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Background.
In 2005, only 85,000 villages were connected to the national gird out of a total of 125,000 un-electrified villages. The remaining 40,000 villages, comprising over 3 million households, therefore, rely on firewood, cow dung, coal, kerosene, petroleum, LPG, cell batteries etc.
7876 of these un-electrified villages cannot be connected to the national gird for another 20 years due to their distance from the national gird, which rendered these villages technically and economically unavailable.
Like any other citizens of Pakistan, the inhabitants of these villages also deserved access to the basic amenities of life. Hence, the Government of Pakistan (GOP) tasked Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) to provide the basic energy services to these villages.
The Project
AEDB, established to promote environmentally friendly alternative/renewable energy resources in the country, designed and launched the Rural Electrification Programme (REP) to provide electric lighting, means of communication and clean drinking water facilities to the villages identified by WAPDA. The programme is fully funded by the GoP with an estimated cost of Rs 1.167 billion.
The projects in Sindh have been executed by two private companies, which as energy service providers are responsible for providing energy services to users during the first year after commissioning of the systems. After the first year, the project will be handed over to the provincial governments for operation and maintenance with overall monitoring of AEDB. (it would be appropriate if the concept of ESCOs is elaborated).
Under this Programme, 21000 homes, spread over 400 villages, selected by the provincial governments out of a list provided by WAPDA, are to be provided the basic energy services. The project was planned to be executed simultaneously in a number of villages of Balochistan and Sindh. So far, installation of 3000 SHS in district Tharparker, Sindh has been completed. The survey and mobilization activity has been started in Balochistan.
Social mobilization and community participation remained a cornerstone of the REP implementation strategy, which is considered as one of the basic factors that leads towards success of the Programme; information material, catering to the needs of both literate and illiterate groups, in forms of posters, leaflets, comic books etc had been developed in English, Urdu and Sindhi and widely distributed among the beneficiaries.
Due to the distinctive nature of community embedded project, effective strategies have to be developed to ensure sustainability. Afore said in view, AEDB gave due attention to this crucial area and focused on capacity building of the project staff in both the social and technical segments of the project. Significant efforts have also been done to conduct base line survey, community mobilization, education and awareness of the end users, follow-ups, feedbacks and impact assessment. The gender and productive use of the energy service have been the main focus of the follow-up activities.
Project Benefits
- Access to electricity
- Access to communication & information facilities
- Access to new technology
- Improved living conditions
- Access to safe drinking water
- Improved health conditions
- More employment opportunities and increased income
- Poverty alleviation
- More working hours
- Increased social interaction
- Increased girls’ enrolment & decreased drop out rate
- Better exam results
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