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: hsmertnik@gsma.com

m4dutilities@gsma.com