Comparing Renewable Energy Micro-Grids in Cambodia, Indonesia, and Laos

Sustainable development goal 7.1 aims to ensure access to electricity for approximately 800 million people who currently live without electricity. Despite its advantages over other electrification approaches, global diffusion of renewable energy-based micro-grids (RE-MG) is rather low. Typically, diffusion bottlenecks are thought to be related to issues of technological reliability; however, recent research suggests diffusion is highly related to socioeconomic factors, as well as the governance of the innovation, installation and operation of the technology. While global initiatives support many countries in their electrification strategies, often targeting RE-MG along with addressing sociopolitical and governance issues, it remains unclear to what extent and how such support should be tailored to individual country circumstances. There is little comparative research to address this question, as studies tend to focus on individual country case studies in isolation. To address this literature gap, this chapter conducts a comparative study of RE-MG innovation and diffusion in Cambodia, Indonesia, and Laos. The authors analyze each case at the international, national, and local level by using the Technological Innovation Systems (TIS) approach. The data is obtained through both desk research and fieldwork. The chapter finds that several issues exist to comparable extents in all three analyzed countries. At the global level, initiatives can address challenges similarly and facilitate best practice sharing among countries. At the national and local levels, however, important socioeconomic and cultural differences require approaches to RE-MG policy to be tailored to the national and local contexts.