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- A social micro-enterpr...
A social micro-enterprise project in Peru reaches consolidation
02/07/2013ACCIONA Microenergía Perú continues to strengthen its economic sustainability thanks to a project aimed at long-term electricity supply and for which there are plans to acquire 1,700 new Domestic PV Solar Systems.
ACCIONA Microenergía Perú continues to strengthen its economic sustainability thanks to a project aimed at long-term electricity supply and for which there are plans to acquire 1,700 new Domestic PV Solar Systems.
Set up in 2009 through the ACCIONA Microenergy Foundation, ACCIONA Microenergy Peru (AMP) continues to take great strides towards using Domestic PV Solar Systems (DPVS) to provide basic electricity services for remote rural townships in Peru for which there are no foreseeable plans of connection to the country's national grid.
In 2012, AMP continued to take steps towards economic sustainability and pushed on with its "Luz en Casa" (Light in the Home) project by adding a further 700 DPVS to the 600 units that it has been running since 2010. Help from ACCIONA Corporate Volunteers who travelled to Peru's Cajamarca region was a key factor in preparing for and installing the new units.
In May of this year, the Peruvian government gave AMP the country's very first rural PV-based electricity concession, consolidating the AMP's footing as an energy provider. ACCIONA Microenergy Peru plans to receive further concessions for supplying electricity in the Cajamarca region.
Solid and long-lasting
Later on this year, in August, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)gave the go-ahead to a loan worth roughly one million US dollars for the purchase of 1,700 new Domestic PV Solar systems. As an additional measure, the IDB later approved a 300,000 dollar subsidy for technical assistance for work to bring the 1,700 new DPVS units into operation in 2013.
Thanks to this financing, more than 3,000 families will have electricity in 2013 and AMP will achieve economic sustainability balancing income and expenditure. The fact that no additional guarantees were asked for, apart from the project's future financial flows, shows that the project is seen to be both solid and sustainable in the long run. In short, 2012 has been a year of consolidation for the AMP's innovative social enterprise model based on renewables-based electricity at highly affordable rates for local peasants, many of whom live on or even under the bread line.
Moreover, a regulatory framework is in place that takes these factors into account and makes it possible for the project to be economically sustainable over the long term. End-users take an active role in the project in the shape of PV Electrification Committees (PVEC), in which committee members are elected among the beneficiaries themselves. The PVECs work alongside the AMP on regular inspections of the units, billing, DPVS safety and engagement between the AMP and its beneficiaries.
Premio
The ACCIONA Microenergy Foundation's "Light in the Home" program was among the winners of the III SERES Foundation Awards. The panel of judges emphasized the innovative character of this social initiative and its seamless connection with ACCIONA's strategic business lines.
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