Sustainable Thermal Energy Service Partnerships (STEPs)

The research we propose will address the challenge of thermal energy service delivery in rural areas of developing countries, where it is projected that more than 2.6 billion people could remain without service in 2030. The research will study the existing experience in providing thermal energy for cooking, space heating and sanitation using different approaches. The research will study a particular business model called "fee-for-service" (where users pay for the energy service delivered) and different energy delivery options to provide thermal energy in rural places. The fee-for service approach relies on the delivery of a service by a private provider against a small monthly fee. The private provider makes the investment and the end-users can benefit of a service without having to pay large sum up-front. This is of particular importance in rural areas where people cannot afford to pay for a Solar Water Heater.

The fee-for-service approach has been quite successfully used for the dissemination of Solar Home Systems (and also LPG) in a number of African countries. This research will build the conditions to replicate this to the sector of thermal energy services.

This research will study applicable energy conversion and end-use application technologies, analyse institutional arrangements, develop business and enterprise models which needs to be implemented to promote thermal energy services in rural areas developing countries The research will analyse the respective role of government and private partners to form Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) models for energy services like thermal energy in rural areas. It will study innovative financing models that are relevant to the issue. All these components are linked and contribute to the sustainability of the model.

Based on these extensive research the description of a sustainable model for thermal energy services will be developed as a generic Public-Private-Partnership model. Scholarly publications and reports will be written on the research findings to address the research gap in this area. The fee-for service thermal energy service model will be used to influence the implementation of a rural energy pilot project in Lesotho and support will be provided by the team of researchers to the government of Lesotho during implementation. Lessons will be drawn from the implementation and possibility for replication will have been explored in a second developing country -Kenya.

Impacts in Lesotho in terms of tangible benefits of clean indoor air, clean energy in the pilot village where the 5P thermal energy service delivery model will be implemented. The government of Lesotho will provide inputs and information the situation in Lesotho to help develop the STEPs model that can be piloted in the country. The government of Lesotho will also facilitate the implementation of the STEPs pilot. The Government of Lesotho will be reached through direct communication. The UNDP country office will contribute resources for implementation of the Lesotho Energy Alternatives Programme (LEAP) which will provide the platform for piloting the STEPs model in Lesotho;

Increased awareness among researchers and practitioners on 5P in thermal energy service delivery in developing countries. This awareness can be translated into additional research and replication of the model implementation; the community of researchers and practitioners will be reached by normal tools (peer-reviewed papers, blogs)

Other developing countries and development agencies active in rural energy reflect the 5P thermal energy model in their rural energy efforts with associated clean energy and sustainability benefits. UNDP will contribute by providing its development network on energy access for mainstreaming the STEPs model in its programming and disseminate lessons from the piloting.in other developing countries.

Finally, the 2.6 billion people who will not have access to safe and clean thermal energy in 2030 will indirectly benefit as the results and lessons from the implementation of the pilot projects will be used to replicate the efforts in another developing country and will also be used to influence agencies and groups active in rural energy such as Sustainable energy for all, Global Alliance of Clean Cook stoves, Ren21 and Global Village Energy Partnership.