trends and future of sustainable development - TransEco

micro hydro has not received that much attention even in Laos which is famous for its hydro potential.Hydro power potential as significant as in Laos is rare and the World Bank’s programs are often globaland the so-called best practices are copied and implemented in different developing countries in theworld. One of the overlooked issues has also been the common use of very small hydropower, so calledpico hydro, which provides similar amount of electricity to household as a solar home system. Around60 000 households use electricity from pico- hydro in Laos. (Smits & Bush 2009) Despite the fact thatpico-hydro is so widely used, the World Bank representatives have questioned the benefits of picohydropowerin income generation, even though it can be used for similar kinds of purposes (e.g. lighting)than solar home system - but with significantly lower expenses. (Smits and Bush 2010)It seems that from the World Bank’s side the main explaining factor actually is the universalapplicability of solar home systems, not its superior local appropriateness. (See also Smits 2008.) Solarhome systems are easy to install and use everywhere in the world. From the Lao government’sperspective the rationale for SHS preference could partly relate to the better possibility of control theSHS offers compared to the pico-hydro alternative. Smits and Bush (2009) pointed out that the informalnature of pico-hydro means that it exists beyond government control and this is partly why the gridextension is considered as the strongly preferred option whenever possible. But even though SHSsimilarly to pico-hydro is a decentralised form of electrification it still potentially offers morepossibilities for governmental regulation because its implementation is organised through governmentand the payment schemes of 10 years mean that SHS systems are not entirely outside of the statecontrol.4.2. Increasing Access to Electricity in the Remote AreasNext we will look at the off-grid program’s objective of expanding the access to electricity in the remoterural areas. This objective did not always work as planned. In Laos there has been a problem withinadequate information on the grid extension plans. In some cases the solar panels were installed also tovillages where the electricity grid was extended just months afterwards. The panels were taken back andinstalled to other villages. (Interview with VOPS officials) Sometimes also influential actors can actuallychange the grid extension plans to cover a village or an area where the grid was not originally planned.In Champasak province, for example, electricity grid was extended from a mainland to an island becauseit was requested by highly ranking monks. The island has a special status due to an old and importanttemple. The island got the electricity line which now crosses the river from the mainland to the island inthe air. (Interview with village officials)High ranking people can alter electrification plans in some cases. For the general electrification ofthe remote areas much more important issue, however, is the institutional structure of the off-gridprogram. The logic according which it operates makes the program spread to the easy access areas wherethe grid is likely to be extended relatively soon, rather than remote areas. To understand this, we shouldtake a look at the institutional framework of the program. The Ministry of Energy and Mines of Laosexternalised the management of the off grid program, by setting up a Village Off grid Promotion andSupport office (VOPS) that operated from 2006 till the end of 2009. From the beginning of 2010 theresponsibility of the management of the program returned again to the Ministry when VOPS contractended and the office closed. The purpose of VOPS office was to provide electricity to 10.000-15.000 rural118