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the flow

YAMOG UPDATE: COMMUNITY-BASED MICRO HYDRO IN DAVAO AND MINDANAO

6/15/2020

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PictureElectro-mechanical equipment contributed by Pt Entec Indonesia. Credit: Yamog.
Since 1993, Yamog Renewable Energy Development Group, Inc. has been working with rural, indigenous populations to improve socio-economic and environmental well-being in Mindanao, Philippines. Since its inception, Yamog has championed a holistic approach to rural electrification and development, leveraging co-benefits of clean energy solutions to catalyze sustainable positive change in marginalized communities. 
 
Currently, although operations have been significantly disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Yamog has several promising, ongoing initiatives underway. Two significant projects were initiated in 2020, and the Yamog team is hopeful that progress on these initiatives will pick up  later this year. 

Sustainable Energy and Safe Drinking Water in Davao Occidental

One of Yamog’s main ongoing projects centres around the promotion of a locally-operated electricity and water supply system in Sitio Danao, Barangay Pangaleon Municipality of Malita Province of Davao Occidental-Mindana, Philippines. Funded by Misereor-KZE Germany, this project will establish a 26 kW capacity micro hydro system in Sitio Danao. 

The Yamog team is grateful for the contributions of HPNET Board Member Gerhard Fisher and company from Pt Entec Indonesia, who fabricated the turbine and electro-mechancial equipment for this project. Following up on a collaboration facilitated by HPNET in 2018, and knowledge exchange activities in 2019, Pt Entec and Yamog continue to collaborate to advance high quality micro hydro equipment in community based projects in Mindanao. 

Through this project, Yamog aims to improve the quality of life of the Tagakaulo tribal community, via a participatory approach to community development. Substantive community involvement is prioritized, in order to harness local social capital and build the community’s capacity to manage and sustain the project. This collaborative, participatory approach is very much in line with the local culture, reflecting the spirit of “bayanihan” (communal activities). 

Community collaboration has been central, not only in the establishment of the MHP, but also in the promotion of watershed protection and restoration in the Tagakaulo’s ancestral land. The community association, watershed committee and volunteers have collectively carried out resource mapping and planning to mitigate and prevent further environmental destruction and strengthen the watershed ecosystem. They aim to conserve 390 hectares of the watershed, plant 5,000 fruit-bearing and native trees and establish a community-managed nursery, mandating that each member of the community association plant 5 trees every year. To date, they have successfully transplanted around 30% of their total target number of trees. 

Yamog, furthermore, aims to promote gender equity through the project, and women have played an important role in activities thus far. One of the project’s core activities focuses on developing sustainable livelihoods for women, to respond to the gendered impacts of energy poverty and limited economic opportunities, and to leverage the valuable role that women play within community development. The community association’s general assembly also voted for a woman to be their chairperson, acknowledging her strong leadership capabilities. 

The project team has not yet been able to install the electro-mechanical equipment for the MHP, as their engineers aren’t able to travel to the beneficiary community due to COVID-related restrictions. However, Yamog hopes to complete installation by September or October 2020, so that the community will have electricity access before Christmastime.

Sustainable Energy Project in Mindanao

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Another ongoing project at Yamog is called “Improving the Lives of People in Off-Grid Communities in Mindanao through the Provision of  Sustainable Energy”, funded by the European Union and Misereor-KZE Germany. This project will establish 6 MHPs and 2,876 solar home lighting systems, serving 4,000 poor, mostly indigenous, households in Mindanao. 

The project has four key components: Installation of an energy mix of solar power and micro hydropower; holistic approach in water resource management through a community-driven forest protection initiative; development of local people’s management and technical capacities,  and promoting good local governance; and providing a physical center for technical servicing, research and training. 

For the last component, Yamog is in the process of setting up the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Technologies (ReSET) Center, where practitioners will learn how to fabricate turbines and other electro-mechanical MHP components, as well as other renewable energy technologies (solar, wind, biogas). The ReSET Center will serve as the hub of renewable energy development in Mindanao, where Yamog will also conduct research and trainings to pass on the RE technologies to grassroots communities.
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"HIDDEN NO MORE": AN INTERVIEW WITH MINI-GRIDS SUSTAINABILITY EXPERT, RESHA PIYA

5/30/2020

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A 2019 study by IRENA found that women represent about 32% of employees in the renewable energy sector, with far lower representation in STEM jobs compared to administrative jobs.  Despite being few in numbers, women are making important contributions to the sector. We have seen this first-hand in the small-scale hydropower community. From village energy committees, to manufacturing centres, to Board rooms, women are making waves at all levels.

Last year, we launched the Hidden No More feature series to spotlight women change-makers who have transformed gender barriers, and made impactful contributions to energy access for marginalized communities. For this edition, we spoke with Resha Piya, who has nearly 20 years of experience working in the energy access space in Nepal. During our conversation, Ms. Piya shared key solutions for promoting gender inclusion in micro hydropower projects (MHP) and rich insights from her experience supporting MHP sustainability.

PictureResha Piya. Credit: R. Piya
What inspired you to get involved in community development, energy access, and micro hydro work?

​I started my career in the early 2000’s, when I joined Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) in 2001. My inspiration to get involved was mainly due to the disparity I saw between the rural and urban populations. I had observed a huge disparity, mainly in terms of basic amenities; urban people were enjoying many facilities including better electricity, education and health facilities, while the rural poor were deprived of all these basic assets, even energy services. I had seen that rural people were compelled to use kerosene and Jharro  (a common plant in Nepal) for household lighting needs.

Being an electrical engineer, I decided it was best to work in the rural energy sector where I could best contribute my knowledge. With my background in electrical engineering, I understand that electricity is the foundation to any and all development activities, which can drive economic activities in rural areas. I believe that rural people have a right to energy services, as do urban people, and energy services can really improve rural quality of life and address the challenges they are facing.

Initially, I started my career promoting solar home systems in rural areas in my work with AEPC, and later shifted toward focusing on sustainable small-scale hydropower. I realized that only installing the energy infrastructure itself -- providing access to electricity -- is not sufficient, because there is a need to make energy systems more reliable and sustainable. This is very important because if the system stops functioning, this creates a burden to rural communities. This is what I found in the field and it is what inspired me to focus on the micro hydro sector, and specifically micro hydropower (MH) sustainability.  
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"With my background in electrical engineering, I understand that electricity is the foundation to any and all development activities, which can drive economic activities in rural areas."
What inspired you to get involved in community development, energy access, and micro hydro work?

There have been remarkable improvements in the sector since I first started out in the early 2000’s. To date, 2500+ mini/micro/pico hydro systems have been installed with a total capacity of about 36 MW generation of electricity. These systems are distributed around 69 districts of Nepal, providing electricity access to more than 350 households, as well as many rural enterprises and institutions. 

There are around 80 private companies currently working in design, construction and installation of micro/mini hydro plants. In terms of overall job creation, there are more than 7000 people directly employed by the sector. When I started the sector was very small and there were only a few MH companies; after 18 years, there have been lots of changes and improvements in the sector. 

Also, the scope of MH has expanded over the course of my career. Previously, MH was designed only catering for lighting needs of the rural people, but now MH is designed to cater for productive end use (PEU) as well. Nowadays, some MH has also been connected to the national grid.
PictureNishi II micro hydro plant. Credit: R. Piya.
Based on your experience, what are the key ingredients to successful, long-lived micro hydro projects?  Can you share any anecdotes?
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Based on my experience, there are two main ingredients for successful and sustainable implementation of micro hydro. The first is that the MH users committee, who owns the system, must understand that the MH itself is a viable enterprise -- a social business, not a charity. They must understand that they need to sell the maximum amount of electricity that is produced by the plant, instead of throwing it back to the river. If they do so, they can ensure sustainability and generate money for community benefits. 

The second main ingredient is developing an understanding of the connection between electricity and overall community development. That is also very crucial, because people think that the MH is only for household lighting, but this is not true. If there is reliable electricity, this can be used to power the agricultural sector, education sector, health sector, small and medium enterprises, communications and much more. This has to be understood by the users committee.

If they understand these two key things, the users committee will start to adopt other improvements and activities that are required for MH sustainability. However, in the process, since they don’t have much knowledge about how to manage the plant, mentoring and capacity development support is required to make them understand different management aspects for running MH as a successful enterprise.

A good example I can give you is the case of Nishi MHP. The MHP had been experiencing a loss and we intervened to provide capacity development support. We trained the committee on how to manage the plant, treat it as a viable enterprise, sell electricity as a social commodity, and also how to include economically disadvantaged households. Previously, poor people who could not afford the connection charge were not provided with electricity access. We emphasized that even rural poor could be connected if they developed a smart approach, and so they adopted an installment payment system. Additionally, previously this MHP had been shut down due to technical problem for more than six months, and the community was struggling to seek external support to repair the system. Our programme showed them how to earn sufficient revenue to carry out repairs and maintenance. Recently a landslide occurred and it damaged the canal of MH, and the community was able to repair and restart the system within a month, using their own internal resources which they generated through a tariff. 

PictureInteracting with Darna Khola MHP user's committee. Credit: R. Piya.
What triggered you to start focusing on micro hydro sustainability?  How have your perspectives on micro hydro sustainability developed or evolved over time?

Most people understand me more as a solar person, rather than a MH person. As I said earlier, I had never been involved in the installation of MHPs, but I developed expertise in PEU and then MH sustainability.

Early on, our sole focus was encouraging MH users committees to promote PEU, such as small and medium enterprises, to increase the revenue of the MHP. Then, a memorable incident took place in 2014, while I was on a field trip in Darnavillage along Kailash Khola in Achham district, promoting this same concept around PEU. My colleagues and I stopped at a tea shop on the side of the road, where we encountered the chairperson and other members of the users committee of the Darna Khola MHP. After we informally introduced ourselves and shared the purpose of our visit, the chairperson got very angry. He told us, “You people say MH is good for community development, but you are wrong.” He went on to say that they had taken out a loan for the MHP development and now they must sell their property in order to pay it back.  Furthermore, technical problems frequently required a technician to come in from far away, for which the committee had to bear the cost. The MHP was a burden for them.

At that moment, we realized that promoting PEU is not sufficient for ensuring MHP sustainability. PEU is only one component. We saw that we needed to build the capacity of the users committee to help them understand that MHP must be a viable social enterprise. From that day on, my colleague and I started advocating this concept. It was a very new concept at the time and we advocated for our organization to reform policies and allocate funds for this purpose.

The government has since recognized this idea and has allocated funds to support MHPs to improve their business models and operate sustainably. This concept has been implemented in around 25 MHPs and has proven successful. Now these plants are profitable and the communities are capable of managing any problems that arise independently. In addition to the post-installation phase, there is now also more attention and support provided during the planning and installation phases. However, there are over 2500 plants in Nepal and many are underperforming, thus there remain many cases where this support is required.

A lot of time must also be allocated for capacity building to be effective. A single meeting is not sufficient to change peoples’ perspectives. They remember all the difficulties they faced during the installation phase and understand that the electricity cost should be minimal or free. We need to build their understanding of the links between the MHP and other development activities, and highlight how they can profit from it. We usually have 5-6 rounds of capacity building activities, taking a step-wise approach. Activities include first trying to change their perception, then knowledge exchange and field visits to successful MHPs, and training on account keeping and then on market segmentation.

That trip to Darna is also memorable because I fell in the Kailash river! There was no bridge to cross the river. But, the incident was really a turning point for me, in my career. Building the community’s understanding of MH as a sustainable business is very, very important -- if they understand that, they will perform all management aspects in a way that will support sustainability.

PictureResha Piya with MHP staff. Credit: R. Piya.
Have you faced particular challenges as a woman, in the work that you do? If so, how have you overcome these challenges?

I wouldn’t say I’ve faced any major challenges being a woman, in the work that I’ve done. However, sometimes people ask me “being a woman, don’t you face difficulty in doing technical things?”, or, “don't you feel discomfort in travelling alone to remote areas?”. But, I don’t see this as a major challenge; it’s people’s perception and thinking about women. They think that it’s difficult for women to do these things.

Sometimes, because of the nature of what I’m doing, I have to dedicate a lot of time to my work and it can be difficult to achieve a good work-life balance. I am lucky though, because my family totally supports me and encourages me, therefore I can concentrate on my work. However, it’s not the same situation for all women in Nepal.

It does also remain a male dominated sector. Previously, when my work focused on solar, I would frequently be the only woman in a meeting of 50 people. You can therefore imagine what women’s representation looks like in the sector as a whole. It is slowly changing, compared to the earlier days. Now there are women coming into decision making positions, but their representation is still very low.

PictureOn the way to MHP site. Credit: R. Piya.
What roles have you seen women play in micro hydro projects -- both in implementation and also sustainability?  What greater role can they play?  How can we encourage them?

Women’s representation in MH is still very minimal in Nepal. There are hardly 1 or 2 companies that are really run or managed by women and not more than 20 female engineers in the sector as a whole.

Within the development of an MHP project there is a compulsory quota for women to be represented in the users committee, but women’s participation and voice in the committee remains insignificant. From the program side, when we organize capacity building workshops, we specifically say that at least 1 or 2 women participants per MHP is compulsory, but in reality, very few women participate.

I don’t think there is any doubt that women can play a crucial role both in the implementation and sustainability of MHPs. Women can do all the work that men can do related to the MHP; they can develop enabling policies, carry out feasibility studies, design systems, construct and install the plant, manage and operate the system, and start enterprises using the generated electricity. Women’s involvement can occur throughout, from planning, to installation, to use of electricity.

I believe that if women are looked upon as equal members as men in society, that can increase participation in the MHP sector. We need to break the traditional thinking and perception that women are not capable of doing technical work as well as men. Besides that, I think we have to design working environments in such a way that women can participate. For example, the number of women MHP operators is basically negligible compared to the number of men. Why? Because operators have to stay alone day and night at the powerhouse, which poses security threats for women. But, if we could provide an enabling environment -- for instance, allowing families to live at the MH site -- participation of women could increase. Security and safety need to be given high priority.

What impacts do the involvement of women in micro hydro projects bring to the project, to the community, and to the lives of the women involved?

Involvement of women brings many positive impacts to the MHP itself and to the lives of the women who are involved. I have seen these impacts and can say that it will bring a positive change.

Nowadays in rural areas in Nepal, it is difficult to find young men in the communities, as most have gone abroad for employment. Mostly women and the elderly are the only ones in the village. Access to electricity from the MHP can lower women’s burden and save time, as it can mechanize most of the work which usually requires physical labour. There are many examples, such as electric cookstoves and water pumps, which eliminate the need to collect and carry cooking fuel and drinking water.

In addition, reliable electricity access can encourage women to participate in income generating activities. There are lots of examples where AEPC and development organizations have promoted the development of women-owned enterprises. Likewise, powering agriculture (e.g. irrigation pumps) can make women’s lives easier and support them to generate more income. Another key element is powering communication, which enhances women’s knowledge thereby encouraging participation in social and development activities. Powering healthcare, furthermore, improves maternal health by enabling the use of ultrasound systems. Powering education has given opportunities for women and girls to attend online classes, making them more competitive for future job opportunities. Therefore, energy is very crucial to every development-related activity; MHP is very important to the economic development of the community itself, as well as for women’s empowerment.

Moreover, if we empower women to use electricity, this increases MHP revenue. It contributes to the sustainability of the MHP, by supporting sufficient income to cover maintenance and repair costs.

PictureOn the way to MHP site. Credit: R. Piya.
You mentioned that addressing underlying perceptions and facilitating an enabling environment are two ways to promote women’s involvement in MHPs. What are some other solutions that you would propose to address gender-related challenges in the sector?

First, it is important to empower women’s families and male counterparts to understand the importance of women’s participation in the decision-making process. This encourages women to participate and supports their empowerment more broadly. Without the family or husband’s support, it can be very difficult for women to participate in any MHP, development or business activity.

Once their families are empowered, we need to empower women themselves with the capability to participate actively and meaningfully. Sometimes when we ask a woman to join a meeting, she doesn’t understand what the meeting is about or what contribution she can make, and doesn’t have the knowledge to actively participate. Therefore, awareness raising and empowerment activities must be carried out beforehand. Just telling women to participate is not enough.

Additionally, with regard to mentorship activities, it is important to make sure that women are comfortable with the mentor. Sometimes women-to-women connections form faster and, in some societies, women aren’t allowed to interact with external men without the permission of their husband or father (e.g. in some communities in the Terai region). Some women may be comfortable with a male mentor, but we need to understand the situation and the social norms in the community.

When rural women see women participating in this field, I think that this also motivates them to contribute and to work. When they see me in the village, talking about the project, they think, “if she can do it, why can’t I?” This is my perception, at least.

Additionally, when we go to the field, if we don’t see women participating, then we ask why they aren’t there, and we wait for their presence. We always ask people to bring a woman representative to the meetings and training programs. This also encourages women to come out of the house.

"Just telling women to participate is not enough."
How has the global COVID-19 pandemic impacted the communities that you work with?

The pandemic has impacted the micro hydro communities that I’ve worked with, mainly in that the revenue collection has decreased due to non-operation of enterprises. Also, because of the lockdown, customers are not able to travel to the plant to pay their monthly bill.

Additionally, many migrant workers have returned to their villages, having lost their jobs abroad. The positive side of this is that these individuals might start thinking of starting new businesses in the village itself. If they do engage in economic activities in the village, this might increase the health and revenue of the MHP in the long term.
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I mentioned previously about the impact of rural-urban migration on gender relations. With that in mind, there might be an impact in terms of competition between men and women. However, I think that empowerment activities and gender-inclusive programming can add value and enable women to participate equally in the competition process.

What are your hopes for the future of renewable energy and energy access in Nepal?

Recent data from the Nepal electricity authority shows that around 90% of households in Nepal are connected to the national grid, to date. This shows that there are not many households left without access to electricity. Therefore, along with increased access, we must focus on improving the reliability and sustainability of energy supply, as I’m advocating for. For unelectrified off-grid areas, we need to promote decentralized mini-grids and renewable energy technology as an alternative energy service to rural households, enterprises and institutions.

Additionally, last year in FY 2018/19 Nepal imported more than 37% of our electricity from India, spending almost 20 billion Nepalese rupees. Similarly, we imported around 216 billion Nepalese rupees worth of petroleum products last year, including cooking fuel; this import was around 2.2 times more than total national exports. There is evidence that India does unofficial blockades, which results in problems around energy access. Therefore, there is a need to increase the share of renewables in the grid, to reduce dependence on imports and enhance national energy security.

In addition, hydropower generation is increasing in Nepal. It is expected that about 1300 MW of hydroelectricity will be added to the national grid in the coming one years time;  hence, we also need to work on increasing electricity demand in domestic markets, by promoting electric vehicles, electric cooking, powering agriculture, powering tourism, etcetera. If we can do this, while working on cross-border power trade, we can ensure energy security and increase revenue.

What key message would you like to leave our readers with, especially for the next generation of women micro hydro champions?

I think there is no doubt that electricity is the foundation of every development activity, whether it’s agriculture, education or transportation. There are lots of opportunities in the sector, therefore I would like to encourage women to grab these opportunities. Ladies, you can do it, and you can make positive change in the sector, as well as in the livelihoods of the rural people. You can do it if you believe in yourself.

For more insights on MHP sustainability, be sure to check out the third edition of our 2019 webinar series, featuring Resha Piya and other experts: Mini-Grid Sustainability: Transitioning to Social Enterprise for Energy and Economic Development.
 
If you enjoyed this Hidden No More interview, sign up below to receive our newsletter, to hear from other women change-makers in the sector!
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WATCH: WHO WE ARE - THE HYDRO EMPOWERMENT NETWORK (HPNET)

3/23/2020

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We have a new video! It captures the work of local micro hydro practitioners and HPNET’s approach to advancing community-scale hydropower solutions.
As you’ll see in the video, community-scale hydropower can bring significant socio-economic and environmental benefits to rural communities. Local practitioners, who have developed lasting relationships with communities, are at the heart of making this happen.

We want to hear your thoughts on how best to leverage local practitioners in achieving  universal energy access with renewable energy mini-grids -- to create impact beyond energy access.



  • Have you worked with local practitioners that enable communities to implement mini-grids?  Or are you a local practitioner?  Tell us more!
 
  • What unique contributions have you seen local practitioners bring to the energy access sector?  How can they be leveraged to accelerate clean energy access?​
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Let us know in the comment section, below!
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AFRICA AND ASIA:  INTER-REGIONAL EXCHANGE

1/19/2020

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HPNET was founded with a focus on S/SE Asia, and over the last few years we have had practitioners from Africa reach out to us and become active members. ​In 2019 we dedicated a work stream to take a closer look at the challenges faced by our members and other local actors in Africa, realizing the issues are similar to those in S/SE Asia.  As 2020 unfolds, we aim to find ways to support and learn from local practitioners in Africa.  ​
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​REGIONAL OVERLAPS:  AFRICA AND S/SE ASIA

In 2019, through interviews with African practitioners and dialogue among S/SE Asian practitioners supporting African regions, we identified common elements between the two contexts.

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Relevance of Community-Scale Hydropower
​As in S/SE Asia, community-scale hydropower can provide affordable and reliable electricity to enhance rural livelihoods, towards meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Several countries in Africa have significant pico, micro, and mini hydro (<1MW) potential yet there has been minimal implementation, while large numbers of communities remain un-electrified.  As in S/SE Asia, international donors in Africa target solar PV interventions, and non-PV solutions are not as popular. There are however small hydro projects (above 1MW and less than 30MW), developed and owned by foreign companies using foreign technology.  Also, as in S/SE Asia, there is a  geopolitical push for large hydropower despite its environmental and social consequences. This focus on large scale energy infrastructure is mobilizing civil society organizations (CSOs) to make the case for micro hydro and other decentralized renewable energy (DRE) solutions. However, most CSOs do not yet have the knowhow to do DRE project implementation.

Committed Local Practitioners
The portion of Africa's DRE private sector that is able to access funding and advance is the foreign-run private sector. In addition, there are passionate and committed local practitioners that are innovating and locally manufacturing micro hydro equipment to bring electricity to communities in need, who are not able to access foreign funds.  This is because, similar to S/SE Asia, most government and international initiatives lack the mandate and expertise to identify, engage, and advance local practitioners so that they can also benefit from international resources.  In S/SE Asia there is significant evidence showing that long-term sustainability of micro hydro projects is greatly dependent on how well ownership, management, and financing are anchored at the local level.

Missed Opportunity:  Building onto Existing Local Technical Capacity
Local actors in Africa are paving forward local fabrication of micro hydro technology.  While in a few contexts local fabricators are supported by international partners, e.g. the work of Energising Development (EnDev) in Ethiopia, most local technical capacities have not been leveraged or further built upon.  Therefore, they remain at a nascent stage of development -- limited to the pace of self-learning and self-financing local technology development. Similarly in S/SE Asia, despite considerable international donor investments in micro hydro technology transfer during the last three to four decades, there is now hardly any international support for developing local capacities in design and manufacturing.  The trending focus in both African and Asian Pacific contexts is on kilowatts installed and households electrified, and less attention to who is enabled to do energy access and how, and what implications that has on community empowerment.
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OPPORTUNITIES FOR AFRICA - ASIA EXCHANGE

With the start of the new year, HPNET seeks partnerships to move forward the following areas identified for South-South,  two-way knowledge exchange between African and S/SE Asia regions.

Evidence-based Advocacy
In partnership with local organizations and practitioners committed to advancing community-scale hydropower, HPNET seeks to build the awareness of decision makers in both contexts on mini-grid technology differentiation and on proven thematic solutions,including:

  • Policy and Regulatory Frameworks.  African contexts such as Nigeria and Tanzania have established advanced policy and regulatory frameworks for mini-grid development, including interconnection to the main grid.  Experience-sharing from these contexts will benefit S/SE Asia countries seeking to do the same. ​
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  • Ownership, Management and Financing Models.  Asian contexts such as Nepal and Myanmar show how different types of ownership, management, and financing models impact the long-term sustainbility and socio-economic impact of projects.  In S/SE Asia the lessons required 30 years of hindsight, however nascent African micro hydro contexts can use the Asian experience to avoid pitfalls and leap frog into appropriate best practices.
 
  • Climate Resilience thru Watershed Strengthening.  Rural communities of African and S/SE Asian regions will be among the worst hit as the climate crisis grows.  The watershed strengthening and reforestation aspects of community-scale hydropower increase the climate resilience of micro hydro projects as well as the communities, reducing the impact floods and drought.

Technical Standards and Local Manufacturing
Utilizing the expertise of local manufacturing coaches and experts, HPNET seeks to build the  capacities of local practitioners in both regions to locally design and manufacture electro-mechanical components of pico, micro, and mini hydropower, including various turbines and electronic load controllers.  Technical standards appropriate for different capacities and the local context will be established using lessons related to standardization from African and S/SE Asian contexts.

Local Social Enterprise Development
In partnership with local implementing organizations, HPNET seeks to facilitate the development of projects that are established as local social enterprise.  HPNET's initiative Social Enterprise for Energy, Ecological and Economic Development (SEEED) supports local practitioners and communities to transition toward financially viable projects, where the micro hydro project is run as a social enterprise that also powers productive end use enterprise.
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OUR APPROACH TO EVIDENCE-BASED ADVOCACY

1/6/2020

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HPNET's approach to South-South knowledge exchange and advocacy bridges local practitioners to multi-stakeholders. 

We start with identifying themes that are important to local practitioners.  We call them work streams.  Here is an overview of our work streams.  

For each work stream we have a 4-step approach (illustrated below) to build collective knowledge and transform it into action that triggers impact at the local level -- by involving relevant multi-stakeholders, including government, donors, financiers, civil society, and researchers.


With the start of 2020, within this approach we are committed to developing news methods for evidence-based advocacy, in order to move forward critical thematic solutions being developed by our work streams. Whether it is solutions for technology development, socio-environmental aspects, or enabling policy, we want to push for change that is groundtruthed at the local level, allowing diverse multi-stakeholders to further understand the challenges and progress of local practitioners.

We look forward to posting further updates as we progress in this direction in the year ahead!
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HPNET's approach to South-South knowledge exchange and advocacy for local level impact. Credit: HPNET

STEP 1 - CATALOGUE
We starting with cataloging what has already been developed and documented.  We create a database of thematically organized documents, tools, videos, and lists of actors.

STEP 2 - GROUNDTRUTH
To optimally design our in-person exchanges, we first study field realities.  Here you find region-wide and country-specific data collected at the local level.

STEP 3 - EXCHANGE
We carefully design our in-person and online exchanges.  From the steps of cataloging and ground-truthing we are able to invite the appropriate participants for productive dialogue and connection.  

STEP 4 - ADVOCATE
For post-event impact of our exchanges, we follow up with products and strategic support for advocacy aimed at action on the ground.  We nurture partnerships for local capacity building and other ways to empower local actors to self advocate.
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CONNECT WITH HPNET'S WORK STREAMS!

1/5/2020

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At the core of HPNET's approach to South-South knowledge exchange-for-impact are its nine thematic work streams – covering technology, socio-environment, and policy aspects to advance community-scale hydropower.  As we kick off the new year, we encourage our members to check out overviews of each work stream below and let us know how you'd like to take part, as we continue to advance the sector.

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HPNET's work streams as of January 2020. Credit: HPNET

​What is an HPNET work stream?
HPNET evolves to the needs and challenges of local practitioners, in order to enable them to advance sustainable pico, micro, and mini hydropower (<1MW).  HPNET's work streams are an opportunity for network members and multi-actor partners from across the globe to synergize in bringing forth South-South knowledge and advocacy outputs to generate local impact.  

Is a work stream the same as a working group?
Work streams were formerly called working groups.  Since many members contribute to more than one or change their focus based on their real time challenges and since the HPNET Secretariat plays a key role in facilitating as different members contribute at different times, we thought it was best to re-name as work streams.  ​More information on how the thematic areas were identified can be found here.

How do they work?
HPNET's internal exchange platform is structured around the nine main work streams, allowing members and partners to contribute or request support on sub-themes of each work stream. In addition to the nine cross-country thematic work streams, members can take part in country-focused work streams, which allow members to strategize toward country-specific impact. Via the online platform and conference calls, the HPNET Secretariat then facilitates collaboration on knowledge and advocacy outputs specific to the needs and challenges expressed by members and partners.  The ​HPNET Secretariat's annual work plans are structured to provide facilitation time to each work stream.

How can I take part in a work stream?
Apply to become a member of HPNET here.  Once you're a member you will be sent a login for HPNET's internal exchange platform, where you can take part in any of the work streams, providing inputs from and/or requesting support for your local context.

Can I take part in more than one work stream?
Absolutely!  This is the primary reason the working groups are now framed as work streams, whereby HPNET members can contribute to multiple streams on sub-topics that matter the most to their specific work.

Do work streams overlap with each other?
Yes, to some extent and in some cases, because key factors for long-lived micro hydro are interconnected. This is why, while each work stream focuses on specific themes, HPNET's cross-thematic initiatives leverage the overlaps for country-focused activity.  For example, HPNET's Social Enterprise for Energy, Ecological and Economic Development (SEEED) connects the work streams of productive end use, local social capital, watersheds, and access to finance.  HPNET's Earth Voices series connects the work streams of local social capital, environmental impact, productive end use and strategic advocacy.

TECHNOLOGY

Training and Manufacturing Centers
​This work stream focuses on micro hydro local manufacturing centers and training centers that build the capacity of local technicians, fabricators, and engineers to design, build, install, and upkeep their own electro-mechanical systems (i.e. turbine assembly, generator, and load controller).  Since currently micro hydro training and manufacturing centers remain under utilized or under resourced, the current aim of this work stream is to:
  • Co-create, identify, or share curriculum to improve the quality of local fabrication, operation and preventive maintenance;
  • Facilitate partnerships between members seeking technical knowhow and members who have micro hydro training or manufacturing centers;
  • Promote local technology research and development with academia and other multi-actors;
  • Develop advocacy and knowledge exchange material to promote local knowledge centers, such as this webinar and these videos from Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, and Myanmar training/manufacturing centers.

Grid Interconnection
International focus on energy access has meant the greater extension of the national grid.  Since most micro/mini hydro projects are typically off-grid, sustainability issues arise with the main grid's arrival. Practitioners across the region are voicing for policies that allow mini-grids to interconnect to the main grid.  In 2016, HPNET organized a practice-to-policy exchange engaging government, developers, and utilities actors from eight countries in the region to learn about pioneering grid interconnection micro hydro projects and to strategize change.  Building on this, the work stream has helped to bring forth grid interconnection policy and projects in Nepal.  In the wake of this progress, it has contributed to evidence-based advocacy. The current aims of this work stream focus on additional solutions to addressing sustainability issues of main grid arrival:
  • Resolve techno-institutional challenges to interconnecting multiple micro hydro projects into a single mini-grid;
  • Evidence to promote policies and funding resources for alternative business models after main grid arrival (e.g. anchor loads, selling to neighboring villages, incentives to compete with the main grid, etc.);
  • Support advocacy and knowledge exchange material, such as this ESMAP publication, HPNET webinar, presentation, UNDP-RERL fact sheet and UNDP-RERL video.
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Load Management and Controllers
The aim of this work stream is to improve the quality and utilization of electricity in micro hydro projects through:
  • Establishing technical standards for micro grids, by collating existing standards with best practices based on field experiences and allowing practitioners to develop sourced standards that are specific to their approach and context;
  • Improving availability of affordable micro grid controllers and load management technology, such as the Bluebird Open Source ELC and Canary Load Indicator;
  • De-mystifying local controllers and additional features to open source load controllers.

SOCIO-ENVIRONMENT

Productive End Use
Micro hydro projects typically receive funding for implementation only.  Once commissioned, projects must sustain themselves financially.  Without financial viability, the governance body of the project cannot fund technical maintenance and repairs.  Financial viability depends on income generated from the micro hydro system, typically as tariff paid by consumers.  Many projects are not financially viable due to poor utilization of electricity, where only lighting is the main load.  This work stream:
  • Collates case studies of productive end use on the micro hydro, such as those here and presented in this webinar;
  • Analyzes ownership and management models that lead to higher load factors;
  • Assesses how financing models impact load factors;
  • Supports barely sustainable projects to transition to financially viable projects.

Local Social Capital
This work stream focuses on social transformation aspects of micro hydro development and in turn its impact on the viability and sustainability of micro hydro projects.  Micro hydro developers' capacities are limited to that of their community organizers because project implementation requires a unified and well managed community.  Local change agendas trusted by the village are the key to community-driven project completion and long-term sustainability. They can come from various social sub-groups of the community. The objectives and activities of this work stream are centered on understanding and strengthening local social capital of community-scale micro hydro projects:
  • How to ensure projects serve the needs of women and how to measure impact of women leaders on micro hydro sustainability and socio-economic benefits;
  • How to promote youth leaders and consumers in micro hydro development;
  • How to ensure local developers and NGOs have access to equal opportunities as do foreign developers;
  • How to develop projects within social enterprise models;
  • Collating the work of local change makers and enabling ways to communicate and scale their work, such as this local capacity building and this webinar.
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Environmental Impact and Watersheds
Environment impact and watersheds are critical but often overlooked aspects of micro hydro development.  Without a sustainable water source there can be no micro hydro project.  Yet funding resources for watershed strengthening are rarely available for micro hydro implementation.  In addition, as climate change worsens, the environmental impact to and from micro hydro projects will be changing.  This work stream focuses on collating best practices to reduce micro hydro impact on the environment and find solutions to strengthen micro hydro catchment areas -- leading to increased climate resilience.  The work stream's current aims are to:
  • Understand the challenges and opportunities of HPNET members to integrate environmental impact safeguards and watershed strengthening in their projects;
  • Identify knowledge gaps and target the development of specific knowledge products;
  • Quantify the impact of climate change on catchment areas, as well as the increased climate resilience of micro hydro projects and communities due to healthy watersheds;
  • Develop advocacy material that helps to link multi-actors that focus on nature-based solutions and watershed conservation to micro hydro implementation and practitioners.

POLICY

​Access to Finance
Accessing grants is becoming increasingly difficult and has always been difficult for local practitioners.  In addition, an assessment across HPNET contexts shows that grant-funded projects often have issues in developing high utilization, whereas projects financed through a loan or some other finance have an innate structure for establishing financial viability.  Thereof, this work stream:
  • Documents evidence from HPNET contexts that shows how a project is funded or finance impacts its outcome;
  • Identifies institutions that provide finance to energy access projects;
  • Connects local practitioners to project finance advisors;
  • Promotes solutions that enable access to finance, such as enabling the role of local banks, as presented in this webinar.

Integrated Energy Planning
Although there is evidence showing the advantages of mini-grids versus the central grid and analysis on how interconnecting mini-grids to the central grid has benefits for both, most energy access resources in the global South are spent on grid extension.  Hydro mini-grids are particularly advantageous, providing 24-hour reliable electricity, typically at lower LCOE and costs per kW than most other types of mini-grids, and leading to lower tariffs for rural consumers and greater end use.  Despite their obvious advantages, in most developing contexts decentralized renewable energy mini-grids continue to be framed as “pre-electrification” solutions at par with solar home lighting, or “not as important as the central grid.”  To address these gaps this work stream advocates for integrated energy planning to scale up mini-grids with the following activities:
  • Spotlight the work of local energy planners that are developing techniques and programs for integrated energy planning, as in this webinar;
  • Facilitate knowledge sharing and access to mapping tools for mini-grid planning;
  • Develop advocacy and knowledge tools to the make the case for integrated energy planning.​

Strategic Advocacy
Although micro hydro interventions have been around for many decades, it is currently an underdog in the mini-grid context, which is dominated by solar PV mini-grid development.  Therefore, this work stream focuses on awareness-building of multi-stakeholders on the cost-benefit of community-scale hydro and on the themes mentioned above, in the following ways: 
  • Online advocacy through webinars, videos, and other multi-media;
  • Bi-lateral exchange between local practitioners and relevant multi-actors;
  • ​Multi-lateral round tables to address challenges and opportunities for specific contexts.
  • Advocacy at international conferences and events through panel discussions and presentations, such as this 'Deep Dive Session' at the Asia Clean Energy Forum 2019.
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EARTH VOICES: FT. KAMPUNG BUAYAN, AN INDIGENOUS MICRO HYDRO COMMUNITY IN MALAYSIAN BORNEO

12/27/2019

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Last quarter we launched our new feature series, Earth Voices, to put a spotlight on indigenous micro hydro communities who are sustainably managing communal resources and successfully empowering themselves through energy access. 

This quarter, we chose to feature the community of Kampung Buayan, a remote village located in the Ulu Papar region of Sabah, in Malaysian Borneo.

[See Malay translation below; Lihat terjemahan Bahasa Melayu di bawah.]
Buayan is the ancestral home of the Dusun, an Orang Asal tribe who have inhabited the area for at least 6 generations. (“Orang Asal” is Malay for “Original People” and is used to refer to Indigenous peoples.) 

Tucked away in the rainforest within Crocker Range Biosphere Reserve, Buayan is a long and bumpy drive from the nearest town. The journey into Ulu Papar is most challenging at this time of year, during monsoon season, when muddy potholes impede even the most powerful 4-wheel-drive. However, the potentially stress-inducing ride on a washed out road leads to a tranquil haven. Visitors are consistently awed by the natural beauty surrounding Buayan, and by the hospitable and vibrant community who call this place their home.

Buayan is made all the more special by its strong and charismatic leader, Irene, who became the first female Village Head in Ulu Papar in 2018.
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Sunset over Papar River. Source: M. Rock
The Role of the River

Buayan sits on the Papar River, which plays a critical role in the rainforest ecosystem, as well as in the lives of Orang Asal communities in the area. The river, and the mangrove palms that line its shores, support rich biodiversity within a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve that is home to various endangered species. The river provides freshwater fish and water for irrigation for the farming communities of Ulu Papar. The river also provides communities with electricity, through locally-developed micro hydropower energy systems. 

Since 2004, numerous hydropower microgrids and minigrids have been implemented in Ulu Papar through partnerships between local organizations and community leaders. The indigenous-lead organization TONIBUNG (or “Friends of Village Development”) has been a key player in implementing community-based systems in 7 villages in Ulu Papar, working closely with the local communities in planning, construction and maintenance. 
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In 2009, a 10kW MHP was commissioned in Buayan, which provided the village with power for 10 years. Earlier this year, TONIBUNG commissioned a new, upgraded MHP which now provides power to both Buayan and the neighbouring village of Kampung Tiku. 


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Children of Kg Buayan and Kg Tiku. Source: Save Ulu Papar (https://www.facebook.com/SaveUluPapar/)
Powering Enterprise

The implementation of the MHP has had far-reaching impacts on life in Buayan. Energy access has impacted day-to-day activities within the household, education system and local livelihoods. It has powered income-generating activities; for instance, the MHP spurred the development of homestays, which have brought in revenue from volunteer/tour groups and hikers trekking along the Salt Trail that runs through Ulu Papar. Currently, a group of Buayan youth are in the process of establishing an ecotourism “glamping” business, after participating in a year-long program on community-based, sustainability-focused entrepreneurship, run by Energy Action Partners.
Tagal Sungai

Beyond improving livelihoods and generating jobs, the MHP has had a positive environmental impact, as it has incentivized the community to protect their watershed. With support from Green Empowerment, the community established Tagal Sungai -- a set of community protocols around the community’s interaction with the river and catchment area. These protocols include rules of use and entry; for instance, regulations (and associated repercussions) around who is allowed to harvest forest products in the area, which species are/aren’t allowed to be harvested, etc. 

Tagal Sungai was formally recorded and established in Buayan in connection with the MHP. However, these protocols build upon traditional knowledge and conservation practices that have been observed for generations in Ulu Papar.
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Visitors hiking through Kampung Buayan. Source: M. Rock
“Damn the Dam”

The community safeguards the local environment in various ways; in addition to observing conservation protocols among themselves, the people of Ulu Papar have fought to protect their land from the threat of resource development and large-scale infrastructure projects.

In 2009, the Sabah State Government announced plans to build the Kaiduan Dam (since renamed the Papar Dam). This mega-dam project would flood the Ulu Papar valley and forcibly relocate the communities living there. 9 villages would be affected, accounting for more than 1000 people. For 10 years, the people of Ulu Papar have fought tirelessly to stop the mega-dam and save their home from destruction. A key player has been the Taskforce against Kaiduan/Papar Dam (TAKaD), a grassroots action group formed by communities opposed to the dam.

Earlier this year, the government reaffirmed plans to proceed, backtracking after having previously cancelled the project. Yet, the people of Ulu Papar are determined to never surrender in what has become a long and arduous fight to protect their home. 
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Local activists protesting Papar Dam. Source: Save Ulu Papar (https://www.facebook.com/SaveUluPapar/)
Moving Toward Environmental Justice

Buayan is a unique place in many ways. However the community’s fight against the threat of a mega-dam and displacement is, sadly, all too common. In the context of a global climate emergency, it is now more critical than ever to advocate for environmental justice, and for the rights of those who safeguard their local ecosystems.
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Community gathering to advocate against Papar Dam. Source: Save Ulu Papar (https://www.facebook.com/SaveUluPapar/)

Further Reading + Sign the Petition!
  • Taskforce's memo proposes alternative to Papar Dam
  • Petition: Stop Papar Dam

-- Versi Bahasa Melayu --
Kampung Buayan adalah sebuah kampung terpencil yang terletak di kawasan Ulu Papar di negeri Sabah, Pulau Borneo, Malaysia. Kampung ini merupakan warisan pusaka orang Dusun, iaitu sebuah suku Orang Asal yang telah mendiami kawasan tersebut selama sekurang-kurangnya 6 generasi. ("Orang Asal" adalah perkataan Bahasa Melayu untuk "Original People" dan merujuk kepada Orang “indigenous”.)

Terletak di dalam Rizab Biosfera Banjaran Crocker, perjalanan ke Kampung Buayan dari bandar terdekat mengambil masa yang lama dan penuh dengan lekak-lekuk. Perjalanan ke Ulu Papar adalah paling mencabar menjelang tibanya musim tengkujuh, apabila jalan yang penuh dengan lubang berlumpur menjadi halangan yang hebat, bahkan untuk kereta pacuan 4 roda yang paling berkuasa. Namun begitu, perjalanan meredah jalan-jalan yang rosak dan yang mampu mencabar jiwa itu berakhir dengan sapaan sebuah persekitaran yang tenang. Para pengunjung selalu terpegun dengan keindahan semulajadi di sekitar Kampung Buayan, serta sebuah komuniti yang penuh ramah dan tamah yang telah menyulami kehidupan mereka dengan alam sekitar.

Buayan dibuat lebih istimewa oleh pemimpinnya yang kuat dan berkarisma, Irene, yang menjadi Kepala Desa perempuan pertama di Ulu Papar di 2018.


Perenan Sungai
Kampung Buayan terletak di Sungai Papar, sebatang sungai yang memainkan peranan penting dalam ekosistem hutan hujan serta kehidupan masyarakat Orang Asal di kawasan itu. Sungai ini, dan pokok-pokok bakau yang tumbuh di tepi sungai, menyokong biodiversiti yang kaya di dalam Rizab Biosfera UNESCO yang juga merupakan sebuah habitat untuk pelbagai spesis terancam. Sungai ini membekalkan ikan air tawar dan air untuk tujuan pengairan bagi komuniti pertanian di Ulu Papar. Sungai ini juga membekalkan komuniti tersebut dengan tenaga elektrik melalui sebuah sistem tenaga hidro mikro yang telah dibangunkan oleh penduduk tempatan.

Sejak tahun 2004, banyak sistem mikro hidro telah dilaksanakan di Ulu Papar melalui perkongsian yang terjalin antara organisasi-organisasi tempatan dan ketua-ketua masyarakat. Sebuah organisasi yang diketuai oleh Orang Asal, iaitu TONIBUNG (atau "Kawan Pembangunan Desa"), telah memainkan peranan utama dalam pelaksanaan sistem berasaskan komuniti di 7 buah kampung di Ulu Papar, dengan kerjasama yang rapat dengan masyarakat setempat dalam hal perancangan, pembinaan dan penyelenggaraan.

Pada tahun 2009, sebuah MHP (tenaga hidro mikro) 10kW telah dilaksanakan di Kampung Buayan, dan telah membekalkan kampung tersebut dengan kuasa selama 10 tahun. Awal tahun ini, TONIBUNG telah melaksanakan sebuah MHP baharu yang telah dinaiktaraf dan kini membekal kuasa kepada Kampung Buayan dan Kampung Tiku yang berdekatan.


Kesan MHP
Pelaksanaan MHP mempunyai kesan yang meluas terhadap kehidupan di Kampung Buayan. Akses tenaga telah memberi kesan terhadap kegiatan seharian di dalam rumah, sistem pendidikan dan punca pendapatan tempatan. Akses tenaga telah membekalkan kuasa untuk aktiviti-aktiviti yang menjana pendapatan; sebagai contoh, MHP tersebut telah merangsang pembangunan homestay, lantas menjanakan pendapatan hasil daripada kumpulan sukarelawan / pelancongan dan para pengembara di trek sepanjang Salt Trail yang melalui Ulu Papar. Pada masa ini, sekumpulan belia dari Kampung Buayan sedang berada dalam proses menubuhkan  sebuah perniagaan "glamping" ekopelancongan, setelah mengambil bahagian dalam sebuah program sepanjang tahun berkenaan keusahawanan berasaskan komuniti dan bertumpukan kelestarian yang telah diadakan oleh Energy Action Partners.

Tagal Sungai
Selain meningkatkan kehidupan dan menjana pekerjaan, MHP mempunyai kesan alam sekitar yang positif, kerana MHP telah memberi insentif kepada komuniti untuk melindungi kawasan tadahan air mereka. Dengan sokongan daripada Green Empowerment, komuniti tersebut telah menubuhkan sistem Tagal Sungai - sebuah set protokol komuniti berkenaan interaksi komuniti dengan kawasan sungai dan tadahan air. Protokol-protokol ini merangkumi peraturan-peraturan tentang penggunaan dan kemasukan; contohnya peraturan-peraturan (dan akibat-akibat yang berkaitan) tentang siapa yang dibenarkan untuk menuai hasil hutan di kawasan tersebut, spesies yang boleh / tidak boleh diburu, dll.

Tagal Sungai telah direkod dan dan ditubuhkan secara rasmi di Kampung Buayan berhubungan dengan MHP. Namun begitu, protokol-protokol ini dibina di atas asas ilmu dan amalan pemuliharaan tradisional yang telah diamalkan untuk bergenerasi lamanya di Ulu Papar. 


"Damn the Dam"
Komuniti ini menjaga alam sekitar setempat dengan pelbagai cara; selain daripada mengamalkan protokol pemuliharaan di kalangan mereka, penduduk Ulu Papar telah berjuang untuk melindungi tanah mereka daripada ancaman pembangunan sumber dan projek-projek infrastruktur berskala besar.

Pada tahun 2009, Kerajaan Negeri Sabah telah mengumumkan rancangan untuk membina Empangan Kaiduan (yang telah dinamakan semula sebagai Empangan Papar). Projek empangan mega ini akan membanjiri lembah Ulu Papar dan memindahkan penduduk komuniti secara paksa. 9 buah kampung akan terjejas dan melibatkan lebih daripada 1000 orang. Selama 10 tahun, penduduk Ulu Papar telah berjuang tanpa henti untuk menghentikan empangan mega dan menyelamatkan tempat tinggal mereka daripada kemusnahan. Pihak utama dalam usaha ini adalah Pasukan Petugas Menentang Empangan Kaiduan / Papar (TAKaD), sebuah kumpulan tindakan akar umbi yang dibentuk oleh komuniti-komuniti yang menentang empangan tersebut.

Awal tahun ini, pihak kerajaan telah mengesahkan rancangan untuk meneruskan rancangan tersebut, lantas menarik balik janji mereka setelah membatalkan projek ini sebelumnya. Namun begitu, penduduk Ulu Papar bertekad untuk tidak pernah menyerah diri meskipun terikat dalam sebuah perjuangan yang panjang dan sukar untuk melindungi tempat tinggal mereka.


Bergerak Ke Arah Keadilan Alam Sekitar
Kampung Buayan adalah sebuah tempat yang unik dalam pelbagai cara. Namun begitu, perjuangan komuniti ini menentang ancaman empangan mega dan ketersingkiran, malangnya, merupakan sebuah perkara yang terlalu lazim berlaku. Dalam konteks kecemasan iklim global, kini merupakan masa yang lebih genting berbanding sebelum ini untuk menyokong keadilan alam sekitar, dan untuk hak-hak insan yang melindungi ekosistem tempatan mereka.

Written by HPNET Communications Coordinator, Lara Powell, with input from Kampung Buayan Village Head, Irene Tani Kodoyou. Translation by Sonia Luhong. 
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EXCHANGE VISIT TO advance micro hydro in NORTHEAST INDIA

12/17/2019

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PictureRams in route to NEPeD site. Credit: NEPeD
Nagaland is one of the "seven sisters of India," the seven northeastern states of India, endowed with a multitude of indigenous communities, rich biodiversity and extensive hilly forests.

Earlier this month in Nagaland with support from WISIONS, HPNET organized a knowledge exchange visit for Ramasubramanian Vaidhyanathan, the Board of Representative Member for India also known as "Rams", to share his micro hydro expertise with practitioners at Nagaland Empowerment of People through Energy Development (NEPeD).

NEPeD has a well established approach and direction to do sustainable micro hydro projects. Moreover, due to NEPeD's work doing in-house manufacturing at their CERES facility, it is well positioned to support local practitioners and advance the sector throughout Northeast India. This visit aimed to support NEPeD in building on its considerable achievements

Through decades of work on micro hydropower initiatives in Eastern Ghats of India and elsewhere globally, Rams has earned the title of "micro hydro guru" within the network. He supports training, design and manufacturing of Pelton, crossflow, and pump-as-turbines, along with system-wide implementation aspects.

​The exchange visit endeavoured to synergize NEPeD's committed efforts to Rams' several decades of expertise, in order to advance sustainable micro hydro sector in northeast India. More specifically, the purpose of the visit was to:
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  • Assess casting facilities and raw material availability;
  • Assess the fabrication workshop and team at Centre for Excellence for Renewable Energy Studies (CERES);
  • Assess what other turbines could be fabricated with the present infrastructure
  • Visit one or two sites to assess the implementation issues, ownership model, revenue generation, etc.

Rams gave a positive assessment of the casting facilities and availability of raw material. He has reported back that the CERES has a well equipped fabrication workshop with CNC operated lathe and milling machines, an arc welding machine, angle grinder and cutting machine. Casting fabrication is outsourced to the neighbouring institution, the Nagaland Tool and Training Centre. The aluminum castings for the runner buckets and the PMG cores are sourced from Guwahati foundries.

As for his assessment of the CERES fabrication workshop and team, Rams shared that the workshop is well positioned to fabricate turbines of up to 50 kW, and that the team is highly motivated and experienced in the installation of turbines. Moreover, in addition to the fabrication centre, there is a test rig available to test turbines, ram pumps and electric load controllers (ELCs). 

Rams found that with the existing infrastructure, Pelton turbines and cross-flow turbines can easily be fabricated at CERES up to a capacity of 50 kW. He advised that larger units can be taken up once the team gets hands-on experience on the 50 kW scale.

In addition, communities supported by NEPeD do horticulture that can have significantly greater local economic benefits with electricity-based processing.  Enabling this requires the NEPeD pico hydro systems to be upgraded to micro hydro capacities that can generate enough electricity for horticulture livelihoods. HPNET's facilitation of multi-stakeholders to move forward in this direction is a part of our initiative Social Enterprise for Energy, Ecological and Economic Development (SEEED).

Based on the outcomes of the visit, we foresee NEPeD upscaling its capacities as well as playing an important role as a regional practitioner advancing the micro hydro sector in northeast India.

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Rams at NEPeD hydroger site. Credit: NEPeD
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FIELD-BASED CAPACITY BUILDING EVENT, MYANMAR

12/16/2019

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Earlier this month, Hivos together with HPNET member Hydropower for Community Empowerment in Myanmar (HyCEM), and local civil socieity organizations conducted an event in Shan State, Myanmar on "Decentralised Renewable Energy (DRE) Field-Based Capacity Building for CSOs and Community Leaders".

The event followed up on an action plan activity laid out in July 2019 at the Multi-Actor Meeting to Advance Community-Centric Hydropower for Rural Livelihoods and Reforestation, organized by Hivos, HyCEM and HPNET member the Renewable Energy Association of Myanmar (REAM). Workshop attendees had identified a need to facilitate a field-based exposure, capacity-building and solution-finding workshop to bring together non-state actors, namely local DRE entrepreneurs, local civil society and village electrification committees, for collaborative learning and exchange. 

The objectives of the event were three-fold:
  • Support Htan Hla Pin, Myaseti, and Myiang to increase energy access in their micro hydro systems
  • Increase awareness of Mon, Kayin & Shan participants on mini-grid design & implementation
  • Explore areas of collaboration between local CSOs, DRE entrepreneurs and DRE village communities

On December 12th, participants gathered for sessions on Energy Demand and Resources and DRE Solutions and Technologies. The workshop opened with a participatory mapping activity followed by presentations and interactive discussions for each sub region.
Later in the day, Energy Action Partners (ENACT) introduced a participatory energy planning tool, The Minigrid Game -- a software-based, cooperative simulation tool which enables communities and developers to co-design a renewable energy micro/mini grid. The multi-player game challenges participants to design a renewable energy micro grid to meet their household  and community-wide energy needs, while staying within a monthly budget.
On the second day of the workshop, participants split up to attend site assessments, discussions and visits in different villages. One group was led by ENACT who ran Minigrid Game workshops in a nearby village to facilitate discussion and consensus-building for their community energy systems. ​
Overall, the workshop was effective in supporting collaborative dialogue among non-state actors -- an important outcome for advancing an inclusive DRE sector in Myanmar. ​
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"HIDDEN NO MORE" INTERVIEW SERIES: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CHANGE-MAKER, KOTO KISHIDA

12/13/2019

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The Hidden No More feature series was designed to spotlight women change-makers who have transformed gender barriers, and made impactful contributions to energy access for marginalized communities.

For this 4th edition, we reached out to Koto Kishida, former Malaysia Program Manager at Green Empowerment and strong advocate for sustainable rural development. Through this conversation, we gained insight into Koto’s experience as a female leader working at the intersection of energy access and natural resource management. 

Our conversation shed light on watershed protection and enhancement -- an important, yet undervalued, area of micro hydropower (MH), which Koto has been tirelessly working to promote. Koto recognizes that MH incentivizes communities to protect the catchment area ecosystem; by motivating watershed strengthening, micro hydro projects (MHPs) can play a key role in building climate resilience in rural communities. 
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Read on to learn why Koto is committed to promoting environmental conservation in community energy projects, and to gain insight into her journey as a woman energy practitioner.

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Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Koto Kishida. I am a Japanese citizen but have spent the majority of my life in the United States. In the last few years I lived in Malaysian Borneo, first as a volunteer in 2016, and then as the Malaysia Program Manager for Green Empowerment (GE) from 2017-2019. As some of the readers may know, GE is an HPNET Member, a US based NGO that works on rural sustainable development in Latin America and SE Asia. Most of the work GE has done in Malaysian Borneo has been in the area of rural sustainable development focused around energy access. GE has been supporting local NGOs such as PACOS Trust and TONIBUNG to install community based micro-hydro and solar mini-grid projects.
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​How did you start your career?

For most of my professional career, I worked for Oregon State's environmental protection agency, first analysing environmental samples and later working to minimize loss of forest cover and reduce polluted runoff from agricultural and forest land uses to protect water quality through policy and regulations. A large part of my work involved analyzing how much vegetation/forest cover was needed to sufficiently protect the aquatic environment. Having worked on both regulatory and voluntary programs to comply with environmental regulations, I came to understand the critical roles the local communities play in protecting the environment. 

I had traveled to SE Asia in the early 2010's and was drawn to rural communities where people lived traditionally. While traveling I saw rapid development as well as emerging environmental issues. This is when I began having the desire to support local communities who had a more sustainable vision for development in their communities. I reached out to a number of NGOs that worked on environmental issues, with my desire to volunteer during my sabbatical planned in 2016. One of the NGOs I contacted was Green Empowerment. At the time, GE was working with its main partner organization, TONIBUNG, to explore opportunities to access funds for conservation. In 2016 I traveled to Sabah in Malaysian Borneo to develop TONIBUNG's monitoring program as GE's volunteer. 
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During my stay in Malaysian Borneo working with rural communities, I saw the day-to-day as well as long term struggles indigenous people faced there. My main take-away from the experience in Malaysian Borneo was the same as I had learned in Oregon — the success of conservation efforts depended on the local people's desire and ability to continue living in their community in a sustainable manner. There is a need to create a space for the community members to figure out the future they want for themselves. Our only role as practitioners is to facilitate the discussion and provide support as requested by the community. 
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Tell us about your current work in the MH field

I just wrapped up my stay in Malaysian Borneo as the program manager for GE. While there, I supported TONIBUNG in a number of ways, including fundraising, project management, overseeing budget, and advising on organizational structure and policies. While I was able to contribute, I learned so much more from the experience. I will never forget the privilege of having been given a chance to work closely with a number of indigenous-led organizations that are fighting to defend and honor the rights of its people during one of the major shifts in Malaysia's politics. 

In the past few years, TONIBUNG mostly worked with two types of funding sources -- CSR funded solar/micro-hydro hybrid projects with a focus on local social enterprise development, and grant funded micro-hydro projects with an emphasis on climate change mitigation through conservation of forests. 

TONIBUNG has installed 30+ community-based MH systems in Malaysian Borneo since early 2000’s. Based on the insufficient flow during the dry season for some of the communities, TONIBUNG began installing solar and micro-hydro hybrid systems for some of the communities in Malaysian Borneo starting in 2015. Where there is sufficient flow, they still install MH only systems as well. 

TONIBUNG and GE had been able to access funds to build community MH systems by highlighting the inherent conservation values of such projects on the surrounding forest lands. Unlike solar mini-grid projects, MHPs motivate communities to protect their forests as source water. Because intact forest cover can mitigate for the seasonal variability of stream flow, communities have added incentive and tend to keep the forest cover upstream of their MHP intakes. I was able to continue building on their success and continue to bring conservation project funds to finance MHPs. 

I left Malaysian Borneo recently and returned to the US. I hope to continue supporting MH practitioners through research and fundraising, focused on securing dedicated funds for conservation for MHPs for HPNET and GE.
Why is catchment protection and enhancement important in MH projects?

As with GE's Malaysian partner organizations, I have learned that holistic MH projects are inherently better than projects that focus just on constructing infrastructure. There is also an increased need for dedicated funds to prioritize conservation activities for MHP watersheds with communities already experiencing the impact of climate change. Community members in Malaysian Borneo and practitioners from other countries have shared with me that seasonal variability in flow and erosion from land use have had negative impact on operation of MHPs. Intact forest cover creates climate resiliency, could extend flow during the dry season, and can mitigate sedimentation issues. 
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Unfortunately, when conservation is a budget line item, there are many ways for the funds to be spent on other important activities or materials for the project. For almost all of the projects I was involved with, at least a portion of funds set aside for conservation related activities were spent on transportation or construction of RE systems. It has always been important to address watershed management as part of community-based MH projects, and I understand that the need for it is greater than ever.  
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What are some of the key challenges that you've encountered as you've pursued your professional and personal journey to make a difference?

A key challenge I’ve encountered is developing effective ways to demonstrate and communicate the ecological value of MH projects. 

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of certain practices, programs, or strategies, we need to establish the baseline and status of certain metrics. Within the context of community-based MHPs, quantifying ecological benefit of micro-hydro systems requires interest and commitment by the communities to collect data and have them analyzed, dedicated multi-year funding, and discipline/support from NGOs to continue the effort over time. 

Based on my experiences in both Oregon and Malaysian Borneo, I’ve come to understand that agreement and commitment around monitoring don’t come about quickly. For MHPs, it’s difficult to ask people to think beyond construction of the energy system, which is already very challenging. While communities may develop and comply to regulations for watershed protection (e.g. logging is prohibited in the catchment area), documentation is another level of commitment, beyond not breaking the rules. Sustainable restoration initiatives require incentive, such as tangible evidence of the benefits of such activities; evidence requires time and consistent monitoring, which, in turn, requires funding.

There is a difference between passive eco restoration and active watershed strengthening. We can assume that passive restoration results from MHPs in the sense that, if communities are compelled to leave the catchment area alone, the resulting natural progression (i.e. of trees maturing) is a desirable outcome in itself, even if there is no active attempt at ‘enhancement’. If this is not good enough evidence to garner support, we’re stuck; unless we can find a funder who is willing to fund semi-long term monitoring, we won’t be able to attain more specific evidence of the ecological benefit of MHPs. 

That said, this prioritization of quantitative data and scientific methods is a very Westernized approach. Just as international funders may be biased against local actors who lack strong English writing skills, accepting only evaluation standards set by Western funders may prevent indigenous practitioners from accessing funding. So another key challenge I’ve been faced with is this problem of colonialism within international development; there’s a real need to decolonize research methods and develop more inclusive approaches, which place value on indigenous methodologies.
When you think of the words “gender” and “energy” what other words or terms immediately come to mind? 

Opportunity, Leadership, Long Term, Investment

Many of the rural communities that lack energy access are often facing other challenges such as lack of or limited economic opportunity, access to education and health care. There is a need and opportunity to listen to diverse opinions and insights of community members to have the best chance at success. Holistic community energy projects that aim to also address these challenges provide space for the communities to discuss their collective desires and long term goals. 

Our partners in Malaysian Borneo working on energy access projects understand the opportunity these projects provide as an organizing tool for communities and to develop leadership skills. Where the communities embraced the opportunity to build micro-hydro committees that are gender balanced, I saw that they tended to have better management of the MHPs in general, with good documentation. I have also seen some women assume leadership roles within their community beyond the management of the MHPs, such as being a village head or a part of JKKK, village development and security committee. These outcomes are not realized quickly - and community members may not connect the dots and credit the efforts to engage all community members put in many years ago. 
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Even though there are success stories, engaging women during planning meetings and recruiting them to join committees do not always become a priority during project implementation. I attribute this to the capacity of NGOs we work with. Some of the partner organizations we worked with had a limited number of female staff, and the project managers had challenges with the construction of infrastructure alone, such that gender balance was not a major consideration. And I think our local partners value meeting the communities where they are. For cultural reasons or the particular situations that the communities are in, if they do not have female representatives in leadership positions in the MH Committee, that does not mean progress has not been made. 

I did not make a significant impact on addressing the gender issues while working with TONIBUNG, other than some isolated successes. I have tried to understand the reasons why certain jobs are filled by men only, and challenges women face at the workplace, in order to understand my priorities for how to address these challenges. For TONIBUNG, I encouraged their staff to be inclusive of women when working with communities, and questioned their sexist comments or jokes when I heard them. I also participate in groups and discussions with others who raise gender issues, and promote local and indigenous women to speak at professional conferences. ​
What are some of the solutions that you feel could be employed to address the gender challenges in the sector?

My hope for energy sector organizations is to evaluate their operation and understand the reasons if and why men dominate their workplace, and think of ways to address those root causes. Most likely training should be provided to all staff so there is a mutual understanding around what is considered sexual harassment, gender bias, and unacceptable behavior within the organization. Without these understandings and willingness by the organization to commit to these policies, it would be difficult for women to thrive in any organization. ​
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As far as working with communities, as I mentioned earlier, GE’s partner organizations such as PACOS Trust and TONIBUNG already understand the value of engaging women and youths. In addition to working with the elders and men who tend to be in leadership positions more often, they make an effort to engage all community members when working on a community project. As a non-indigenous, non-local practitioner, I try to be careful especially in communities as not to overstep my place as an outsider with limited understanding and experience of the local context. As much as I would like the best outcome for the communities, I do not want to force my agenda or values. Rather, while I am in the communities I fold in success stories with female leadership in conversation, and definitely make a point of spending more time with women outside of formal meetings and work parties to build relationships, but mainly to listen to what’s on their minds. Even though my time in the communities is limited, it gives me a sense of what’s important for the women. 


To a room full of young women and men, what key message would you want them to remember? Any advice?

For men, I would encourage them to check their gut feelings and thoughts for potential biases. If they find themselves doubting opinions of their female colleagues or community members, I would like them to consider what if the idea came from someone else, perhaps a male colleague. Would their gut feelings or opinions be the same? Rather than shutting down ideas, I would challenge them to fully explore their female colleagues' ideas. 

For women, I would encourage them to support their own ideas and opinions, even if their colleagues are dismissive of their ideas. I would also encourage them to seek a supportive peer group outside of their organization but still within the energy sector. I think this is a good survival strategy in any sector. 

For Western, non-indigenous men and women entering the sector, I would encourage them to consider what biases, expectations or assumptions they may carry with them as they enter unfamiliar contexts. It is important to continuously reflect on your positionality and centre local voices, in order to build healthy relationships and successful community development projects.
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WATCH:  WEBINAR ON INTEGRATED ENERGY PLANNING

12/12/2019

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Did you miss our fourth quarterly webinar, ​Mini-Grid Planning: Integrated Energy Planning for Rural Electrification? You can now watch it below!
 This webinar highlighted integrated energy planning initiatives from African and Southeast Asian contexts, including Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia, and Malaysian Borneo.

The webinar covered:
  • The basic criteria for a robust integrated energy planning process
  • Examples of country-wide and sub-region programs in Africa and Asia that are advancing integrated energy planning and their hindsight
  • Voices of a diverse set of energy planning practitioners – including a private utility, national government, international development partner, and scientific research institute
  • Tools and processes for integrated energy mapping, modelling, and planning
    Challenges and potential solutions that require further support and strategy.

This webinar was made possible by Wisions and Energypedia UG. 
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PELTON TURBINE TRAINING AT CREATECH, Philippines

12/11/2019

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Last month, practitioners from Philippines and Malaysia gathered for a training session on Pelton micro hydro turbine fabrication. The session was the second part of a two-part training organized by HPNET and Sibol Ng Agham At Teknolohiya (SIBAT), to strengthen local capacities in fabrication and manufacturing.

The training responded to the knowledge exchange needs of HPNET Members in the Philippines and Malaysia who require skills to design and build Pelton micro hydro turbines.

Following an online training in November, the in-person training ran from December 2 - 7 and was held at SIBAT's Center for Renewable Energy and Appropriate Technology (CREATech) in Capas, Tarlac, Philippines. The overall aim was for participants to acquire knowledge of the design, manufacturing and testing of Pelton turbines, including fabrication of the Pelton runner assembly.
Participants benefited from an opportunity for hands-on learning, in addition to technical and theoretical presentations. 

Within Pelton Turbine Design, sub-topics covered included:
  • Single and multi jet turbines;
  • Vertical and horizontal axis turbines;
  • Direct and belt drive systems;
  • Net head calculations and shaft calculations;
  • Pelton runner sizing;
  • Bearing and belt selection;
  • Other components.

The resource person for this training was HPNET Member Mr. Ajith Kumara from Simple Engineering, a senior micro and mini hydropower specialist based in Sri Lanka. Mr. Kumara has extensive experience training practitioners in design and fabrication aspects of various electro-mechanical components of small-scale hydropower.

This training was made possible by SIBAT, WISIONS and Simple Engineering.


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JOIN US: DEC. 10 WEBINAR ON INTEGRATED ENERGY PLANNING

12/3/2019

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Join our webinar this month on integrated energy planning! 

MINI-GRID PLANNING: INTEGRATED ENERGY PLANNING FOR RURAL ELECTRIFICATION
DATE:  TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2019
TIME:  10 AM CET / 2:45 PM KATHMANDU / 5 PM KUALA LUMPUR
REGISTER HERE
The Hydro Empowerment Network seeks to provide a spotlight on energy planning practitioners that are advancing integrated energy planning for rural electrification. This webinar – the 4th in our series – will feature integrated energy planning initiatives from African contexts and S/SE Asian contexts, including Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia, and Malaysian​ Borneo.

The webinar will include:

  • The basic criteria for a robust integrated energy planning process
  • Examples of country-wide and sub-region programs in Africa and Asia that are advancing integrated energy planning and their hindsight
  • Voices of a diverse set of energy planning practitioners – including a private utility, national government, international development partner, and scientific research institute
  • Tools and processes for integrated energy mapping, modelling, and planning
  • Challenges and potential solutions that require further support and strategy.

Presentations will be followed by a Q/A session open to all participants.   

​Learn more about our 2019 Mini-Grid Webinar Series, hosted by WISIONS and energypedia here!

WEBINAR BACKGROUND

Although mini-grids are often boxed as a “pre-electrification” intervention, there is increasing evidence showing that mini-grids can achieve grid parity.  Further, in countries that allow mini-grids to feed in electricity to the central grid, mini-grids have actually made the central grid more reliable!


Hydro mini-grids especially meet these scenarios, providing 24-hour reliable electricity, typically at lower LCOE and costs per kW than most other types of mini-grids, and leading to lower tariffs for rural consumers. Thereof, hydro mini-grids are generally financially viable for motorized loads (e.g. agri processing productive end use) and for feeding into the central grid.

Despite their obvious advantages, in most developing contexts decentralized renewable energy mini-grids continue to be framed as “pre-electrification” solutions at par with solar home lighting, or “not as important as the central grid.”  Often mini-grid development is housed in a separate and less influential ministry, while the central grid authorities have ultimate power and financial resources. Such a fragmented approach leads to:
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  • Redundant electrification interventions, and therefore wasteful use of funding resources
  • Confusion on timing of arrival of the central grid, which severely hampers the scale-up of mini-grids
  • Abandoned mini-grids and loss of investment upon the arrival of a reliable central grid
  • Business-as-usual of an intermittently reliable central grid, typically powered by fossil fuels or large hydro, in today’s age of climate crisis.

However, the reality is that all solutions for energy access are equally important to meet the growing energy needs of rural communities.

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SPEAKERS
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​DR. CATHERINA CADER
RESEARCH UNIT OFF-GRID SYSTEMS
REINER LEMOINE INSTITUTE, GERMANY 

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Dr. Catherina Cader is an expert in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and rural electrification planning. She has been working at Reiner Lemoine Institute since 2012 and is part of the Research Unit Off-Grid Systems. She is particularly interested in rural electrification planning in countries of the Global South with consideration of renewable energy. Catherina holds a PhD in Geography from Justus Liebig University Giessen. For her dissertation she conducted research on rural electrification planning in Nigeria. Her PhD project was supported by a scholarship from the Reiner Lemoine-Foundation. She also holds a Master of Science in Geography from Philipps University Marburg and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Management from Justus Liebig University Gießen. Through field visits and self-developed trainings on the use of GIS for rural electrification planning, Catherina has great expertise on the political, geographical, economic, and technical challenges of local energy supply situations. By developing and applying GIS-based methods, she brings the spatial component into RLI research using open source software. Catherina has experience as a project manager in several projects – her work has taken her to various places including Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia, Nepal, Myanmar, and the Philippines.
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CHRISTOPHER WESLEY AJAN
SARAWAK ALTERNATIVE RURAL ELECTRIFICATION SCHEME (SARES) 
SARAWAK ENERGY, MALAYSIA


Mr. Christopher Wesley Ajan joined in 2012 Sarawak Energy, the utility responsible for the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity for the state of Sarawak in Malaysia.  He currently serves as Manager in the Rural Electrification Department with focus on community based stand-alone solar power station.  He holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Universiti Teknologi, Malaysia and is a certified On-Grid and Off-Grid Photovoltaic Designer (SEDA-Malaysia). He presently leads the planning and implementation of the Sarawak Alternative Rural Electrification Scheme (SARES), a Sarawak State Government initiative to provide basic electricity supply to remote villages in Sarawak. To date, SARES has successfully completed 222 villages with total of 5,320 households. Awards received by SARES include: ASEAN Energy Awards 2019 – Off-grid Power Category; PowerGen Asia 2019 – Solar Power Project of the year; Alliance of Rural Electrification (ARE) Award 2018 – Winner RE project by Government in Africa, Asia and Latin America category.
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DR. VICTOR OSU
RURAL ELECTRIFICATION FUND
RURAL ELECTRIFICATION AGENCY, NIGERIA


Dr. Osu is presently the Senior Adviser (SA) to the Executive Director (Rural Electrification Funds in the Rural Electrification Agency; towards enabling and fostering investments in Rural Electrification Planning and Development, linking private developers with access to finance from the government and private investors. He is  responsible towards the mobilization and operationalization of the Rural Electrification Fund (REF), with an objective of providing, promoting and supporting access to reliable electric power supply for rural economic development via the deployment of off-grid technologies (Mini-grids and SHS) within the context of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) delivery model. Victor is currently coordinating the implementation of over 10 mini-grids and 18,000 solar home systems installation for rural communities across the country with facility support from the rural electrification grant. He is currently administering the Mini-Grid Acceleration Scheme (MAS) and Interconnected-Mini-Grid Acceleration Scheme (I-MAS) programs, with 9.3 million Euros, funded by the European Union and the German government through Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeil (GIZ) to provide energy access to 32,000 Nigerians. A key focus within the project is the facilitation of productive use of energy through backward integration and Key Maker Model to spur rural economic development. He received a B.Sc. in Computer Economics from the Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria, an M.Sc. in Energy Management from the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen in Scotland and his Ph.D. in Sustainability Transition and Governance also from the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.​

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MODERATOR

RANISHA BASNET has more than 5 years of experience in knowledge management in the off-grid sector. She has worked with many national and international organizations to develop different knowledge products (webinars, database and knowledge portals) and also designed campaigns to raise awareness about the trending off-grid energy topics. Currently, she is writing her master thesis on “ Gender and Renewable Energy Mini Grids” and is attending the master program, Renewable Energy Engineering and Management at the University of Freiburg, Germany.​

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THEMATIC DISCUSSANT
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DIPTI VAGHELA
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NETWORK FACILITATOR AND MANAGER 
HYDRO EMPOWERMENT NETWORK (HPNET) 

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Dipti Vaghela is the co-founder and manager of the Hydro Empowerment Network (HPNET), a south-south knowledge exchange platform that advances policy, technology, and socio-environmental aspects of small-scale hydropower across ten countries since established in 2013. Dipti brings sixteen years of experience in developing decentralized renewable energy solutions for rural electrification in S/SE Asia, bridging communities, local entrepreneurs, field-based NGOs, policy makers, and funding agencies. In 2016 she was awarded a Fulbright Public Policy Fellowship, placed at the Renewable Energy Association of Myanmar (REAM). Based in Myanmar, she supports and learns from Myanmar’s indigenous micro/mini hydropower, biomass energy, PV-irrigation practitioners. Dipti holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Science in Environmental Studies from San Jose State University.
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INDONESIA - PHILIPPINES EXCHANGE

11/25/2019

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HPNET members in Indonesia and the Philippines are joining forces to provide high quality micro hydro equipment to community-based projects in Mindanao.

The ASEAN Centre for Hydropower Competance (HYCOM) and Pt Entec Indonesia, both global experts for micro hydro technology transfer, are supporting the Yamog Renewable Energy Development Group, Inc., the pioneering NGO committed for nearly three decades to providing electricity to marginalized communities in Mindanao, to explore establishing local manufacturing of cross-flow turbines.  

After multiple online exchanges, in June 2019 HPNET Board members Gerhard Fischer and Ardi Nugraha visited Yamog in Davao City to gauge the local team's capacity for local manufacturing.  Then in October 2019, Yamog's technical leads visit Pt Entec and HYCOM in Bandung, Indonesia to better understand quality standards practiced in Indonesia.  The collaboration is gradually moving toward the goal of locally manufactured cross-flow turbines in Mindanao.

HPNET facilitated the start of collaboration between PT Entec and Yamog in 2018 and the network has benefited immensely from the ongoing contributions of both organizations. It is great to see continuous knowledge exchange (often self-initiated, as in this case) between these long-standing HPNET Members.
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NEPAL:  FIELD RESEARCH ON WOMEN AND MICRO HYDRO

11/15/2019

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Involving women in micro-hydro projects (MHPs) is important, not only for empowering the women via access to energy, but also for the sustainability of the MHP, as it taps into one of the core beneficiaries -- women, who were previously left out. 
In collaboration with HPNET and the UNDP Renewable Energy for Rural Livelihoods (RERL) project at the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) in Nepal, my research looked at a MHP where gender mainstreaming was done around 22 years ago and analyzed the impact of gender mainstreaming on the MHP. The findings included that women’s involvement in the MHP could be restricted by prevalent gender roles, as well as by the technical design or malpractice. The findings also revealed that encouraging women-led productive use of electricity should be accompanied by other infrastructure such as access to markets, finance, roads, etc.

​Stay tuned for a report where the findings will be presented in detail.


I would like to thank HPNET for helping to identify the appropriate case study and also forming the necessary contacts. HPNET has also been helpful in shaping this study by providing continuous feedback.


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By HPNET member Ranisha Basnet
basnetranisha@gmail.com
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Ranisha is currently pursuing her master’s degree in “Renewable energy engineering management” at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, Germany.
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HPNET AT SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL ENERGY WEEK

11/1/2019

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This week HPNET Manager Dipti Vaghela and HPNET Member Kapila Subasinghe from DFCC Bank took part in the Deep Dive Energy Access Using Innovative Mini-grid Solutions. Asia Clean Energy Summit (ACES) at the Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW).  Dipti presented on the panel "Challenges and Risks in Deploying Renewable energy Mini-Grid Technologies" and Kapila presented on the panel "Innovations in Finance."   Read more here.
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HPNET member Kapila Subasinghe on ACES-SIEW panel on Innovations in Finance. Credit: HPNET
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HPNET AT KIREC 2019

10/28/2019

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This past week, HPNET took part in several panel discussions at KIREC 2019, the 8th International Renewable Energy Conference. Thank you to REN21 and other organizers for an informative week, and for the opportunity to take part! We'd like to thank Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) and Alliance for Rural Electrification for inviting us to share on public-private partnerships for sustainable community-scale hydro. Our thanks also go to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) for the opportunity to discuss socio-economic impacts of energy transformation.
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HPNET Manager, Dipti Vaghela, and HPNET Member Ayu Abudullah, at KIREC 2019. Credit: HPNET
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INDONESIA:  TRAININGS AND EXPOSURE VISITS HOSTED BY ASEAN HYDROPOWER COMPETANCE CENTRE (HYCOM)

10/8/2019

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Micro hydro development in Indonesia started around 1991 with the support of GIZ (German international cooperation). Later on, Energising Development (EnDev) Indonesia implemented many MHP projects until 2014, with Entec AG Swiss / PT Entec Indonesia as consultants. 

The ASEAN Hydro Competence Centre (HYCOM) was inaugurated in 2011 and is jointly operated and managed by PT Entec Indonesia and the Technical Education Development Centre Bandung (TEDC). In addition to PT Entec and TEDC, HYCOM was established with the support of:
  • ASEAN Center for Energy (ACE) and GIZ
  • Entec AG
  • Renewable Energy Platform Swiss (REPIC)
  • University FH Technik (Zurich)

HYCOM works to promote small-scale hydropower and disseminate know-how in the sector. Offering hands-on training and application oriented research, HYCOM endeavours to improve the implementation and operation of small-scale hydropower installations worldwide. To date, HYCOM has conducted about 40 trainings and workshops with 350 participants from 25 countries, and has hosted approximately 500 visitors from all over the world.

​This quarter HYCOM conducted three knowledge transfer activities, which are described below by guest bloggers and HPNET Board Members, Mr. Gerhard Fischer and Mr. Ardi Nugraha.

TRAINING FOR MICRO HYDRO OPERATORS

In the past 3 months, HYCOM conducted two trainings for micro hydro operators. The trainings focused on Operation and Maintenance concepts and procedures, economic consequences of neglected maintenance, safety issues, understanding turbine characteristics and other practical issues of operation from water hammer, cavitation, synchronizing, alignment, balancing issues and very important  environmental issues. The attending practitioners raised many practical issues from their experience, which will help us to improve our trainings with relevant subjects. 

Training 1: Operators of Indonesian small hydro plants (July 8 - 12, 2019)

In July, HYCOM facilitated a training for 12 participants by PLN (Indonesia's government-owned utility) and KfW (a German state-owned development bank) “Sustainable Hydro Power Program”. This program was hosted at PUSDIKLAT (a training centre of PLN) involving 3 trainers from Germany. The training involved activities at the HYCOM centre, which made use of the hydro laboratory equipment, as well as visits to hydropower sites near Bandung (750 kW, 2MW up to 1000 MW).
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Trainees on a field visit to a mini-hydro project, examining the electro-mechanical equipment. Credit: A. Nugraha
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Trainees at HYCOM centre in Bandung, Indonesia. Credit: A. Nugraha
Training 2: Operators of Sarawak, Malaysia mini hydro plant (Sept. 29 - Oct. 4, 2019)
A training event was held for 9 operators and engineers from the power utility of Sarawak, Malaysia. The training was conducted by PT Entec using the HYCOM laboratory equipment and visiting MHP equipment manufacturers, as well as visiting one hydropower plant near Bandung to study the maintenance system. (The plant, a 250 kW standalone MHP in a tea plantation, has been operational for 17 years using equipment made in Bandung.)
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Malaysia-Indonesia training and exchange event at HYCOM centre. Credit: A. Nugraha
EXPOSURE VISIT:  Ethiopia Practitioners (Aug. 30 - 31, 2019)
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As early as 2008, an exchange of MHP know-how and turbine manufacturer training was held in Indonesia, conducted by PT Entec Indonesia and financed by GIZ. Participants from Ethiopia and Indonesia came together to learn general MHP know-how, and they received a license training for the T15- 300 cross flow turbine used in hundreds of MHP projects worldwide.

The achievements of this training were that three T15 cross flow turbine sites and some propeller low head were installed in Ethiopia and local manufacturers had “new ideas“ to improve their low cost turbines up to 25 kW.
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Indonesia-Ethiopia Exchange Event, 2008. Credit: PT Entec Indonesia
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Indonesia-Ethiopia Exchange Event, 2008. Credit: PT Entec Indonesia
This past August, PT Entec conducted another exchange event with participants from Ethiopia. From August 30th to 31st 2019, a delegation of EnDev Ethiopia visited Indonesia for an exposure visit. GIZ is presently planning the implementation 9 micro hydro sites in the frame of the EnDev project. The delegation (consisting of 3 GIZ/EnDev staff and 3 government officials) visited the HYCOM training centre, which is established at P4TK-BMTI, a training institution for vocational teachers in Indonesia. P4TK-BMTI is presently taking care of renewable energy (hydro, PV, biomass, wind) on the vocational school level. The delegation expressed interest to cooperate with this institution for vocational training in future.

We see a good opportunity for HPNET to support a south-south technology transfer linking the experiences of the network with the African micro hydro market.

Guest blog post written by Mr. Gerhard Fischer (Director of PT Entec Indonesia and HYCOM, and HPNET Board of Advisors Member) and Mr. Ardi Nugraha (Senior Manager of PT Entec Indonesia and HYCOM, and HPNET Board of Representatives Member for Indonesia).

They can be reached at 
office@entec.co.id 
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HYDRO MINI-GRIDS:  A CATALYST FOR ACCELERATING RURAL ELECTRIFICATION IN CAMEROON

10/8/2019

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We are glad to have HPNET Member Mr. Atud Jonathan Asaah from Cameroon, as a guest blogger to share his views on the potential and impact of hydro mini-grids in his country.

Africa harbors one of the world’s best renewable energy resources which can be used to harness electricity. Unfortunately, in 2012 the International Energy Agency announced that about 590 million people in Africa live without access to electricity. Meanwhile, a similar report in the same year quoted that there were 1.5 billion people around the world that don’t have access to electricity.

From the two reports cited above, it can be seen that Africa alone had approximately 40% of those living in darkness in the world. Even though this report is 7 years old, there may be little change as regards the proportion of Africans living in the dark today because in most of these African countries, the grid extension program has been very slow. ​
Cameroon

In Cameroon for instance, less than 17% of the rural population has access to electricity (USAID, 2019) despite the fact that it has the second largest hydropower potential in Africa. There is persistent power outages throughout the country especially in the dry seasons when water levels are low.  About 90% of population living in these non electrified rural areas use biomass (firewood) for cooking, heating and lighting meanwhile others use kerosene lamps. 

The total energy production of Cameroon in 2016 stood at 8108 GWh with  47% coming from hydro electricity alone. Other sources include thermal and fossil fuels.
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This low rate of rural electrification (17%)is due to a series of factors:
  • Cameroon has a population of above 24 million people and 45% of these people live in rural areas. These rural areas are organized in small villages mostly located in geographically difficult topography that makes it very expensive for grid extension in terms of distribution infrastructures. In most cases, the terminus of the grid line maybe too far from the village.
  • The initial demand in most of these villages is usually very small and the national grid company may find it not cost effective.

On the other hand, these villages are naturally endowed with unlimited renewable energy resources on the spot which include abundant rivers, streams, wind and the sun that could constitute reliable sources of electricity for these remote communities. Law N ° 2011/022 of 14 December 2011 of Cameroon governing the electricity sector in its Article 29 provides for conditions to own private power production units but there is still a very timid entry of private investors in the energy sector, which therefore calls for more awareness from government to lure these partners into synergy to meet up with the demand.
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Meeting community leaders on a potential micro hydro site in Bessi village, NW Cameroon. Credit: A. Asaah
The demand for electricity in Cameroon is on a severe rise to power homes and the industries and is expected to continue growing rapidly. To greatly alleviate this energy deficit, these villages needs to be assisted to develop their local energy production units while the national grid is decongested to cover mostly metropolitan/industrial areas. The government is taking steps to increase its energy market via the creation of the Rural Electrification Board and in the long term rural electrification master plan, energy production is expected to step up via the development of diesel and hydro mini-grids. ​
Cameroon is found within CEMAC-The Economic community of Central African states and the most populated country and acting as the economic hub of this block. Its energy sector remains a major prerequisite to meet up its economic giant position within this economic block which is considered a regional integration used as a tool for economic growth. The government cannot achieve this energy objective alone via its current  grid extension program.

WAY FORWARD

Most of the villages of these rural areas have been naturally endowed with renewable energy resources like the sun, wind and small streams which can be used to harness their energy on the spot.  The more stakeholders fold their arms and see this poor population continue to live in the dark, the more villagers rely heavily on biomass -- cutting down trees in the forest to collect wood and produce charcoal for cooking and heating, kerosene lamps used to provide lighting, petrol and diesel will be used to power standby generators.

We cannot sit and watch these practices when at the same time we intend to mitigate the green gas effect which is causing global warming (climate change mitigation). Renewable energy using indigenous resources like those listed above can play a catalyst role in this energy revolution. Reference is made  here to small-scale hydroelectricity systems, solar systems, and wind power. This will lead to bringing the sources of energy back to the community level- a participatory approach to energy generation which gives local communities greater autonomy over the infrastructure.

Many of the people who lack access to electricity in Cameroon live in these villages with sufficient sunshine, abundant streams and rivers that flow throughout the year and in most cases have hills that provide the necessary gravity to rotate a micro hydro turbine.

Creation of community micro hydro power stations

These are micro power stations that have maximum capacity of up to 100 kW and are easily managed by the community. Those communities, which are isolated or found far off the national grid, can be powered by these independent power units which involve harnessing small water sources usually in hills that are flowing under the natural influence of gravity with minimum civil construction infrastructure. The water is tunneled through a pipeline (penstock) to rotate a turbine connected to a generator to produce electricity. The penstock builds up pressure from the water that has traveled downwards from a hill. The electricity is then sent to the village community for household consumption or sold to the national grid. The construction of a community micro hydro project requires community mobilization especially at the civil phase. The local community needs to be well aware on the importance of the scheme​.
Community battery charging units

These are small hydro power plants of few watts up to 5 kW which can be used to charge DC batteries at the community level. These batteries are later used with inverters to obtain AC current which is used to power domestic appliances.
Community-based micro hydro repair workshops

The main difficulty encountered in most cases in running micro hydro systems is the lack of a ready supply of affordable turbine parts and the lack of domestic manufacturing capacity.  The presence of local technical workshops that can fabricate simple components needed to run the system is vital for the sustainability of the project. Most of the remote micro hydro systems in Africa have been closed down because of lack of spare parts for its components.  Lack of local fabrication workshops poses a great challenge for rural electrification.​
​Africa is losing more forest than any continent and making it more vulnerable to climate change. This seems to be the right moment for policy makers to intervene via promotion of these community-base micro hydro schemes -- which will not only protect our forests but equally improve on the livelihood of these rural population.​

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By HPNET Member Atud Jonathan Asaah

Atud Jonathan Asaah is a multi talented Cameroonian who holds a Bachelor of science degree in accounting and a master of business administration in Accounting and finance from the University of Buea in Cameroon. He has eleven years experience as an accountant in a banking environment. He has a lot of passion for engineering and has successfully carried out a series of experiments in the field of engineering, especially electronics and electrical engineering, the most successful being the construction of a 15 kW micro hydro system to power his village.

Mr. Assah is the founder of RURAL SOLUTIONS, a social group dedicated to using renewable energy to light rural communities. His role as a social media renewable energy activist has earned him recognition from similar groups in other countries currently working in synergy to fight global greenhouse gas emissions.

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EXCHANGE VISIT:  MICRO HYDRO PIONEERS IN MALAYSIA AND THE PHILIPPINES

10/6/2019

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This week, the SIBAT and CREATech team, from Luzon, Philippines, took the initiative to complement their 25 years of micro hydro development in the northern Philippines with a learning visit to Tonibung and CREATE’s work in Sabah, Borneo Malaysia.  Tonibung has been the pioneer of community-based micro hydro systems in Malaysia for 25+ years, focusing on indigenous communities and social enterprise.  Tonibung closely collaborates with Green Empowerment.  HPNET's collective knowledge has been greatly enriched by the active membership of all five organizations.
The SIBAT team took time to understand Tonibung’s local manufacturing developments and their approach to linking MHPs to social enterprise for scaling productive end use.

The team visited Longkogungan village and Kalanggaan village, along with Tonibung staff members Bill Baxter and Willery Larry, and Green Empowerment staff member Dan Frydman.

Here is what SIBAT engineer Ms. Benazir Bacala has to say about the recent visit:

“Visiting the sites of Tonibung made me appreciate more the work of NGOs. It was an adventure that we could never forget, risky hiking,  lots of crossing rivers...Very inspiring how Tonibung and its staff were also able to reach those villages in remote areas to provide sustainable energy to the communities and their efforts and dedication to help the people.

We learned a lot about their MHP with Pelton turbines, both direct couple and belt-driven systems, that were locally manufactured at CREATE.”
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"HIDDEN NO MORE" INTERVIEW SERIES:  PHILIPPINES CHANGE-MAKER, MS. JADE ANGNGALAO

10/3/2019

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Earlier this year we launched the Hidden No More feature series to spotlight women change-makers who have transformed gender barriers, and made significant contributions to energy access for marginalized communities.

In this 3rd edition, in honor of the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples earlier this Quarter, we’re excited to feature Ms. Jade Angngalao, an accomplished indigenous community leader who is a coordinator for community-based micro hydro in the Philippines. We had the opportunity to connect with Ms. Jade and gain insight into her inspiring journey and vision.

PictureCoordinator at SIBAT, Jade Angngalao (left), and her mentee, Benazir Bacala (right). Credit: HPNET
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I have been involved in community development work for 9 years. For the past 2 years I have been Coordinator of the Renewable Energy Program at Sibol Ng Agham At Teknolohiya (SIBAT). I am a member of the Kalinga tribe, from a mountainous area in the North of the Philippines. I am also a mother of two daughters (which poses a challenge in terms of balancing and prioritizing my different responsibilities). 

What motivated you to work in the field of energy access?

I first became aware of micro hydropower (MH) when SIBAT implemented an MHP in my hometown. Previously we didn’t have electricity access, since the electric co-op (the main grid provider) did not reach our town. My father was the one who led the community to participate in the construction of our village micro hydro system. As a young person, I was also involved in building the system, for example, by helping to transport sand.

When the MHP was being constructed, I was also studying Agricultural Engineering at Kalinga State University, and working part-time at the Affiliated RE Centre (a university research centre). When one of the engineers heard of my studies, he suggested that I apply to work with SIBAT after graduating.

For my thesis, I decided to evaluate and report on the sustainability of MHPs in the North. My findings were that most of the systems were no longer operational and there were no plans to repair them. After being implemented, most systems were handed over to the local communities; the communities used the systems for about 5 years before most became non-operational. In most cases, the local MH operator had damaged, or was unable to maintain the system as a result of inadequate training and a lack of proper capacity building. I created a report to give to the Department of Agriculture; however, repairing the MHPs was not a priority, as solar home system were the focus, at the time. I felt that it was a waste of money to build MH systems in very remote communities and then leave them without any support for maintenance and management.

This experience motivated me to work on building communities’ capacity to sustain their MH, rather than leaving them without support, post-construction. I was driven to implement capacity-building measures such as training on maintenance and management, in order for MH communities to become independent and for community-based projects to operate sustainably. Most of the existing systems in my region were based on old designs which required a lot of maintenance. I saw a need for these systems to be upgraded, to give the villages quality electricity, and to improve local management and system sustainability.


How did you start your career with SIBAT?

I was hired by SIBAT in 2010 as part of the technical staff working in potable water and irrigation systems, in remote sites in Mindanao. The sites were so remote that it took two days to reach most of them (and we had to carry our own food along the way). This is when I saw the vulnerable situation of the villages in these areas. There were very high rates of poverty, with many families eating just one meal per day. The villages were deprived of basic social services, with no formal education, health care, clean source of water, or electricity - no government support whatsoever. 

This was when I promised myself to continue to work to help the communities there. I felt a kinship with the local people, because I also belong to an indigenous tribe, and had faced a similar reality growing up. These were ‘my people’ and I wanted them to experience the benefits of MH that were felt in my own community.

The irrigation project I was initially working on did not materialize because of the remoteness of the community - 15 hours were needed to walk there and it was very difficult to bring in materials, and also to mobilize the people. In any case, I think it would make more sense to give local training on agricultural techniques before focusing on irrigation projects. Subsequently, I was involved in a solar water project in the southern part of Luzon, before I took part in any MHP work. It was quite difficult starting out and, after three years, I almost quit my job. However, I stayed because I was passionate about the work and was encouraged by some individuals.


What sort of challenges did you face?

I nearly quit my job because some of my seniors expected too much of me. As the youngest team member, I was expected to be full of ideas, gutsy and energetic, but I have my limitations, of course. The program was also dominated by men. As the only woman in the group, I was often the centre of jokes, which were sometimes very offensive.

My senior, Chris Alfonso, encouraged me. He was a SIBAT engineer who had played a big role in the capacity-building of the SIBAT team. He mentored me in potable water and irrigation and I learned a lot from him.  His life was short-lived, but we will always be grateful for his mentorship and his vision for SIBAT’s Center for Renewable Energy and Appropriate Technology (CREATech), where we now manufacture micro hydro turbines and electronic load controllers.

Tell us about your current work in the MH field.

Currently, I’m working as a coordinator, delegating the team, which is a challenge because the staff is still dominated by men. Lately, I have also been frustrated because we frequently hire an engineer, and invest time and money in training him, only to find that he resigns very soon after starting. They often complain about the small salary or they’re unable to adjust to the culture in the communities where they’re placed. Indigenous communities have a different culture from low-land culture, where these engineers come from. I’ve been encouraging management to hire local, indigenous engineers, who wouldn’t face the same problems around cultural adjustment. 

For NGOs that don’t offer large salaries to their engineers, I recommend orienting new engineers to help them understand and adapt to the situation in the communities where they will be working. This can help improve retainment of young engineers.

Community work is very challenging and frustrating at times, but I always tell the staff that they should try to go deeper in developing their understanding of the community.


How do you involve women in your MH work?

When I work in indigenous communities, I have an advantage because I am indigenous myself. This allows me to assert myself in order to include women in decision-making and encourage them to voice their concerns, especially in meetings. Men listen to our opinions and our input is valued and respected. 

I believe that women can be the role models to lead people’s organizations. Three of the MHPs I’ve worked on are led by chair-women, and the strong management of the female leaders is reflected in better reporting and book-keeping. 

There are still many areas for improvement. For example, in my province, the division of labour is still such that women must do all the household chores and men must provide for the family. When I was starting out in my career, whenever we went to the field, my male seniors would tell me to do the household chores, like cooking. I was proactive in telling management when this happened, but it was difficult. Sometimes I ended up staying back with the community rather than going with my team members, when I couldn’t tolerate being the centre of their jokes.

Yet, I conquered. After years passed, I learned how to fight back and speak out. I resisted until I gained their respect (which took about 5 or 6 years).


What advice do you have for other organizations? 

First, you should always include women in decision-making in MH projects. If I had my own organization, I would prefer for it to be dominated by women, primarily because women often have a more holistic approach to community projects.

Additionally, gender awareness and inclusion should start at the internal level, in the organization itself, before any attempt to facilitate it in the community. Gender orientation is included in SIBAT programs on paper, but not in practice. I tell my colleagues we should run gender workshops to teach men how to value and respect women. As an indigenous woman, It’s natural for me to promote this, but I want to see more engagement from others, so that real change will happen. 

As for female engineers, my advice is that you should speak up and voice your opinion, don’t be shy!


What is the impact of MH that you have you seen since you started out?

MH has changed many lives in the Philippines. I’ve seen the changes directly in my own village. Before the MHP was installed, we spent a lot of time pounding rice and corn; normally women were the ones doing this work, including the younger generation who would help their mothers and aunties. My mother spent a lot of time doing manual pounding, and I used to help her after school. 

It took 4 days of manual pounding for 10-15 kg of rice! In some villages, they had to do this every day. Corn would take 6 hours to pound per day, for just 8mkgs - which would take just 1 hour with a machine (and no labour except for transport). By providing power for rice and corn milling machines, the MHP made life a lot easier for us and saved a lot of time, particularly for women and girls. 
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River in Tubo, a Micro Hydro community in Abra Kili province. Credit: B. Bacala
I heard that your grandmother was an activist?

Yes, my grandmother was a fierce lady and a strong activist for Indienous rights. She was once featured on National Indigenous Women’s Day by the Cordillera Women’s Education and Research Centre (CWERC). She fought against big geothermal and mining companies in my village. Some of the engineers from a geothermal company installed a system near my grandmother’s rice field. She was very angry and led the community in pulling out the post. She told the engineer, “when you come back, we’re going to kill you; you’re invading out land”. 

Is it common for Indigenous women in your tribe to be so strong?

It isn’t really that common now – that’s the problem. My grandmother is no longer there to fight for indigenous land rights and a geothermal company is trying to come again to hold a meeting in the village. Now, there are no women opposing it. 

My grandmother got her strength through her genes. She was one of many of my ancestors to fight for our rights. If I go back to my village, I will be the one to lead the movement against the geothermal plant.


It looks like you are mentoring the next generation of MH and agriculture engineers, and they are women! What wish or message do you have for the next generation of MH women practitioners?

Yes, I’ve been supporting a younger engineer and friend, Ms. Bena, to learn how to adapt in indigenous communities. I have also brought my daughters with me to one of SIBAT’s sites to show them my work and to help them understand why I’m sometimes gone for two or three weeks. This also exposes them to the situation of the children there, who are less fortunate. My message to young women MH practitioners would be to appreciate and value their work.

Are there any key messages you have for our readers?
​

When you are doing community-based MH work, the women should be the first people you try to influence, before the men. This is because the women can lead the men in systemized implementation of the MHP. That is what I’ve learned through my 9 years at SIBAT.

I encourage all women to stay determined and to leave your mark, the way my grandmother did.

Finally, you should be happy with whatever work you are doing; if you’re happy in your job, that is more important than money.

For more journeys of women micro hydro practitioners in our Hidden No More  series, please sign up below to receive our newsletter!  ​
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PAKISTAN:  EVOLUTION TO INCLUSIVE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

9/30/2019

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This quarter, HPNET has sought to shed light on the linkage between inclusive local social enterprise and mini-grid sustainability. Based on collective research and lessons-learned within the Network, it has become evident that local social enterprise is critical for sustaining hydro mini-grids over the long-term. Moreover, an inclusive, women-centric approach should be implemented in order to improve sustainability and maximize social impact. 

To facilitate a closer look at the far-reaching benefits of an inclusive, enterprise-based model, we reached out to Mr. Meherban Khan, Coordinator of Electric Utilities at the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme  (AKRSP) and HPNET's Board of Representative member for Pakistan.

Based in Pakistan, AKRSP is a project of the Aga Khan Foundation, which is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). In the following article, Meherban sheds light on AKRSP’s participatory, multi-faceted approach to development, providing insight into the Programme’s success in developing women-led social enterprise.

Overview

ARKSP’s work on hydropower began in 1986 with a research and demonstration programme that resulted in engagement in the hydropower sector in the 1990s with micro and mini hydropower plants (MHPs) between 25 and 300 kW providing electricity for lighting. The major focus of AKRSP’s MHP engagement was directed towards the peripheral off-grid areas of Chitral where the community demand had been greatest. Besides improved quality of life and health, and increasing savings with the MHPs, AKRSP targets poverty alleviation through the establishment of organizational, managerial and technical skills as well as through improving options to generate capital. Up to 2010, AKRSP had constructed 225 micro- and mini-hydro projects (177 in Chitral, 48 in Gilgit-Baltistan) with capacities up to 800 kW and a cumulative capacity of 16.4 MW. Out of the 177 units in Chitral, 147 are still functional. For its efforts in regard to community based MHPs, AKRSP has repeatedly gained international attention and awards. 

Chitral District in Northern Pakistan

District Chitral has the lowest population density of 25 people/ km2  in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPK).  It is composed of a wide variety of ethnic groups. These include Chitrali (or Khowar), Pashtuns, and other ethno-religious minorities such as the Kalash. 

Chitral is the most linguistically diverse area of Pakistan and more than 10 languages are spoken in the district in 35 major valleys. About 35 % of the families live in Pacca (brick) houses of which some 30% have access to electricity and piped water, predominantly in the few main towns of the District.  90% of the population lives in rural settings with an average household of 8 persons.
Most of the population lives in the southern Union Councils where the natural conditions and the natural resources (forests, arable lands in the valleys, irrigation infrastructure) are the best. In the northern Union Councils and more mountainous valleys, natural resources are scarce and limited to vast shrub pastures and small plots in the valleys for agri-/horticulture.  In these areas, livestock including a few local sheep and goat breeds, is important for the subsistence households. But due to remote location and limited development interventions, opportunities for diversifying subsistence farming and linked livelihoods are almost negligible. This makes them extremely vulnerable to external stresses by natural hazards or socio-economic instability.

Evolution to Social Enterprise

Over time, the MH projects implemented by AKRSP have grown in size and impact. Initially,  systems were relatively small, providing electricity solely for lighting and small appliances, and often operating only for night-time use. Today, much larger systems are being implemented, with implications for community development that go beyond basic electrification. This development is the result of a decision to shift to a community enterprise approach.

The community-based mini hydropower utility companies (CBMHPUCs) can be understood as “community enterprises” with both commercial as well as social aims and objectives, i.e. “to create sustainable wealth for the community; and to create social benefit for the community”. This means to deliver fairly priced quality services in a sector that neither the public nor other private sector covers. In comparison to other models (e.g. trusts and co-operatives) the organizational functions and operating style are driven by business methods and practices. Furthermore, its regulatory and other reporting requirements are more robust. Thus they distinguish themselves from the otherwise rather informal operating patterns of community-based organizations or maintenance committees mostly applied in regard to micro and small MHPs. Nonetheless, the central feature of the CBMHPUCs set up by AKRSP remains the same as with other community-based organizations: they are basically owned and controlled by people who live in a defined locality, who constitute a community of interest and who, in this case, may share the rights over the water used for the electricity generation. 

The new approach of AKRSP for formation and regulation of the community based Utility Companies in Hydro power is to register with Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) under Companies Ordinance (1984). The objective of the CBMHPUCs is “to establish a financially viable and sustainable hydro power business by providing affordable and reliable electricity with improved service quality and profitability”.

Three of the main CBMHPUCs designed with this new enterprise-based approach approach are CBMHPUC Yadgarh (800 kW), Shandur (500 kW) and Ozhor (500 kW). These plants have been operational since January 2017 and were designed to provide enterprise opportunities for small industries and to eradicate poverty. The CBMHPUC Yadgarh was initially planned to cover some 14 settlements, which by now has increased to 17, with some 1127 households or 8404 people to be serviced. The CBMHPUC Shandur covers three villages or 16 settlements and some 854 to 1161 households or around 6,043 people.12 CBMHPUC Ozhor covers some 21 settlements and 1200 households or 9208 people (see table 1). The electricity generated through the MHPs is distributed via village-scale mini-grids.


​Inclusive Ownership:  How it Works

The MHPs were established through hybrid financing, i.e. a combination of “donor model” and “cash model”. The costs for large parts (including the technology, T&D system) were covered by donor money – in the case of the CBMHPUC Yadgarh and CBMHPUC Shandur, from the Swiss Development Corporation (SDC), and in case of the CBMHPUC Ozhor from the PPAF. This was complemented by equity from AKRSP and the communities. Community households contributed between PKR 6000 and 9000 and the minimum contributions per community were set at PKR 10 Mil. for each project. With the transformation of the units into public limited companies, the initial investments of the community members were converted into shares and transferred on individual persons. The value of 1 share was set at 100 rupees.

Accordingly, the CBMHPUCs still follow the “cooperative model” in the sense that the community members (partially) own the MHP.  Now each CBMHPUC has between 1000 and 1600 shareholders from the community. 

Micro Hydro Success Cases

Case Study 1 - Electricity Utilization
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Ms. Amina Sher using electric cook stove. Credit: AKRSP
Ms. Amina, wife of Babu Sher,  listed electrical appliances in her household, explaining that“in my household we use electric oven, heater for cooking, electric geyser, iron and TV regularly using MHP Power”. 

Before the new MHP became operational Ms. Amina and her family were using electricity solely for lighting purposes, and were paying Rs.300 fix bill. But now they are using many electrical appliances and are paying the average Rs. 500 amount.  

In summer season Ms. Amina’s average monthly electricity bill is 250 while in winter season the bill goes up to 500 due to increased use of geyser. However this bill amount is negligible as compared to the electricity usage and facilities she is availing. Ms. Amina stated that “this electricity has saved our time and lessened our work burden, and has created ease particularly for women in the area”. To the question “how” she explained that whenever she wants to cook bread, she t urns on the oven, puts bread in for cooking and does other household work she has to do. When she comes back after completing other household work she finds ready bread in the oven. Secondly, due to electricity access Ms. Amina’s community has an opportunity for small scale business that was not available before. She explained that, overall, energy access improved their standard of living and reduced poverty. ​

Case Study 2 - The Blacksmith
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Blacksmith Muhammad Nasir. Credit: AKRSP
Thirty years old Muhammad Nasir is the eldest son in his family and is a resident of Raman Laspur. He is living with his father, mother, 3 brothers, a daughter and a son. His son is a student in CBS School in a playgroup class. 

His father is pensioner in Chitral Scout.is one younger brother is in the army and the other is in Chitral Scout. His youngest brother is doing labour work. 
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Before Muhammad was going to other districts for labour work, but when AKRSP started construction of MHP in the area, his father asked him to come home. When he came home, his father sent him to Gilgit to learn some skills; Muhammad got training on stove making, tool sharpening and welding. 

When the new MHP became operational he came to the village of Raman and opened a shop where he started welding, stove making and tool sharpening. Muhammad sells his one stove at Rs. 3500 and sharpens one tool at Rs. 50. He said “I feel very satisfied and happy about my profession and what my father has decided for me”.
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With his earnings, he buys all the raw materials like welding rods, sheet teen and coal for heating up different tools in forge. In the start he was using a manual method for blowing coals in the furnace, but now he has bought an electric blower and electric wheel sharpening stone. 
With his income, he also pays his son’s school fees and helps his father in buying food and other necessities. After deducting all the expenses, he is getting net profit of Rs. 8000. Muhammad is also providing job opportunities for the unemployed in this area. He said due to electricity access, our standard of living improved and we can see that poverty is reducing gradually. 

Social Inclusion

One of the basic rationales for rural electrification is that it enables households to switch from lower quality and especially from carbon-based fuels such as fossil and bio-fuels to electricity for various energy services. This switch is expected to generate a range of social, environmental and economic benefits, not least if the electricity stems from renewable energy sources. Essentially, benefits from rural electrification through renewable energy resources are obvious. Common links between (renewable) energy use and  components of poverty are beneficial effects on health, education, the environment and income. 

For example, the use of electricity may lead to health benefits, such as reduced exposure to hazardous pollutants and reduced air pollution; eliminating drudgery associated with collecting fire wood may improve the health condition, above all of women and children who most often carry out this task; access to electricity may enable vaccination and temperature-adequate medicine storage (through refrigerators). 

The use of electricity may also involve educational benefits, by reducing drudgery and thereby freeing up time for study: enhanced lighting can enable to studying at night; furthermore, electricity may also assist to narrow the digital divide through Information Communication Technologies (ICTs). 

Environmental benefits may encompass a reduction in the consumption of fossil fuels and biomass; reduced use of wood for fuel may lead to a mitigation of deforestation; application of renewable energy promotes climate protection.

Lastly, income benefits may mean, among others, increased productivity and profitability of agricultural methods leading to better farm/household revenues; enterprise development through electrification can create jobs; mechanization in industry can lead to higher productivity and lower consumption costs; small-scale energy systems in rural areas may generate local industry or enterprises; the use of more efficient electric appliances.  

Women-Centric Approach

The typical workload of women in the Chitral region is extreme. Apart from caring for the children and the households, they look after the animals and assist their husbands in crop husbandry. If collecting firewood is substituted by an electric oven women may save 1 h/day; if washing is electrified (eventually in a village bath and washing house) they may serve 1- 2 hrs/day; and if wool weaving is outsourced to a collective unit, they may save up to 3 hrs/day. With some electrical appliances in the households for cooking, for heating/cooling (which could be facilitated by some better insulation of 1 – 2 rooms or refrigerators) and for home maintenance, as well as collective ventures for women in washing and ironing, weaving or of processing of milk and gardening products etc. the women’s workload can be considerably reduced.Moreover, saved hours in the household could be used for improved education and socio-political activities (which AKRSP investigates & supports in MH projects).

Most importantly, women will receive equal benefit from the project in terms of dividend, they will be part of the governing body and involved in decision making (i.e tariff designing, investment plan, etc). In AKRSP supported projects, women are involved as investors, shareholders and owners of the plant.​
More information can be found in AKRSP's recently released video on micro hydropower in Chitral:

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Guest blog post written by Mr. Meherban Khan, Coordinator for Utility Companies - Hydro Power Development at Aga Khan Rural Support Program and HPNET Board of Representative member for Pakistan.

He can be reached at meherbanakrsp@gmail.com or meherban@akrsp.org.pk.



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EARTH VOICES:  FROM TUBO, AN INDIGENOUS MICRO HYDRO COMMUNITY IN THE NORTHERN PHILIPPINES

9/27/2019

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​​We are excited to announce the launch of our new Earth Voices feature series!
PictureUN logo for International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. Credit: UN
To commemorate International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples this quarter, marked annually on August 9 by the United Nations, we are introducing Earth Voices to spotlight indigenous micro hydropower (MH) communities across the region who are sustainably managing communal natural resources and successfully empowering themselves through energy access. 

​Indigenous communities of South and Southeast Asia are highly diverse, with unique traditions, languages, religious/spiritual beliefs and social structures. One commonality is the link between environmental conservation and indigenous heritage. Indigenous communities play a vital role in safeguarding the region’s rich biodiversity and forest ecosystems. They are often deeply reliant on ecosystem services, and carry an intricate understanding of local ecological relationships.

Due to traditional knowledge and customs around natural resource management, indigenous communities are uniquely positioned to effectively manage community-based energy systems, such as micro hydropower projects. In turn, MH has the potential to strengthen traditional environmental practices and social cohesion, thereby improving the resilience of indigenous communities.

TUBO VILLAGE

​To kickstart the series, we are featuring the indigenous community of Tubo, located in Barangai Kili of the Abra Province in the Philippines. We had the opportunity to speak with Ms. Jade Angngalao of SIBAT, who works closely with the community of Tubo. Jade shed light on the community’s unique governance structures and environmental customs, which have been strengthened with the implementation of a community-based MH system -- which in turn has supported Tubo in building climate resilience. ​
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COMMUNITY GOVERNANCE IN TUBO

Tubo is a municipality located in the mountainous Barangai Kili region of Abra, a Northern province of the Philippines. Residents belong to the Maeng tribe and speak the Maeng dialect. The local population is Catholic, but also uphold traditional indigenous rituals and beliefs; spirituality is an important part of everyday life in the community.

Central to Tubo’s governance structure is a Council of Elders, whose opinions are highly respected in the community. The Council is made up of both men and women elders, who play an equal role in decision-making and drafting policies. Municipal elections are held in Tubo, but for mostly perfunctory purposes, as the Council of Elders appoint leaders prior to official elections. The Council also has leverage over the local government, and has successfully influenced local representatives to implement social services, such as government-funded health care, in Tubo. 
​
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Tadok, gong celebration of the Maeng tribe, conducted after the burial of a family member so that "the spirit can leave her/his family happily". Credit: B. Bacala

​THE ROLE OF NATURE


Nature is deeply embedded in the Maeng’s traditional beliefs, and plays a significant role in everyday life. Agriculture is the community’s main source of livelihood, and is linked to many local customs, beliefs and festivities; for instance, harvest rituals are important within Maeng culture.

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Barangai Kili region of Abra. Credit: Google Maps
Spiritual beliefs about the natural world have been passed down through generations, and the Maeng’s interactions with the local ecosystem are informed by deep-rooted conservationist ontologies. The community upholds strong customary laws around watershed management; locally referred to as the ‘Lapat System’, these customary laws have, in fact, been institutionalized as government policy in Barangai Kili.​​​
​​MICRO HYDRO AND RAM PUMP SUCCESS STORY
Tubo’s microhydro system was installed 12 years ago, jointly funded by a missionary group and and the municipal government. The system has a capacity of 15 kW and provides power to 78 households.  SIBAT's Center for Renewable Energy and Appropriate Technology (CREATech) also supported the installation of a hydrualic ram pump to irrigate 10 hectares of rice fields, manufactured at CREATech.

SIBAT considers Tubo to be an “advanced” MH community because local actors have developed successful methods for sustainably operating and managing the system. A key factor in ensuring the long-term sustainability of the MHP has been the efforts of the Council of Elders to mobilize local youth to participate in the implementation and maintenance of the system.
Picture
Credit: B. Bacala
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE & SELF-EMPOWERMENT

Five years ago, a hot spring resort was established in Tubo by a local people’s organisation, with the approval of the community, Council of Elders and the Barangay Local Government Unit. Led by the Kili Hydro Electric Power Association (KHEPA), the community wants to build new cottages for the resort to meet increasing demand, as well as extend the power from the MHP to two un-electrified sitios.
Tubo hot springs vicinity. Credit. B. Bacala
Eco-tourism facility in Tubo. Credit: B. Bacala
Tourist vicinity of Tubo village. Credit: B. Bacala
Together with profits from the resort, the MH has generated enough revenue through tariffs to support the expansion of the system. Thus, with the collected tariffs and some minor support from the municipal government, the community is currently expanding their MHP into a cascading system. A second powerhouse will be implemented upstream (such that the tailwater from the turbine goes to the old forebay), adding an additional 15 kW of capacity. This expansion has the potential to support other productive end use activities, in addition to the resort; sugar cane processing is being considered as potential MHP-powered enterprise.
​

PRESERVING CULTURE & STRENGTHENING CLIMATE RESILIENCE
The people of Tubo have maximized the positive social and economic impact of their energy system; moreover, they have developed a sustainable management model which has ensured its long-term viability. The community’s strong governance structures and environmental stewardship practices have played a critical role in supporting the success and sustainability of the system.

A member of the Council of Elders aptly stated that “the true heart of the energy system lies in the watershed”. ​
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Typical start to a SIBAT field visit for micro hydro implementation: Meeting community leaders and local officials to discuss the purpose of the visit. Credit: B. Bacala
Indeed, watershed management plays a highly important role in MHP sustainability. Tubo’s strong customary laws around watershed management have therefore proven very valuable for the management of their system. Moreover, by incentivizing watershed protection and management, the MHP has, in turn, strengthened traditional customary laws and environmental stewardship practices. 

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J. Angngalao and Tubo youth show off their catch. Credit. B. Bacala
Customary laws for watershed protection (the 'Lapat System') exist all across the Philippines, but are not always practiced. By strengthening customary laws, community-based MH is helping to build climate resilience in rural, indigenous communities across the region.

The implementation of MH has also increased social cohesion and strengthened traditional tribal boundaries in Barangai Kili. This is significant, considering the increasing regularity of resource-based conflicts, caused by food insecurity. By reinforcing customary boundaries and laws, MH has helped to mitigate the threat of invasion from neighboring communities into the watershed area. Of course, by supporting watershed strengthening, MH also plays an important role in safeguarding increasingly scarce water resources, thereby building climate resilience and food security.

Jade explains of the photo (left), "
The fish that I hold are the fresh catch from that river. The river is rich of fish since Tubo is following the Lapat system." 

​DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MICRO HYDRO AND LARGE HYDRO

By enhancing social cohesion and incentivizing watershed strengthening, the impact of  small-scale hydro is quite the opposite of large hydro. The community of Tubo is working to preserve their MHP, and its many social and environmental benefits, resisting external plans to implement a large hydro dam. Large hydropower and other large energy infrastructure often displaces indigenous communities.  In Tubo, policies around customary watershed protection laws have so far mitigated the threat of resource development -- from both large hydro and geothermal. 

In addition to SIBAT's work on renewable energy, support is also expected to come from a newly established organization called RESILIENCE, founded by Ms. Victoria Lopez, retired executive director of SIBAT.  The main goal of RESILIENCE is to build climate resilience in indigenous communities by strengthening the Lapat.

Written by Lara Powell, HPNET Communications Coordinator
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WATCH:  WEBINAR ON HYDRO MINI-GRID SUSTAINABILITY

9/20/2019

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Did you miss our third quarterly webinar, Mini-Grid Sustainability: Transitioning to Social Enterprise for Energy and Economic Development?  You can now watch it below!
Over the last year, HPNET has shed light on the key factors for sustaining hydro mini-grids over the long-term. This webinar addressed the importance of social enterprise for ensuring mini-grid sustainability, featuring practitioners who are leading the transition from grant-dependent to enterprise-based hydro mini-grids. The speakers highlighted the potential for local social enterprise to support revenue-driven and equitable hydro mini-grids. 

The webinar presented:
​
  • The linkage between enterprise-based approaches and long-lived hydro mini-grids;
  • Best practices to transition from grant-dependent to local social enterprise models, based on micro hydro experience in Nepal, Malaysia, and Indonesia;
  • Solutions to scale their efforts to more micro hydro communities, including how to make better use of funding resources that currently go toward grant-dependent projects.

Introducing SEEED

The webinar also introduced our new HPNET initiative: Social Enterprise for Energy, Ecological, and Economic Development (SEEED). SEEED aims to support local practitioners and micro hydro communities in the transition to enterprise-based approaches.

The webinar supported an initial objective of SEEED, by identifying and highlighting the work of practitioners who are already paving the path toward long-lived mini-grids anchored in local social enterprise.
​
Stay tuned for more information on SEEED, to be released in coming weeks!

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PT ENTEC TEAM VISITS TONIBUNG IN MALAYSIA

9/20/2019

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PictureHPNET Board members from Pt Entec Indonesia at CREATE in Sabah, Malaysia. Image credit: A. Lasimbang
​

Last week, HPNET members in Indonesia and Malaysia came together to share their micro hydropower expertise and support each other's important work in energy access. HPNET Board members Gerhard Fischer and Ardi Nugraha of PT Entec Indonesia visited the TONIBUNG team at CREATE in Sabah, Malaysia to provide input on turbine design and fabrication techniques.

TONIBUNG has pioneered community-based micro hydro in Malaysia, working in partnership with  remote, indigenous communities for over 25 years. Despite their ample experience and expertise, the team is always looking for opportunities to improve their techniques and expand their impact.

HPNET facilitated the start of the partnership between TONIBUNG and PT Entec, way back when, and the network has benefited immensely from the ongoing contributions of both organizations. It is great to see continuous knowledge exchange (often self-initiated, as in this case) between these long-standing HPNET Members.
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