Capacity Assessment in the Subsector of Rural Electrification through Renewable Energy Organisations and Institutions Short-term Mission Report October 2009 Version 12 F l o r i a n B e m m e r l e i n - L u x c/o ifanos concept&planung Vordere Cramergasse 11 90478 Nürnberg - Germany TEL: +49 (0) 911 486 487 18 / 14 Mobil: +49 (0) 160 1564 066 FAX: +49 (0) 911 486 487 10 [email protected] Capacity Assessment in the Subsector of Rural Electrification through Re- newable Energy – Organisations Short-term Mission Report Bemmerlein-Lux - August 2009 Content 1. BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE MISSION ............................................................. 3 2. METHODOLOGY AND DELIVERABLES .................................................................... 7 3. THE TARGET INSTITUTIONS AND ORGANISATIONS ............................................. 13 3.1. General Situation .............................................................................................................. 13 3.2. Ministry of Energy and Water – MEW .......................................................................... 16 3.3. DABM / DABS ..................................................................................................................... 37 3.4. Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development - MRRD ................................... 42 3.5. ICE and ICE Subcommittee ............................................................................................ 54 3.6. Provincial Departments of Line Ministries MEW and MRRD ................................. 61 3.7. Provincial Organisations / Institutions ........................................................................ 66 4. TRAINING PROVIDERS .......................................................................................... 72 4.1. Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) ............................................ 73 4.2. DED and Vocational Training ....................................................................................... 77 5. SUMMARY OF MAIN PROBLEMS, CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....... 84 5.1. Summary of main Problems and Challenges ............................................................ 84 5.2. Suggestions for Organisational and Institutional Development .......................... 87 5.3. Suggestions for Capacity Building Measures ......................................................... 107 5.4. Gender Issues - Comments .......................................................................................... 120 6. ANNEXES 1 ......................................................................................................... 121 6.1. Material Used ................................................................................................................... 121 6.2. Competence Fields and Training Contents ............................................................. 123 6.3. List of existing training concepts and/or materials ............................................... 131 6.4. Characterisation of Training Types............................................................................ 132 6.5. List of Technical and Vocational Institutes/Schools ............................................. 134 6.6. List of Training Providers for Managerial Subjects ............................................... 138 6.7. Acronyms .......................................................................................................................... 139 6.8. Recent Stakeholders of the Subsector Rural Electrification through Renewable Energies ............................................................................................................................ 142 6.9. Organizational Structure of the Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW) ............. 146 6.10. ESRA suggestions for MEW and MRRD responsibilities for RESRET ............. 147 6.11. Lists of Interviews and official Meetings: ................................................................. 150 - 1 - Capacity Assessment in the Subsector of Rural Electrification through Re- newable Energy – Organisations Short-term Mission Report Bemmerlein-Lux - August 2009 6.12. Terms of Reference ........................................................................................................ 152 - 2 - Capacity Assessment in the Subsector of Rural Electrification through Re- newable Energy – Organisations Short-term Mission Report Bemmerlein-Lux - August 2009 1. Background and Aim of the Mission According to the Afghan National Development Strategy - ANDS1 rural energy development is a crucial mean for poverty reduction and improving livelihoods in the rural areas of the country. The remoteness, dispersed settlement patterns, lack of institutions and resources requires inno- vative ways to couple energy service delivery with economic activities. Due to the dispersed nature of the rural population, renewable energy offers the best solution for electrification for the majority of Afghanistan’s rural population that currently does not have access to electricity and has no real expectation of connection to the grid. Main sources and possibilities for Rural Electricity Supply through Renewable Energy Technologies (RESRET) are: Hydropower: Afghanistan has significant resources for hydropower. “It is estimated that 23,000 MW of hydropower resources potential are available of which only 260MW have been so far devel- oped. About 125 sites have been identified for micro-hydro schemes of 100MW potential. In mountainous areas there is sufficient head to make even very low flow streams effective, and glacier-fed streams provide year-round minimum water flow”2. It is likely that there is no detailed assessment of the total hydroelectric potential. A study of MRRD3 estimates 25 000 MW with an installed capacity of 304 MW (with 183 MW operation capacity – but references are not given. MRRD has pre feasibility studies of 1MW for micro hydropower plants in 9 provinces. For all future planning of hydropower plants future im- pacts of Climate Change related effects have to be taken into consideration4. The estima- tions of the effects of Climate Change suggest that water resources are especially vulner- able. For smaller hydropower plants are likely to suffer from stronger flow peaks in winter and less flow in summer as well as increased competition for water use from upstream irri- gation. Photovoltaic: The resource for photovoltaic power generation is good, especially in the central, western and southern regions (approximately 300 days of sunshine a year providing on average 65 kilowatt-hours per square meter per day5) 6. PV Systems are very costly and at the moment with low general importance. Selling of whole systems can be feasible for stand-alone solar PV application households (lighting) with some effort in the training users. The quality of the material / modules used is crucial to reduce maintenance and assure quality production. Maintenance is simple, but need finan- cial resources, by changing broken modules and batteries. Problems (esp. with the NSP programme and with Facilitation Partners) in the past were severe because of low quality products and very high prices. 1 Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2008b): Afghan National Development Strategy. Volume II, Pillar 3, Infrastructure. Energy Sector Strategy 2 DIFID 2009 3 A. Azimi MRRD (July 2009): Policy for Renewable Energy for Rural Electrification – Afghanistan. Draft study 4 DIFID 2009 5 DIFID 2009 6 see also Dr. Naumann: Deliverable g): Draft chapter O&M provincial electrification by PV - 3 - Capacity Assessment in the Subsector of Rural Electrification through Re- newable Energy – Organisations Short-term Mission Report Bemmerlein-Lux - August 2009 Photovoltaic can have an importance for single households, small village grids, official build- ings, lightning and special uses. The value generation for the economy connected with Photovoltaic is small, because – except of installation material – the technology has to be imported. Wind: Wind as energy source had a traditional use in Afghanistan for mills and water pumps on a small scale, but not for electricity. Areas with feasible sites for installation and sufficient wind for power production are rare – except in the in the western provinces and some spot areas in the East. Problems of transport and construction (lack of road infrastructure!) and lack of transmission lines to feed-in wind energy for bigger units add to the difficulties. Constant electricity contribution needs careful and steady maintenance. At the moment there is a lack of skills, available technology and infrastructure. There is a pre-pre study of the US of sites in Panjshir, but the potentials are generally very low. The Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) – USAID – has one 10 x 10 KW wind energy device, but this is technically compli- cated, needs special maintenance and the PRT is not able to link it with the villages. The conclusion of experts7: “A potential contribution can only be marginal for rural electrification.” Because of the technical characteristics, wind generated electricity is only feasible if con- nected to a grid. It is not constantly delivering power and needs carefully planned storage capacity. For stand alone systems wind energy is too unstable. (See also a report by ESRA/integration E&E to assist the Ministry of Energy and Water with the employment of wind technology in Afghanistan8).9 Biogas Power production from Biogas has no importance at the moment. In the south and southwest