien käyttöönottoa, erityisesti aurinkosähköön ja miniverkkoihin keskittyen. Lähtökohtana on kvalitatiivinen kyselytutkimus. Analyysissa sovelletaan monitieteistä lähestymistapaa ja eri tarkastelukulmia: narratiivianalyysia, yhteiskunnallista yrittäjyyttä, ja monitasoisen muutoksen mallia. Lisäksi työssä esitetään monikriteerisen päätöksenteon menetelmien soveltamista, kuten stokastinen monikriteerinen arvostusanalyysi (SMAA) täydentämään deskriptiivisten menetelmien rajoitteita. Tutkimuksessa esitetään BoP-yrittäjien kokemuksiin perustuvia uusia näkemyksiä maaseutujen markkinoiden kehittymisestä ja tunnistetaan usein huomioimattomia tai huomaamattomia yksityiskohtia jotka häiritsevät markkinoiden kehittymistä. Ensinnäkin, markkinoilla toimijoiden on hallittava maaseutujen aurinkosähkömarkkinoiden riskit liittyen yhdyskunnan sitoutumiseen, sidosryhmien hallintaan ja organisatoristen valmiuksien kehittämiseen. Tutkimus parantaa off-grid aurinkosähköjärjestelmien liiketoimintamallia lisäämällä toiminnan riskit uutena dimensiona. Toiseksi, miniverkkojen liiketoimintamallin kestävyys riippuu järjestelmän sosio-teknisestä suunnittelusta, hallinnasta ja käytöstä. Tutkimuksessa esitetään liiketoimintamallin laajentamista integroimalla sosiaaliset ja tekniset näkökulmat monitasoisen muutoksen malliin. Lopuksi, monikriteerisen päätöksenteon mallilla autetaan off-grid-järjestelmien suunnittelijoita huomioimaan samanaikaisesti erilaiset vaikutukset ja vältämään ei-toivotut tai ennakoimattomat haitat.

Julkaisun otsikon käännös	Verkosta irrallisen maaseutujen sähköistämisen rajat: Base-of-the--the-Pyramid –markkinoiden realiteetit, riskit ja haasteet
Alkuperäiskieli	Englanti
Pätevyys	Tohtorintutkinto
Myöntävä instituutio	Aalto-yliopisto
Valvoja/neuvonantaja	Lahdelma, Risto, Vastuuprofessori Sahrakorpi, Tiia, Ohjaaja Paatero, Jukka, Ohjaaja
Kustantaja	Aalto University
Painoksen ISBN	978-952-64-1090-6
Sähköinen ISBN	978-952-64-1091-3
Tila	Julkaistu - 2022
OKM-julkaisutyyppi	G5 Artikkeliväitöskirja

Tutkimusalat

narratiivianalyysia
BoP markkinoilla
mini-grid
sähköistys

YK:n kestävän kehityksen tavoitteet

Tämä tuotos edistää seuraavia kestävän kehityksen tavoitteita:

Pääsy asiakirjaan

http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-64-1091-3

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title = "The limits of off-grid rural electrification: realities, risks and challenges in Base-of-the-Pyramid markets",

abstract = "Off-grid systems deployment is essential to achieving Sustainable Development Goals related to energy access (SDG-7). Their deployment presents a market opportunity, given the limitations of public utilities. Given this scenario, policymakers struggle with the wicked problem: if existing sociotechnical solutions can alleviate energy poverty, why is the energy transition slower than expected in rural Base-of-the-Pyramid (BoP) markets despite potential market opportunities? The slow progress is often attributed to market imperfections and other resource constraints in rural BoP markets. Social enterprise can potentially fill this void in rural BoP markets against this backdrop. This dissertation focuses on on-site experiences to examine the relationship between social entrepreneurship, rural BoP market characteristics, and challenges related to deploying off-grid systems in low-income areas. The study employs case studies to theorize on-site experiences concerning off-grid system deployment, specifically Solar Home Systems (SHSs) and mini-grids. This study mainly uses a qualitative method of enquiry. The qualitative method employs an interdisciplinary approach blending multiple theoretical lenses: cases studies to collect data, narrative analysis for analyzing experiences of practitioners, social entrepreneurship to contextualize business operations in rural BoP markets, and Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) for understanding sociotechnical challenges of mini-grids. In addition to presenting the analysis of practitioners' narratives, the study suggests using multi-criteria tools such as stochastic multi-criteria acceptability analysis (SMAA) to overcome the disadvantages of descriptive methods and field pilots. This dissertation presents new insights into on-site experiences and identifies the often overlooked or invisible nuances related to social enterprises' participation in rural BoP markets. First, practitioners and stakeholders must manage rural SHS markets through a risk assessment of three key activities: community engagement, stakeholder management, and organizational capacity building. Additionally, this study enhances the business model framework for off-grid solar by adding risk as a new dimension. Second, the sustainability of a mini-grid business model depends on how sociotechnical aspects are designed, managed and operated. In addition, this study proposes a mini-grid business model framework integrating social and technical aspects employing sociotechnical regimes in the MLP. Finally, the multi-criteria decision support technique enables off-grid systems planners to make informed decisions to avoid untended or unforeseen consequences.",

keywords = "narrative analysis, SHS, mini-grid, electrification, BoP market, narratiivianalyysia, BoP markkinoilla, mini-grid, s{\"a}hk{\"o}istys, narrative analysis, SHS, mini-grid, electrification, BoP market",

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year = "2022",

language = "English",

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T1 - The limits of off-grid rural electrification: realities, risks and challenges in Base-of-the-Pyramid markets

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PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Off-grid systems deployment is essential to achieving Sustainable Development Goals related to energy access (SDG-7). Their deployment presents a market opportunity, given the limitations of public utilities. Given this scenario, policymakers struggle with the wicked problem: if existing sociotechnical solutions can alleviate energy poverty, why is the energy transition slower than expected in rural Base-of-the-Pyramid (BoP) markets despite potential market opportunities? The slow progress is often attributed to market imperfections and other resource constraints in rural BoP markets. Social enterprise can potentially fill this void in rural BoP markets against this backdrop. This dissertation focuses on on-site experiences to examine the relationship between social entrepreneurship, rural BoP market characteristics, and challenges related to deploying off-grid systems in low-income areas. The study employs case studies to theorize on-site experiences concerning off-grid system deployment, specifically Solar Home Systems (SHSs) and mini-grids. This study mainly uses a qualitative method of enquiry. The qualitative method employs an interdisciplinary approach blending multiple theoretical lenses: cases studies to collect data, narrative analysis for analyzing experiences of practitioners, social entrepreneurship to contextualize business operations in rural BoP markets, and Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) for understanding sociotechnical challenges of mini-grids. In addition to presenting the analysis of practitioners' narratives, the study suggests using multi-criteria tools such as stochastic multi-criteria acceptability analysis (SMAA) to overcome the disadvantages of descriptive methods and field pilots. This dissertation presents new insights into on-site experiences and identifies the often overlooked or invisible nuances related to social enterprises' participation in rural BoP markets. First, practitioners and stakeholders must manage rural SHS markets through a risk assessment of three key activities: community engagement, stakeholder management, and organizational capacity building. Additionally, this study enhances the business model framework for off-grid solar by adding risk as a new dimension. Second, the sustainability of a mini-grid business model depends on how sociotechnical aspects are designed, managed and operated. In addition, this study proposes a mini-grid business model framework integrating social and technical aspects employing sociotechnical regimes in the MLP. Finally, the multi-criteria decision support technique enables off-grid systems planners to make informed decisions to avoid untended or unforeseen consequences.

AB - Off-grid systems deployment is essential to achieving Sustainable Development Goals related to energy access (SDG-7). Their deployment presents a market opportunity, given the limitations of public utilities. Given this scenario, policymakers struggle with the wicked problem: if existing sociotechnical solutions can alleviate energy poverty, why is the energy transition slower than expected in rural Base-of-the-Pyramid (BoP) markets despite potential market opportunities? The slow progress is often attributed to market imperfections and other resource constraints in rural BoP markets. Social enterprise can potentially fill this void in rural BoP markets against this backdrop. This dissertation focuses on on-site experiences to examine the relationship between social entrepreneurship, rural BoP market characteristics, and challenges related to deploying off-grid systems in low-income areas. The study employs case studies to theorize on-site experiences concerning off-grid system deployment, specifically Solar Home Systems (SHSs) and mini-grids. This study mainly uses a qualitative method of enquiry. The qualitative method employs an interdisciplinary approach blending multiple theoretical lenses: cases studies to collect data, narrative analysis for analyzing experiences of practitioners, social entrepreneurship to contextualize business operations in rural BoP markets, and Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) for understanding sociotechnical challenges of mini-grids. In addition to presenting the analysis of practitioners' narratives, the study suggests using multi-criteria tools such as stochastic multi-criteria acceptability analysis (SMAA) to overcome the disadvantages of descriptive methods and field pilots. This dissertation presents new insights into on-site experiences and identifies the often overlooked or invisible nuances related to social enterprises' participation in rural BoP markets. First, practitioners and stakeholders must manage rural SHS markets through a risk assessment of three key activities: community engagement, stakeholder management, and organizational capacity building. Additionally, this study enhances the business model framework for off-grid solar by adding risk as a new dimension. Second, the sustainability of a mini-grid business model depends on how sociotechnical aspects are designed, managed and operated. In addition, this study proposes a mini-grid business model framework integrating social and technical aspects employing sociotechnical regimes in the MLP. Finally, the multi-criteria decision support technique enables off-grid systems planners to make informed decisions to avoid untended or unforeseen consequences.

KW - narrative analysis

KW - SHS

KW - mini-grid

KW - electrification

KW - BoP market

KW - narratiivianalyysia

KW - BoP markkinoilla

KW - mini-grid

KW - sähköistys

KW - narrative analysis

KW - SHS

KW - mini-grid

KW - electrification

KW - BoP market

M3 - Doctoral Thesis

SN - 978-952-64-1090-6

T3 - Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL THESES

PB - Aalto University

ER -

The limits of off-grid rural electrification: realities, risks and challenges in Base-of-the-Pyramid markets

Abstrakti

Tutkimusalat

YK:n kestävän kehityksen tavoitteet

Pääsy asiakirjaan

Sormenjälki

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