The "Luz en Casa" (Electricity in the Home) programme kick started by José Manuel Entrecanales this month has been developed by the Acciona Microenergy Foundation through Peru Microenergía. It sets out to deliver an electricity supply using domestic solar PV systems, which are provided using a social micro-enterprise, non-profit formula, which Acciona claims will ensure sustainability and further extend electricity supply.
The programme's inauguration was to be attended by the President of Peru, Alan García, in recognition of an initiative that fosters sustainable development by ensuring that a basic need, such is electricity for domestic use, is available through a model of self-financing that guarantees its viability. This recognition has given its fruits: the Peruvian government has approved the integration of this system in its national legal framework.
Acciona’s Chairman and regional and local authorities visited several homes where electricity is already provided thanks to this initiative. Entrecanales stressed the importance of counting on renewable energy as a source of electricity supply and the need to look into formulas that contribute to making them more accessible and turn them into a lever for development.
The "Luz en Casa" programme involves installing Domestic Photovoltaic Systems (DPS) comprising a solar panel, three lamps and a sealed battery. The system powers low-consumption electrical appliances in each home, using a model of payment for sustainable and low-cost service, ensuring beneficiaries have access to lighting and communication (radio and TV).
Perú Microenergía is a non-profit social enterprise which was set up formally in Peru in January 2009. Its objective is to deliver electrical energy via DPS to isolated rural areas not covered by the national grid.
After installing ten DPS as demos for the local population, last August a further 600 Acciona-financed systems were installed, and there are plans to install more in the coming months. Acciona has presented a proposal for 1,000 systems which is currently being considered by Peru's Ministry of Energy and Mines, as part of a tender for rural electrification co-financed by the World Bank.
A self-sufficient model
Under the legal formula of a non-profit association, Acciona provides the user with the service and receives in turn a fixed payment - currently set at 15 soles (approximately €3.77), with the commitment to lower it when the payment enters the Fondo de Compensación Social Eléctrica (Electricity Social Compensation Fund). The payment received will then be reinvested in the maintenance, repair and replacement of components, guaranteeing the systems' sustainability over time. In other words, the project guarantees the correct working order of the PV systems and replaces any necessary components across the entire useful life of the equipment.
Peru has the second-worst coverage of electricity in Latin America, and Cajamarca is the region with the lowest rate of electrification in Peru. Less than 20% of the region's rural population (85% of the total population) has access to electricity services. Less than half (45%) of Cajamarca's population lives in extreme poverty, according to Peru's National Fund for Cooperation and Development and the National Institute of Statistics and Information Technologies.
Peru's National Master Plan for Rural Electrification with Renewable Energies identifies the need for electrification using renewables in the case of 361,847 homes countrywide, roughly 90,000 of which are located in Cajamarca.
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