Energy
problems for Rural Institutions
Rural hospitals and schools in Africa, Latin America and many parts of Asia consume
large quantities of biomass, and to a lesser extent, coal and oil for cooking
and heating. In most instances, cooking, water heating and space heating is carried
out over inefficient open fires, using poor biomass management techniques (e.g.,
wet, green wood, uncut wood, etc.). In almost all instances, this biomass is purchased,
and often represents a major source of cost for the institution. This cost is
either borne by the state (if state-run), the church or NGO, or by communities
(e.g., boarding schools, community hospitals and clinics).
Additionally, all rural hospitals, and most schools, require electricity for lighting
(night lighting for reading, operating theatres, vaccine refrigeration, etc.).
A large portion of these institutions are not grid-connected (over 80% are not
in rural Uganda, fewer than 50% are in Kenya and Zimbabwe, and less than 40% are
in South Africa). Therefore, they are forced to rely on diesel generators, which
are expensive, difficult to maintain and operate.
In many cases, rural institutions have photovoltaic systems for lighting and vaccine
refrigeration that are either not working, or are working far below capacity.
WHO has recently published figures that show that over 40% of all solar refrigerators
installed in Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia are either not operating
at all or are not operating to WHO standards. In many cases, pv systems have been
installed by donors without training local technicians. Therefore, local or on-site
skills to operate and maintain electricity generating equipment are often lacking.
Both poor efficiencies of biomass use for cooking and heating, and poor, inefficient
and expensive provision of electricity cause the institutions to incur higher
costs, lead to localised environmental problems, and end up costing parents, patients,
communities and sponsors considerable sums of money. Developing in-country ESCO
capabilities to address these issues would result in commercially-viable solutions
that will save these institutions money, while at the same time providing new
business opportunities for local entrepreneurs. The potential to improve efficiencies
and to switch energy sources is great. Simple better management (no cost, low
cost) can lead to dramatic reductions in biomass use. Installing proven, available
stoves in institutions can lead to payback periods of less than two years. Switching
to well-designed, well-maintained PV systems can reduce operating costs for hospitals
and schools dramatically, relative to generating sets, and can provide paybacks
in less than 3 years.
The savings from these activities should provide the means to finance the ESCO
services and supplies.
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