Journal article
Sustainable development impacts of nationally determined contributions: assessing the case of mini-grids in Kenya
Impact Assessment and Adaptation Analysis, UNEP DTU Partnership, Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark1
UNEP DTU Partnership, Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark2
Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark3
Sustainability, Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark4
Quantitative Sustainability Assessment, Sustainability, Society and Economics, Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark5
Technology - Transitions and System Innovation, UNEP DTU Partnership, Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark6
As of today, access to electricity is still unavailable to 1.1 billion people in the world, half of which live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Projections suggest that this share will increase, leaving millions of people with limited development prospects. Kenya's nationally determined contribution (NDC) to the 2015 Paris Agreement includes a commitment to expand power supply, and in doing so, provide all its citizens with access to electricity.
Access in rural areas, where the majority remains unconnected, is planned to be reached through different technologies. These include mini-grids, which are expected to bring multiple sustainable development benefits. However, comprehensive studies looking at synergies and trade-offs between environmental, social, and economic impacts of mini-grids are scarce.
Analyzing the expected contribution of mini-grids to targets such as the NDC and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can provide evidence-based decision-support to policymakers, thus promoting well-designed and sustainable rural electrification policies. By using the Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) Sustainable Development Methodology, this paper goes beyond the calculation of greenhouse gas (GHG) impacts resulting from access to modern electricity, analyzing also other environmental and socio-economic implications of 146 solar PV mini grids under construction in Kenya.
Using specific targets from the SDG framework, the paper presents a combined qualitative and quantitative analysis of the extent to which mini-grids can contribute to the implementation of Kenya's NDC and to sustainable development priorities.
Language: | English |
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Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Year: | 2020 |
Pages: | 815-831 |
ISSN: | 17527457 and 14693062 |
Types: | Journal article |
DOI: | 10.1080/14693062.2019.1644987 |
ORCIDs: | 0000-0002-2340-5911 , Olsen, Karen Holm , Dong, Yan , Pedersen, Mathilde Brix and Hauschild, Michael Zwicky |