Increasing access to energy services in rural areas - REEEP ...

MODULE 10: INCREASING ACCESS TO ENERGY SERVICES IN RURAL AREAS
page 10.35
Table 3.
SHP stations by ownership in China
Ownership State ownership Private ownership Total
Station Number 8,244 34,783 43,027
% 19.2 80.8 100
Installed capacity MW 17,500 8,762 26,262
% 66.6 33.4 100
Annual output GWh 62,954 24,187 87,141
% 72.2 27.8 100
• Government grants: All levels of government in China release several million
Renminbi each year as grants for SHP development. Other preferential policies,
such as soft loans and rural electrification schemes further support SHP
development. However, government support is decreasing in significance for
funding SHP activities.
• Fund raising by local communities: Local people are usually willing to contribute
to the development of nearby SHP resources with the potential to provide local
benefits. The Chinese government has prioritized assisting and organizing the
local people to realize SHP stations and local grids below 10kV. Locals without
funds also offer free labour for the construction of stations and grids.
• Bank loans: In the past ten years, financial companies and banks have gradually
become the major source of funds for SHP development. With the development
of the market economy, the banks and other financial institutions have
become more committed to the funding of SHP. In 2001, loans from banks
reached a proportion of 51.9 per cent of funds supplied.
7.4. Subsidies
Finally, subsidies, which are provided by the central and local governments, are
one of the most popular economic incentives for increasing energy for rural areas
in developing countries. The typical subsidies are as follows:
• Management and administration: Governments would finance the agencies,
which manage the energy planning, regulation and price as well as other services
for increasing energy to rural areas, such as IREDA 44 and the Ministry of
Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES) of India. In China, the Rural Energy
Offices (REOs) have about 100,000 staff at different levels for renewable energy
development, the total administration cost of which was in 1998, about RMB
1.5 billion (180 million $US, 1998 exchange rate), a substantial subsidy for RE
development.
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