RY-Rural Energy Access Project

closed

The objectives of the Rural Energy Access Project are to improve electricity access of rural populations in the selected project areas and to demonstrate the feasibility of increasing the access to electricity of Rural Households (RHH) in off-grid areas through implementation of Solar Home Systems (SHS) in the Republic of Yemen. The project would encompass new public, private and community based delivery models for both grid and off-grid technologies and would consist of the following three components: on-grid rural electrification, the National Rural Electrification Strategy study has identified 27 service territories in twelve governorates for rural electric service expansion and integration into the national grid. The second component is the off-grid electrification, this component would provide electricity service to off grid areas based on SHS. The areas of focus will be the fringe areas of the twelve selected service territories that are on-grid extensions and areas outside the service territories in the seven governorates which have been defined as off-grid areas. The grid and the off-grid programs will broadly follow common principles with respect to technical quality, service standards and organizational principles. The third component is the institutional support and technical assistance, key items to be addressed through this component include: (i) strengthening the institutional capacity of the agencies responsible for carrying out the on-grid and the off-grid rural electrification delivery services; (ii) strengthening the institutional capacity of the Project Implementing Entity; (iii) supporting the establishment and initial operation of the eligible Rural Electricity Service Providers (RESP) within the project area; (iv) designing and implementing a tariff framework that will ensure the financial sustainability of the eligible RESPs; (v) provision of support to the Project Management Unit; (vi) preparation of studies on rural energy with particular emphasis on renewable energy; and (vii) developing a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supply strategy to improve access to LPG among the rural population.