Access to electricity keeps people connected, protects vulnerable populations, keeps ventilators on and saves lives. Off-grid companies are critical for reaching populations beyond the grid and for more rapid deployment of electricity solutions, for households and for health clinics. Yet, the current pandemic is disrupting their operations and threatening their ability to provide vital power.

Recognizing the critical role these businesses have in protecting vulnerable groups, SEforALL, in conjunction with partners, conducted outreach through surveys and questionnaires to establish a data-driven perspective on both the immediate impact of the pandemic on the mini-grid and solar home systems sectors as well as anticipated impacts related to the economic disruption. The data and information collected and analyzed will be critical to identifying the support and interventions that may be needed for the sector.

We surveyed over 80 Mini-Grid (MG) and Solar Home System (SHS) companies serving more than 1.9 million customers. We obtained data from GOGLA, AMDA as well as Smart Power India and interviewed more than a dozen Mini-Grid and Solar Home System companies to further complement the data.

Summary of survey findings

Off-grid perspective was developed with data from numerous companies and agencies. We surveyed over 80 Mini-Grid (MG) and Solar Home System (SHS) companies serving more than 1.9 million customers and annual revenue of over $160m. We obtained data from GOGLA, AMDA and Smart Power India. And, we interviewed more than a dozen MiniGrid and Solar Home System companies to further complement the data Off-grid companies are focusing on protecting their businesses across four dimensions:

Securing people – 63% of SHS companies, and 44% of MG companies indicated some degree of concern on HR issues. Companies are pursuing a range of activities to ensure their employees and their customers are safe, ranging from completely halting all installations through to a clearly structured “no contact install”. In addition, companies are moving employees to remote working models, with positive results, and doing whatever they can to ensure their employees continue to get paid.

Securing operations – keeping existing systems running is top priority for many companies. This necessitates having to be designated an “essential service”, and ensuring the supply chain and logistics. There are concerns across the supply chain, in particular with higher than normal complexity associated with importing goods and clearing customs.

Securing cash – on average, off-grid companies expect to lose between 27% (SHS) and 40% (MG) of their revenues in the coming months. As expected, cash positions are extremely tight, with ~70% of off-grid operations having two months or less OPEX available (67% for MG; 75% for SHS operators).

Securing growth – a range of different activities are being pursued by companies to ensure that they have a platform for growth in the future, including some aggressive short term activities to even drive growth during the crisis itself

Source: sustainable Energy For All, seforall

The report is also available here>>>

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