Why Wait? Seizing the Energy Access Dividend

This research paper explores the concept of an energy access dividend that assigns economic, social and environmental value to the time it takes for households, businesses and communities to obtain the benefits associated with electricity access. Such a dividend would allow decision-makers to quantify the benefits of delivering electricity access faster through decentralized electricity solutions rather than through more conventional, centralized grid-based approaches. These conventional approaches are proven to be more time consuming and expensive.

Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) and Power for All commissioned the Overseas Development Institute to provide a model framework that will help decision-makers evaluate the economic, social and environmental benefits that households and countries can expect through accelerated access to decentralized electricity, such as solar home systems and mini-grids. This first attempt to create a quantifiable approach helps provide a picture of these dividends based on the amount of energy service that is delivered across populations that are currently without power. It assigns economic, social and environmental values to the time it takes for households and businesses to obtain the benefits associated with access to energy.