UN Division for Sustainable Development

Case Study Detail Record

Organization type:	Major Groups

Submitting organization:

Affiliation:	- Business and industry

Initiative Title:	Access to Energy Using Solar Power

Internet links:	http://www.wbscd.org

Scope:	Regional: - Africa - Asia and the Pacific - West Asia

Status:	Ongoing

Timeframe:	Start: End:

Lead Institution:	BP Solar

Stakeholders/Partners:	BP Solar, international agencies, NGOs, Malaysian, Angolan, India, Philippine, and Australian governments, poor unelectrified communities in developing nations

Relevent issues:	- Advanced energy technologies - Energy and rural development - Increasing access to energy for the poor - Renewable energy including hydro power - Cleaner industrial technology development and transfer - Industrial developments impact on poverty and social development - Corporate social responsibility

Objectives/Challenges:

- Provision of electricity to isolated rural communities for which grid connexion is not a viable option
- Provision of renewable energy

Policy Options:

- Fostering public-private partnerships/joint ventures for the provision of electricity to isolated rural communities
- Fostering renewable energy
- Involving the private sector in providing strategies for developing renewable energy infrastructure

Summary:

BP Solar is improving access to energy through partnerships with host governments, the private sector, NGOs and other international agencies. Remote rural communities in the developing world have little chance of being connected to an electricity grid but off-grid solar projects allow for effective and reliable energy supply. BP Solar works in Malaysia, Angola and India in partnership with local and foreign government donors and authorities to provide energy to isolate rural communities. In the Philippines, BP Solar is engaged in a number of rural infrastructure projects, including the vast Municipal Solar Infrastructure projects including the vast Municipal Solar Infrastructure Project (MSIP), undertaken with the Philippine and Australian Governments. The MSIP uses solar energy as the ‘enabling technology’ to target specific needs of remote and poor un-electrified communities, and upgrade basic community facilities.