Context
When night falls, most villages in northern Afghanistan are plunged into darkness. By day, smoke rises from the courtyards as many households cook with wood or animal dung. Living without electricity is onerous and can damage your health. Three quarters of all families complain of breathing problems caused by smoke. Kerosene and diesel-powered generators are expensive, so only a small proportion of the rural population can afford them. Improving the electricity supply not only makes everyday life easier, it is also the starting point for economic development.
Objective
The rural population has access to an affordable and reliable electricity supply. In towns and villages not yet connected to the national power grid, the supply is enhanced using hydropower or solar power.
Approach
It is not enough just to provide electricity by building solar and micro-hydropower installations or setting up local power grids. There is also a need at the national level to develop a policy framework and strategy to encourage rural electrification using renewable energies, as well as appropriate laws to promote the sustainable power supply. The project team is supporting and advising the Afghan Government in its efforts to achieve these goals. It is also assisting the government in introducing technical standards for electricity that match international requirements, and which will increase energy efficiency while reducing the risks involved in using electrical power.
For a decentralised rural energy supply, it is also important to assess the demand for electricity and implement electrification strategies within the provinces themselves. Project staff are therefore advising the provincial governments on establishing a basis for their planning and introducing administrative processes.
At the local level, the project is supporting the construction of ten micro-hydro power stations. Lessons learned from this work are fed back into the energy ministry’s guidelines on sustainable energy provision, and into the operational management of the power provider, DABS.
To ensure the sustainable operation of the solar and micro-hydro power stations, the project is working with DABS to develop and test private-sector operator models. Since it is impossible to run and maintain power stations sustainably without well qualified employees, the project supports training and study courses for aspiring technicians in the ministry’s own vocational academies.
Results achieved so far
Since 2007, ten small-scale demonstration hydropower plants have been built in Badakhshan and Takhar provinces, supplying electricity to around 100,000 people. More than 200 public institutions and 200 shops and small businesses also receive power from these power stations.
More than 50 jobs have been created to ensure the full-time operation of the plants. In Badakhshan province, six customer centres provide advice to consumers on the safe and efficient use of electricity. Some 16 trainers have received training and they, in turn, have raised awareness among some 5,000 women and men about safe electricity use and potential energy savings.
To date, the project team has trained 100 small-scale entrepreneurs in the appropriate use of machinery and materials. Men and women who have completed entrepreneurship courses have, for example, opened ice cream parlours, photocopying shops and an oil press; they are providing clerical services and processing agricultural produce.
The Ministry of Energy and Water is currently drawing up a national policy for the sector, as well as a strategy for promoting renewable energy sources. The provinces of Badakhshan, Takhar and Balkh have set up regional working groups and adopted electrification strategies.
April 2012 saw the start of the first 18-month course for technicians in the sustainable operation of decentralised energy supply systems, which was attended by 45 participants. In cooperation with Siemens, a training centre for renewable energies is being set up at the Ministry of Energy and Water’s vocational training centre.
By 2014, with advisory support from the project, more than 200 electro-technical standards had been developed and adopted by the Afghan standards authority, ANSA, for instance for cables, insulation and transmission lines. These standards have not only boosted energy efficiency, for example in the transmission grid; they have also improved consumer safety by making electrical equipment like cables, insulation, light switches and plugs safer.