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Rural Renewable Energy Project (RREP), Sierra Leone Endline Impact Evaluation Report

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Date

January, 2024

Author(s)

Madison Levine
Niccolo Meriggi
Mushfiq Mobarak
Vasudha Ramakrishna
Lennart Sattlegger
Maarten Voors
Ariful Islam
Sellu Kallon

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Abstract

In rural Sierra Leone, household CO2 emissions come almost entirely from lighting and cooking. Prior to electrification (at baseline), the primary lighting sources were battery-powered lamps and solar lanterns for 90 percent of respondents, with 1.8 percent respondents reporting the use of diesel generators. Energy used for cooking was primarily through either firewood or charcoal for 99 percent of respondents prior to electrification. RREP community residents are quickly transitioning from more traditional fossil fuel energy sources to mini-grids. We find that respondents in RREP communities change energy use: households in RREP communities are more likely to have access to light and less likely to use diesel generators for lighting. The same holds when we restrict the analysis to connected households. However, it will take time for this transition to have a substantial impact on the environment (e.g. reduced CO2 emissions) and livelihoods (e.g. allow people to adopt more “productivity enhancing technologies”). We do not yet see a significant reduction in the use of other high-emissions energy sources, such as kerosene or firewood for both cooking and lighting. This is not surprising so soon after electrification: the energy transition to "cleaner technologies" requires time and investment in information and other marketing/financing strategies. Cleaner appliances for lighting and cooking can be expensive, and the investment necessary represents a substantial hurdle for cash-strapped households. Should appliances for cleaner lighting and cooking become more abundant/accessible and get cheaper (possibly through temporary subsidization), uptake should increase if evaluated over a longer duration of time.

Citation

Rural Renewable Energy Project (RREP), Sierra Leone end line Impact Evaluation Report; 2022; UNOPS P116.

Publisher

UNOPS

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