Metodología de evaluación de la sostenibilidad de proyectos de electrificación rural

Resumen

Currently, around 1.2 billion people remain without access to electricity in rural areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America. To date, rural electrification programs have been carried out mainly using conventional technologies based on fossil fuels and/or expanding the coverage of transmission and distribution networks. In addition, in recent years, rural electrification with renewable energy or alternative energy sources has begun to be considered technically feasible. However, it is necessary to improve the evaluation methods of implemented programs and projects in order to know with certainty under which determining one or another technology becomes more convenient. Thus, the participation regional and national governments is expected to be promoted in long-term rural electrification programs, to increase universal access to electricity. In this context, the main objective of this PhD thesis is to propose an evaluation methodology of rural electrification programs to promote their continuous improvement, in terms of design and implementation. In this sense, a formative approach is sought, since ongoing programs require elements for continuous improvement. In addition, a management perspective is assumed, as the results are presented in an appropriate manner for program leaders so as the implementation can be improved by applying the appropriate modifications, when and where needed. The proposed methodology considers a complete evaluation in 4 sustainability dimensions: environmental, technical, socioeconomic and institutional; in turn organised in 15 criteria that allow to analyse in detail the design and implementation of the program. The criteria are evaluated through some indicators that consider the specific characteristics of each project within the program to be studied. The results of the application of the methodology allow weighting, on an objective basis, the effectiveness of electrification programs based on renewable energy technologies (RET) in comparison with the conventional electricity grid extension and/or diesel generators. In order to develop the evaluation methodology proposed in this PhD thesis, from 2016 to 2018, visits have been made to 24 rural communities in Venezuela, electrified with renewable energy or diesel generators, from the extreme southeast (rainforest), on the border with Brazil, up to the extreme northwest (desert), on the border with Colombia, going through the Andean Cordillera (frozen mountain), in a journey of more than 2,200 kilometres that has allowed to consider different social and climatic contexts. The visits have been useful to clearly identify the dimensions that define projects sustainability, as well as the criteria and indicators to be considered for their evaluation. Subsequently, the proposed methodology has been applied to the electrified communities with renewable energy of the Venezuelan program “Sembrando Luz” (Sowing Light) that has reached 900 rural communities to date, and is expected to benefit 2,020 more in the near future, using renewable energy. In this regard, the evaluation methodology promotes continuous improvement in favour of universal access to electricity in the rural communities of Venezuela, and the lessons learned can be useful for the development of similar initiatives in other developing countries.