Rural Electrification Is Not Only Giving Light
An empowering society with electricity significantly boosts the development of infrastructure, economics, and society, according to Burke et al., 2018. Resonating that, by 2030, based on the SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) 7, the society aims to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services. The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources said Indonesia had reached a 99.2% national electrification ratio, but 433 villages were still without electricity, and 3.100 villages depended on solar lamps for lighting (Merdeka,18/6).
The Government plans to prioritize access for all the villages this year, but why is it essential to powering the village? Khandker, Barnes, and Samad (2009) said that the absence of electricity is one of the major impediments to economic development in rural areas.
Electricity granted access to more powerful means of increasing production. People need less time to cook, chill the fish in the cold storage, and open the stores until late. Adequate access to energy leads to time savings, more productivity hours, and improved access to markets (Bernard and Torero, 2011). Increasing production is a significant step out of poverty.
More electricity, more jobs to have
Higher productivity helps people generate more income and obtain essential needs for their lives such as health, education, and a better environment. Small businesses will grow following the market extension, then enhance investment and double the economic size. The investment will create new economic growth centers and help distribute prosperity to the nation.
The growth-enhancing investments will also limit urbanization to already saturated urban centers (Bernard, 2012). By bringing in modernity and a reliable energy source to support economic activities, both agriculture and non-agriculture, governments expected that electricity would limit rural to urban migration.
But although it's only 0.8% population remain without electricity, this last-mile electrification is the most expensive and most prolonged compared to the effort of reaching the near-universal access itself. The villages that spread within the archipelago have increased the cost needed to provide infrastructure, including electricity. Still, the Government and the world already exemplified the urgency and importance of electrification in rural areas to develop the last miles citizen and achieve progression.
Rural electrification is a crucial step to improve the working area, increase production and prevent urbanization. However, there is also a need to evaluate impacts to determine whether or not interventions are relevant and cost-effective.
As international support for this effort, the United Nations Development Programme, through the ACCESS initiative, aims to plant sustainable solar panels to develop 23 villages in Indonesia as a pathway to improve these remote areas' potentials. The construction of 23 off-grid solar-PV powerplants and the building capacity of local enterprises are projected to develop community productivity.
Rural electrification is giving light to the people and providing opportunities for a better quality of living.
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Author: Adream Bais Junior, Communication ACCESS Project