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Navigating pathways for community renewable electricity in rural areas: stakeholders' perspectives on the shape community project, Nigeria.

Butu, Ahmed Ibrahim; Strachan, Peter

Authors

Ahmed Ibrahim Butu



Abstract

The transition to community-scale renewables is recommended as a panacea for the energy infrastructure challenges encountered by off-grid rural communities. Government and development agencies are encouraging the acceleration of the transition process through pilot community projects. While relative success has been recorded in some of these projects, the transition pace is quite slow in developing countries. This raises several questions on various aspects of such an energy transition. Of relevance to this paper is the governance approach through which community projects are developed. This paper draws on Strategic Niche Management (SNM) to investigate the planning and implementation of such a project in Shape, a rural community in Nigeria. Data was gathered using face-to-face semi-structured interviews from 24 key actors. Results reveal non-involvement of many important actors with potentially negative implications for future investments in community renewables. The findings highlight fragmentation in the efforts of transition actors and raises questions on their knowledge of transition management. The paper also raises questions on the level of awareness of local citizens and their impact on transition projects. Findings reveal passive involvement and limited opportunities for skilled employment. The paper concludes by recommending further research on how poverty-ridden rural communities can get more involved in what is generally termed as a socially inclusive, transparent, and participatory model of energy provision.

Citation

BUTU, A.I. and STRACHAN, P. 2022. Navigating pathways for community renewable electricity in rural areas: stakeholders' perspectives on the shape community project, Nigeria. International journal of sustainable energy planning and management [online], 33, pages 19-33. Available from: http://doi.org/10.5278/ijsepm.6813

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 24, 2022
Online Publication Date Feb 14, 2022
Publication Date Mar 31, 2022
Deposit Date Feb 14, 2022
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal International journal of sustainable energy planning and management
Electronic ISSN 2246-2929
Publisher Aalborg Universitetsforlag
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 33
Pages 19-33
DOI https://doi.org/10.5278/ijsepm.6813
Keywords Community renewables; Energy transition; Off-grid rural community; Socio-technical transition; Solar photovoltaic; Strategic Niche Management (SNM)
Public URL https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1599018
Publisher URL https://journals.aau.dk/index.php/sepm/article/view/6813

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