ivewireJUNE 20242024/135A KNOWLEDGE NOTE SERIES FOR THE ENERGY EXTRACTIVES GLOBAL PRACTICEMini Grids for Underserved Main Grid Customers"Up to 2 billion people are fundamentally constrained in their ability to grow because the electricityaccess they have is erratic and unreliable."-Raj Shah,President,Rockefeller Foundation(2020)The bottom line.Can mini grids help to solve the problem of poorly served main grid connectedcommunities?A mini grid is an electricity generation and distribution network that supplieselectricity to a localized group of customers.Mini grids can be isolated from or connected tothe main grid.To date,most mini grids in Sub-Saharan Africa have been built in electricallyisolated rural villages not connected to the main grid.Based on broad experience working withmini grid programs in more than 20 low-and middle-income countries and five detailed casestudies,the authors offer observations and recommendations about mini grids in general and anew type known as"undergrid mini grids"being used in Nigeria and India to serve poorly servedcommunities.Why do main grid customers need mini grids?fact that many households and businesses that are officiallyreported as connected often receive very poor service.Many households and businesses that are officiallyreported as connected receive poor servicePoor service occurs in different ways.The most commonMost discussions of scaling up electricity access in develop-shortcoming is that the electricity service is not reliable.Aing countries focus on a single number:the millions of people2019 IFC report estimated that two billion people sufferedwho have no access to electricity.In 2022,it was reportedannual blackouts of 100 hours or more and that one billionthat worldwide 675 million people did not have any accesssuffered 1,000 hours or more (IFC 2019).And even whento grid-supplied electricity,with 567 million of them livingthe electricity is supplied as promised,the quality (the volt-in Africa.But an exclusive focus on this number ignores theage and frequency)is often below standard,burning outmachines and appliances prematurely.Customers are,asthe Nigerian electricity regulator (NERC)euphemisticallydescribes,underserved.Bernard Tenenbaum is an independent energyWith the growing realization that a physical connection doesand regulatory consultant.not automatically lead to good service,interest has grownin so-called undergrid mini grids that would serve areasChris Greacen is a renewable energy and energyaccess consultant to ESMAP.Ashish Shrestha is a senior energy specialist withTHE WORLD BANK装ESMAPESMAP.IBRD.IDA2Mini Grids for Underserved Main Grid CustomersFigure 1.Types of mini grids and their relationship to the main gridPopulation hasTraditional focus ofno electricity serviceMini grid in areasgovernments,World Bank.from the main gridunserved by main gridand other developmentorganizations working withmini grids in developingOff-grid mini gridscountriesTypesof miniMini grid interconnectedgridsPopulation isto the main gridWuse Marketunderserved/Toto case studiespoorly served bythe main gridMini grid not interconnectedto the main gridMokoloki,HuskIndia,and TPRMGcase studiesUndergrid mini gridsalready connected to the main grid but whose customersCan undergrid mini grids provide commercially and environ-are receiving unsatisfactory service(figure 1,bottom panel).mentally sustainable electricity service for households andbusinesses in communities that are currently receiving poorAs shown in the bottom panel of figure 1,undergrid mini gridsservice from a traditional govemment-owned or privatelycan take two forms:interconnected and non-interconnect-owned Disco?And if so,at what cost?These questions areed.1 An interconnected mini grid's connection to the localaddressed in five detailed case studies of both types in Minielectricity distribution company (Disco)allows for purchasesGrid Solutions for Underserved Customers:New Insightsof electricity by the mini grid from the Disco and,in somefrom Nigeria and India (Tenenbaum,Greacen,and Shresthacases,sales of electricity to the Disco by the mini grids.In2024)contrast,a non-interconnected (or isolated)undergrid minigrid has no electrical connection to a Disco's distributionTable 1 highlights case studies from Nigeria and India thatsystem.Electrical isolation does not require geographic iso-focus on privately owned and operated undergrid mini gridslation.In India,more than 600 privately owned,non-inter-developed at sites chosen by developers without significantconnected,solar hybrid mini grids are operating in villagesgovemment involvement.2 These studies concentrate onthat are already being served by a Disco connected to thesolar hybrid mini grids made up of combinations of solarmain grid.power,batteries,diesel,and occasionally biomass.This blendof technologies is anticipated to predominate in upcoming1.An interconnected mini grid is a type of distributed energy resource.A DERis 'anything that generates,stores or manages electricity on distributiongrids"(Roberts 2021).It can be a demand-or supply-side resource.DERs2.This is not the only possible govemment approach to promoting minican take many forms:mini grids,rooftop solar,building storage,consumergrids.A new forthcoming Live Wire will discuss the pros and cons of differentbatteries,distributed generation,demand response,energy efficiency.ther-government approaches used in other Sub-Saharan African countries tomal storage,or electric vehicles and their batteries.