►Link to Mini-Grid Webinar Series 2017

Mini-Grids Webinar Series 2019

The Hydro Empowerment Network (HPNET) is a south-south, knowledge exchange and advocacy platform to advance small-scale (<1MW) hydropower. HPNET, in partnership with the WISIONS of Sustainability Initiative and Energypedia, is conducting a 4-part, quarterly webinar series on mini-grids.

Renewable energy mini-grids are a cost-effective and reliable solution for energy access. Within the technologies available for mini-grids, micro and mini hydropower (MHP)¹has added advantages. It's techno-economic characteristics, such lower levelized cost of electricity, per kilowatt cost, and no need for battery storage, make it economically viable for grid interconnection and productive end use applications. read more

Because MHP hardware can be manufactured locally and maintained by local actors, MHP development imparts local skills and jobs, which can evolve into local MHP enterprises. In addition, MHP strengthens catchment area and watershed protection, in turn increasing the climate resilience of vulnerable communities in hilly regions.

The number of hydro mini-grids in rural areas of Asia, Africa, and Latin America far exceed other types of mini-grids. As a proven technology with an extensive track record, micro and mini hydropower is the focus in this mini-grid webinar series. The objective of the series is to facilitate exchange among diverse actors advancing small-scale hydro, and promote approaches that lead to long-term success and optimal local benefits. Each of the four webinars will respectively provide insight on MHP reliability, sustainability, financing, and planning for scalability.

[1] In this context, micro hydropower refers to <100kW, and mini hydropower refers to 100 - 1000 kW (or 1MW).

1st Webinar
2nd Webinar: (June 2019)
3rd Webinar (September 2019)
4th Webinar: (December 2019)

Mini-Grid Reliability: The Role of Training Centers for Micro/Mini Hydropower

Webinar Recording

Micro and mini hydropower (MHP) implementation involves technical expertise in hydrology, civil works, electro-mechanical, electrical, and electronics. Thanks to the pioneers of knowledge transfer for small-scale hydropower, e.g. the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG), Skat Foundation, HydroNet, and others, comprehensive and frequent training was made available in the 1990s to practitioners in the global south. While such training is rare in the present-day scenario, the earlier efforts led to the creation of local experts who have since established local training centers. The Southeast Asia region particularly benefits from micro hydropower training centers. This webinar – the 1st in a series of four webinars – will feature the following training centers that provide local capacity building for the development, operation, and maintenance of community-based micro hydro projects in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

Download the Presentations

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HPNET

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Jade Angngalao SIBAT

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Gerhard Fischer HYCOM

Speakers

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Moderator
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Thematic Discussant

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LANZ GABRIEL JABLA
Lanz Gabriel Jabla is the Knowledge Platform Coordinator of the Hydro Empowerment Network and the Technical Support Officer at Yamog Renewable Energy Development Group, based in Mindanao, Philippines. Lanz has a BS degree in petroleum engineering and has completed certified training in community resource training, GIS/GPS, and technical writing. Upon completing his degree, he completed an internship at the Shell Foundation, focusing on business operations and social impact investment projects, including energy access. Having realized the consequences of fossil fuel extraction while with the Shell Foundation, he became inspired to work on renewable energy solutions, including volunteering with Yamog.

Mini-Grid Financing: Enabling the Role of Local Banks

Friday, 28 June 2019 at 3:00 pm CEST.
Register: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/286958640442813452

Renewable energy mini-grids are a proven and cost-effective solution for sustainable energy access. To date, scaled replication of mini-grids has largely depended on international development aid, most commonly as concessionary loans or grants to national government, which are then distributed as grants or subsidies to beneficiary communities. However, in the case of hydro mini-grids access to credit can play a significant role in accelerating mini-grid implementation. read more

Where resources exist, small-scale hydropower produces the lowest cost energy. Its techno-economic characteristics (e.g. lower levelized cost of energy, per kilowatt investment cost, and no need for energy storage) allow for economic viability with high social impact, including affordable tariffs, extensive productive end use, and viable grid interconnection. Because its hardware can be manufactured locally and maintained by local actors, micro and mini hydropower development imparts local skills, jobs and enterprise development. It also strengthens catchment areas and watershed protection, which in turn increases climate resilience and integrated development of rural communities. While these financial viability and socio-economic impact aspects of hydro mini-grids make them conducive to soft loans, impact investment and other types of debt/equity, access to financing is a severe challenge for local, small-scale hydro practitioners across the global south. International financiers find it difficult to lend to projects located in very remote areas, which is often the case with local micro and mini hydropower. Therefore, local practitioners increasingly seek financing from local banks and other local financiers, who tend to be more accessible to local practitioners and amenable for dialogue that helps to clarify the local context and risks. Local banks that lend to rural areas can particularly be more open to lending to mini-grids for energy access. However, in most cases local banks have little or no experience in lending to mini-grids. They lack basic skills for project appraisal and servicing loans. In addition, most countries lack banking regulations that would allow the loan tenures required for mini-grid pay-back periods, e.g. 7-10 years. Collateral and interest rates are also critical obstacles for enabling local bank financing. In some cases local banks do not have adequate capital funds for lending. On the other hand, local developers also need skills building in developing the required documentation and data required to access local bank loans. In spite of these challenges, experience in South and Southeast Asia shows that local banks can be empowered to play a critical role in accelerating sustainable hydro mini-grids by lending to local practitioners.

This webinar – the 2^nd in a series of four webinars – will feature banks and financing specialists from South and Southeast Asia who have enabled local banks and local developers in the region to make financing available for small-scale hydro mini-grids. Using specific examples, speakers will present:

Why and how local banks are critical to replication of sustainable hydro mini-grids
Incentives for local banks in lending to hydro mini-grids and local developers
How local banks can build internal capacity to lend to mini-grids
How local developers can develop the necessary skills to access local bank financing
How banking regulatory challenges can be overcome
Roles of government and donors help to accelerate the process of enabling local bank financing.

Speakers

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Moderator
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Thematic Discussant

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DIPTI VAGHELA

Dipti Vaghela is the co-founder and manager of the Hydro Empowerment Network (HPNET), a south-south knowledge exchange platform that advances policy, technology, and socio-environmental aspects of small-scale hydropower across ten countries since established in 2013. Dipti brings sixteen years of experience in developing decentralized renewable energy solutions for rural electrification in S/SE Asia, bridging communities, local entrepreneurs, field-based NGOs, policy makers, and funding agencies. After a product design career in Silicon Valley, she spent ten years with indigenous communities in rural India, mostly in Kalahandi, Odisha, establishing localized energy solutions. In 2013, supported by the Switzer Foundation Environmental Leadership Grant, Dipti served as International Rivers' energy solutions coordinator to promote policy solutions that support equitable energy development. In 2016 she was awarded a Fulbright Public Policy Fellowship, placed at the Renewable Energy Association of Myanmar (REAM). Based in Myanmar, she supports and learns from Myanmar’s indigenous micro/mini hydropower, biomass energy, PV-irrigation practitioners. Dipti holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Science in Environmental Studies from San Jose State University.

Mini-Grid Sustainability: Transitioning to Enterprise-based Micro Hydropower

September 2019

Collective research and observations within the Hydro Empowerment Network reveal that the long-term sustainability of community-based micro and mini hydropower projects is dependent on whether the project is run as enterprise. This webinar – the 3rd in the series – will feature practitioners in Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan who are enabling enterprise-based micro and mini hydropower projects.

Stay tuned for details!

Mini-Grid Planning: Data Mapping Tools for Multi-Actors

December 2019

Map-based planning tools can be useful for various stakeholders of mini-grid implementation:

Policy makers and advocacy groups can use map-based tools to assess the cost, time, and performance aspects of mini-grids versus the main grid for rural and remote areas, and opportunities for interconnection.
Funding agencies and developers can use map-based data to determine the natural resource viability of different technologies, e.g. will the PV system be the viable during monsoon months, will the micro hydro system be viable during the dry months, etc.
Civil society organizations and community-based groups can use map-based tools to develop local level energy planning, e.g. interconnecting mini-grids to each other.

These webinar will feature the latest in the state of the art mapping tools for mini-grids planning!

Stay tuned for details!

Organizers

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Mini-Grid Webinar Series 2019

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Moderator

Thematic Discussant

Speakers

Moderator

Thematic Discussant

Organizers