Purpose

To build a case for, and facilitate the implementation of rural integrated energy service utilities (IEU), supplying grid, off-grid and thermal energy needs in rural communities, efficiently and sustainably.

Main Activities

• Review of existing cases of rural energy service delivery;
• Develop guidelines and reference materials for governments, regulators, donors and investors/implementors to use in planning and implementing rural IEU - documents will be developed for a selected case, with emphasis on replication in other regions;
• Develop a generic IEU business plan that provides information for investment decisions and growth paths in an identified case;
• Develop a financial model for business operations;
• Facilitate an IEU investment through the partners in at least one case.

Expected Impact

• Enable a proper review and rigorous analysis of the Integrated Energy Utility concept as applied to rural regions. If the analysis indicates that this is an optimum energy service delivery model, then the preparatory work undertaken will directly support scale up of the selected test case, and will facilitate replication of the concept in other countries and regions.
• Provide a model framework for large scale energy service delivery to under-served areas with impacts on Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) - using both Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency strategies.