Sustainability

Sustainability is the ability to maintain a balance or a desired state in a system. In the case of our projects, sustainability refers to communities that have all the necessary means to operate their RE systems over the long-term. Specifically, this means that families can financially maintain systems, and repair or replace equipment when necessary.

LUTW has identified eight critical points vital to the sustainability of rural renewable energy projects. We design for sustainability by addressing controllable internal aspects, while maintaining an awareness of factors that lie beyond our control. Critical elements for success include:

1. Partnership
Partnering with organizations that share mutual objectives, have a strong commitment to the project, and a capacity to implement the project will help to increase the likelihood of project success. Alternatively, a project is unlikely to be sustainable if a partner organization is unstable, lacks capacity for project implementation and/or is unable to dedicate sufficient time to project activities (i.e. lack of resources).

2. Project planning and design
It is vital to ensure that the technology will be useful and valued by beneficiaries. This requires a thorough assessment of stakeholders and an evaluation of desired objectives. Community engagement is paramount to the planning process; consultation mitigates the risk of technology rejection due to cultural inappropriateness or unwillingness to make financial contributions.

3. User education
A basic understanding of the system at the household level helps to avoid accidental system failures. Beneficiaries who know how to properly use and care for their system directly influences the life-cycle cost. Furthermore, when technical issues do arise, they must have a contact to provide them with technical support in a reasonable amount of time and within their financial means.

4. Technical capacity
If technical expertise cannot be sourced within the community it increases the likelihood of system failure or abandonment. We focus on building local technical capacity to ensure that locally trained technicians can manage installations, maintenance, and repairs.  

5. Equipment quality
Using equipment that has performed well in rural settings will help to reduce potential project failure due to premature component failure. It is important to balance the issue of equipment quality along with supply chain considerations for long-term system sustainability.

6. Incentives
Developing a maintenance program with appropriate economic incentives (that are within the economic means of beneficiaries) is fundamental to system sustainability. While the technical capacity may be developed and present, the trained technician must still have an incentive which appropriately reflects the value of his/her time and expertise.

7. Supply chain
A dependable supply chain is a pivotal component of project sustainability. Technicians, or the local management body, have to be aware of local or regional suppliers for replacement parts in the case of equipment failure.

8. Economic and Political environment
Renewable energy systems should be designed with consideration to the economic capacity of households. For example, there must be a demonstrated history of household income spent on energy services, which can be redirected to pay for replacement equipment or a technician to repair the system. In some cases, other household assets can be considered as financial contributions for maintenance costs. It is also possible that external factors such as difficult economic times or political change may impact the incentives to use a particular technology: this may result in a household being unable to replace equipment that has failed.