Introduction

Electrification is no longer an engineering or technical problem. This part of the job has been solved all over the world a thousand times throughout the last hundred years and can be adapted as needed. Electrification is a development of a society/community; using electricity is a way of life and needs adjustments of the people. They must be ready and open to learn and participate, have confidence and commitment.

Available electrical energy offers potentials for growth. For instance rural electrification can complement and transform rural economies. Successful rural electrification, however, is more likely in areas with at least moderate economic activity, there is little evidence to suggest that rural electrification in itself can initiate economic activity.

Besides the potentials for improvement and growth there are also risks, for instance electricity is not readily available for everybody. It needs considerable infrastructure, know how, technology... also planning, finances and political will. This energy is concentrated and accessible only in a well organized manner. What a difference compared to, say, gathering fire wood!

Being based on such a large necessity for control, electrical energy might stabilize hierarchies and confirm political power structures, as it needs authority to protect installations, to enforce rules and regulations (the law) and it needs elites and specialists (politicians, technicians, investors etc.). In many developing countries electricity is a privilege and often for the cities only.

The introduction of electricity in the energy variety of a village is the decision to tap a versatile energy resource driven by or to drive the social and economic evolution of the village society.

This book, although rather technical, tries to keep this in mind. In its first part it identifies the 'Energy Entrepreneurs' and 'Machine Makers' as the key to using market mechanisms to promote rural electrification in developing countries. They need to be supported and encouraged. In practice this means using planning models and regulatory frameworks that coopt their development potential and direct assistance to enhancing their local technological capacities. They need local technological capacity to make informed decisions about demand, investment, and technology selection and adaptation, and to manage the implementation of these decisions. Developing sustainable village electrification ultimately means developing these capacities.

The following parts (part 2: to 6:) list in different articles some technical aspects of an electrification. The technical descriptions follow the energy flow through the electrification scheme, starting with the generator and ending with the distribution system at the consumers' connection. It is assumed that the energy source and the primemover are chosen. This might be a MHP (Micro Hydro Power) system, and we will mostly refer to this option, but also a diesel engine or a solar or wind "farm" or simply a link to an already existing power grid is possible. There are standard solutions like synchronous generator with automatic voltage control, hydraulic governor, transformation for three phase high tension distribution and step-down transformers at the consumers, all this is readily available. We will discuss in some more details alternatives (using for instance asynchronous generators and single wire distributions) to show, how costs could be reduced by engineering and at what risks.

The next three parts (part 7: to 9:) discuss commercial, financial and legal aspects emphasizing order and tender procedures, developing tariff structures and defining legal terms for a connection policy respectively.

Finally some weight is given to experiences gained in Nepal with electrification projects. The last two parts (part 10: to 11:) are electrification examples in remote areas of the Himalayas. Briefly the key data of the powerplants installed in the villages of Namche Bazar, Chame and Syangja are given. The 'Salleri Chialsa Venture' is described detailed with emphasis in the legal setup of the SCECO, the Salleri Chialsa Electricity Company.