A Sky View Evaluation of Mini-Grid Projects on Rural Economic Development

32 Pages Posted: 2 Sep 2022

See all articles by Jean-claude Berthelemy

Jean-claude Berthelemy

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Mathilde Maurel

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Abstract

This paper proposes a new approach for evaluating the impact of mini-grid electrification projects, based on nigh times light (NTL) data, obtained from satellite observations. The methodology is designed and tested using mini-grid projects documented in a common framework: the FERDI’s Collaborative Smart Mapping of Mini-grid Action.  We compare for each project NTL data before and after the implementation. Our results suggest that our new methodology contribute to filling the gap of quantitative evaluation of mini-grid projects. We show that NTL observed at the village level detect in about half projects fast changes after treatment, illustrating growing energy consumption and progress toward SDG7 attributable to the mini-grid. Economists also consider such evolution as highly correlated with increased economic activity. We build a test of impact, which confirms the causal nature of observed effects, based on a comparison with controls, i.e. non-treated similar localities. Finally, we show that the absence of positive effects is statistically associated with shortcomings in business models and/or project governance, which is consistent with findings in the empirical literature on mini-grids and provides evidence-based policy recommendations.

Keywords: rural electrification, Mini-grids, Satellite data, Impact evaluation, Governance of local public goods

Suggested Citation

Berthelemy, Jean-claude and Maurel, Mathilde, A Sky View Evaluation of Mini-Grid Projects on Rural Economic Development. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4207842 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4207842

Jean-claude Berthelemy (Contact Author)

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

No Address Available

Mathilde Maurel

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

No Address Available

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
87
Abstract Views
469
Rank
598,954
PlumX Metrics