Sustainability Metrics for Rural Electrification in Developing Countries

Over 1.5 billion people currently have no access to electricity with many of them living in rural and remote areas that are far away from the main grid most especially in developing countries. Many rural electrification projects do not last beyond the initial funding phase. Metrics to measure sustainability of such projects are still lacking. This paper presents the important factors to consider when evaluating sustainability and proposes an easy to use sustainability evaluation tool kit based on risk assessment approach. The kit was tested against three microgrid projects.