Each day, children from villages having benefit- Information and communication are made easier ted from ERSEN project interventions study 30 Thanks to rural electrification, one can witness the emergence of minutes longer on average than children with no new habits with regards to accessing information (TV, Radio). access to electricity. (RWI impact study, 2011) In all the electrified villages, the population seems to be very satis- fied with their access to TV, or not having to travel to town to charge their mobile phone. In Ndiaye Kahone (Kaolack re- gion), village inhabitants now use new technologies and the village youths surf the internet with their computers. School results improve Teachers and students alike also benefit from access to electricity. Children can do their homework in the evening in much better condi- tions and benefit from the teach- The Rural Electrification Senegal (ERSEN) Project: ers’ use of new teaching supports that would otherwise not be avail- Electricity for over 90,000 persons. able. Background The quality of medical services improves The local economy is boosted In 2010, over 80% of rural Senegalese households still had no uses renewable energy (solar and wind power) to provide electric- access to electricity. In a great number of communities, schools ity to remote areas that cannot be immediately or easily connected Certain services, such childbirth at night, can now be provided in Thanks to solar mills, sewing workshops, carpentry and metalwork and health posts deliver their services without any electricity. The to the existing distribution grid. much better conditions. The small health post in Ndiaye Kahone businesses, the communities are also witnessing a new boost in Government of Senegal has therefore set itself the challenge of thus benefits from access to electricity: Faama Diop, the midwife income-generating activities. increasing access to electricity in rural areas to 50% in 2012. That of the village, is very taken by her work, especially during the rainy requires delivering electric- ERSEN objectives season. In villages such as Ndiebel (Kaolack region) and Diaoule (Fatick ity to approximately 90,000 region), electrical installations have allowed women to use solar new households every year! In its first phase (2005 – December 2009), the ERSEN According to her, the quality of services has vastly improved: “I freezers in which they can preserve fresh product for sale on the project brought electricity to 74 villages in the regions have a minimum of five patients a day. Thanks to electricity, I can weekly markets. In Sine Moussa (Thiès region), the village tailor To reach this ambitious goal, of Kolda, Sédhiou and Kaolack. even carry out nighttime visits, including for childbirths”. multiplied his income by six since he began using the electricity the Senegalese Agency for generated by the wind-solar-diesel power plant. Rural Electrification (ASER) The second phase started in May 2009 and carries the is in charge of promoting objective of bringing electricity to a further 70 villages electrification by providing in the Fatick region, and 121 villages in the Sédhiou support to local, national, region, with a co-financing of the European Union. and international initiatives. Its approach rests upon an electrification plan es- tablished by the Ministry in The 265 target villages of the ERSEN charge of Energy. project have a maximum population From a health stand- In support of local initiatives of 1,000, are usually situated at a point, a great improve- for electrification, PERACOD long distance from the medium volt- ment has been made in and ASER are implementing the ERSEN Project, which is age grid, and must dispose of at least the conditions in which financed by the Directorate- one school and one health post to be medical consultations General for International Cooperation (Dutch coop- eligible for investment. are carried out. eration). The ERSEN project Social engineering implemented by the ERSEN project Persons benefit- Private Senegalese companies Villages provided ting from access Public lighting Region Schools Health posts selected by ASER are respon- with electricity to electricity in points sible for operating the systems their homes in target villages for a period of First phase fifteen years. Operators collect Kaolack 32 7 780 33 23 141 initial installation and monthly Kolda 20 3 350 13 5 57 fees from consumers (house- Sédhiou 22 5 920 18 11 97 holds, social infrastructure, and TOTAL 74 17 050 64 39 295 productive users). Second phase Sédhiou 121 46 076 121 121 699 Fatick 70 31 893 72 71 449 TOTAL 191 77 969 193 192 1 148 TOTAL 265 95 019 257 231 1 443 Local governance of electricity supply The ERSEN project has developed several innovations concerning >> Rural communities must position themselves as primary Newly acquired access to the social aspects of rural electrification. The project ensures that an project stakeholders: they provide a financial participation in electricity presents great adequate social structure is put in place to help manage electricity the initial investment, they are directly involved in the aware- provision. ness raising and information processes as well as in manag- opportunities for economic ing the services provided by the private operators. development in villages. Solar home systems are usually in- A consultation and decision-making forum is thus set up at village The ERSEN project there- stalled in smaller villages with a popula- level in order to mitigate social impacts and risks. This is embodied >> Private operators are also required to contribute financially to by the “Monitoring and oversight committees for electricity service initial investment in electrification projects. They ensure elec- fore provides a support to tion of less than 500. They can gener- delivery”. tricity provision as well as technical and commercial manage- the development of produc- ate sufficient electricity to power four ment of the equipment installed This careful integration into to the socio-economic context favours tive uses of electricity for lighting points, a black and white TV, a the durability of equipment on one the hand, and facilitates private >> Electricity consumers, whether they are households, social rural entrepreneurs. radio, and a mobile phone charger. sector investment and operations on the other hand. The key stake- facilities or productive users, must pay their access through holders are therefore solicited by the project in different manners: an initial one-off access fee and monthly fees for the service. In the villages, ERSEN develops a social engineering system for rural electri- fication. This consists in integrating preliminary information, awareness raising Electricity as a means of creating wealth in rural area Technical Solutions and training of target groups and closely associating the local communities in Downstream from electricity services, the development of produc- 3. Identification and development of synergies with financial In order to make electricity useful and accessible to all, different diesel or solar-wind-diesel) and solar street lights. Solar street lights decision-making. tive uses is carried out using a four-step approach: and non-financial partners (business development services). technical solutions are on offer, each with its own specific uses are used for public lighting purposes such as lighting pathways, adapted to consumer needs: solar home systems, minigrids (solar- public places or other social facilities such as places for prayer. 1. Systematic identification of potential productive uses of elec- 4. Integration of these productive uses into designs for electri- tricity during the preliminary survey stages. city supply. 2. Careful analysis of value-added chains of each identified acti- vity sector and of the economic and financial viability of inves- ting into productive uses. Hybrid minigrids (solar-diesel or solar- wind-diesel) have the capacity to provide electricity to households in villages of ap- Impacts proximately 700 inhabitants. The service Important social changes is comparable to that provided in big cities In Keur Madiouf, the first village to be provided with electricity by cle’s in Dakar! I never would have thought we would get light other allowing the use of all types of equipment the ERSEN project in the Kaolack region, the son of the village than from our oil lamps. I will now be able to study properly here at and therefore adapted for productive uses chief was “dazzled” by the electrification of his village. the village during the holidays and help you with your work in the fields rather than go to Dakar”. Electricity having brought the same of electricity. After a first evening spent under the light provided by the new sys- facilities in the village as can be found in town, the population can tem, he addressed his father as follows: “Dad, when I pressed the now practice similar activities. switch and the room was lit up, I thought I was staying at my Un- Social engineering implemented by the ERSEN project Persons benefit- Private Senegalese companies Villages provided ting from access Public lighting Region Schools Health posts selected by ASER are respon- with electricity to electricity in points sible for operating the systems their homes in target villages for a period of First phase fifteen years. Operators collect Kaolack 32 7 780 33 23 141 initial installation and monthly Kolda 20 3 350 13 5 57 fees from consumers (house- Sédhiou 22 5 920 18 11 97 holds, social infrastructure, and TOTAL 74 17 050 64 39 200 productive users). Second phase Sédhiou 121 46 076 121 121 699 Fatick 70 31 893 72 71 449 TOTAL 191 77 969 193 192 1 148 TOTAL 265 95 019 257 231 1 348 Local governance of electricity supply The ERSEN project has developed several innovations concerning >> Rural communities must position themselves as primary Newly acquired access to the social aspects of rural electrification. The project ensures that an project stakeholders: they provide a financial participation in electricity presents great adequate social structure is put in place to help manage electricity the initial investment, they are directly involved in the aware- provision.