INGENIEUR
IMPLEMENTATION
STAGE CHALLENGES DESCRIPTION
Installation
stage Logistics Rural areas, due to their remoteness, have improper access and poor
road conditions. A rainy season could make the road inaccessible
and difficult to transport the materials to the site. The length of time
involved in transportation processes increases especially for areas
that are only accessible by river or sea. These conditions can affect or
damage products if improperly handled.
Technical Consultants and project implementers must have adequate
knowledge of installing the relevant system, as well as the supervision
needed to prevent the incorrect installation and improper handling of
equipment by general workers.
Energy demand growth is very subjective and difficult to determine
accurately, which could lead to insufficient energy supplied to the load
or the system capacity being over-designed.
Post-
installation
stage
Load
uncertainty
System or
components
failure The failure of components may disrupt the service and create
dissatisfaction among the end users. The disruption and unavailability
of components locally may affect the entire system if the repair
process takes too long.
Quality of
service Ensuring that a service is high in quality is challenging when the
isolated nature and poor access conditions of rural areas are
involved. Operators need appropriate training in order to perform well
and provide quality maintenance service.
Community
involvement
and
sustainable
elements If involving the local community is not defined clearly from the
beginning, this may lead to power theft, over-consumption and
uncontrollable load use. The relevant local community should be
provided with a continuous awareness programme and appropriate
training.
End-of-life
components
and
discontinued
models Ageing components greatly impact the energy service and supply. Any
discontinued model should be replaced with new components, which
sometimes have different specifications.
Payment
scheme for
electricity
services,
operation and
maintenance Common payment schemes include cash sales, credit and fees for
electricity services. Some communities face difficulties in making
payments (monthly or one-time) due to poverty. It may be necessary
to extend the payment period into the longer term to finance the initial
cost and reduce monthly commitments. This however, would also
result in higher cumulative payments for consumers and a prolonged
return on investment for financiers. Some service providers have to
deal with problematic customers who do not make monthly payments,
which increases administrative costs.
Table 1. List of challenges in REPs [4], [10], [16]–[24] (continued).
6
58
VOL
- SEPTEMBER
2017
VOL 71
55 JULY
JUNE
2013