Keeling Curve

Project Summary / Description:

In 2012, EarthSpark turned on a first-of-its-kind privately operated pre-pay microgrid in Les Anglais, Haiti, a small town that had never before had grid electricity. In 2015, EarthSpark expanded the grid to 430 connections, directly serving over 2000 people with 24-hour electricity powered primarily by solar energy and battery storage, cutting customers‚ energy costs by up to 80% over previous energy sources. The community-scale grid is large enough to power small industry while progressive enough to offer accessible service to every single resident living within the infrastructure‚ footprint. For those living beyond the microgrid, EarthSpark continues to support local entrepreneurs in the sale and support of stand-alone solar products.

EarthSpark aims to build eighty microgrids in Haiti by the end of 2022. With one grid up and running, EarthSpark has learned much, but to get to 80, several barriers need to be cleared. With local partners, EarthSpark has led a 100-town microgrid market assessment for Haiti and worked at several levels to clarify the Haitian legal and regulatory landscape for microgrid development and operation. Planning is one thing, executing is another, and the ‚ process risk‚ in microgrid development remains extremely high. 

EarthSpark's initial grant-funded grids serve as vanguard projects to clarify the evolving pro-electrification legal and regulatory environment in Haiti. EarthSpark‚ microgrid development experience to-date has underlined the truth that implementation of a process ‚ the actual building of grids ‚ is by far the best way to de-risk the process for future developments. In parallel, EarthSpark is working on a plan that can leverage blended finance to build the next 20 grids once the legal process for microgrid public-private-partnerships has been defined.

Best Estimate of GHG Avoidance/Reduction of This Project (Tonnes CO2 Equivalent/Year):

Mission Statement:

EarthSpark's mission: eradicate energy poverty
EarthSpark's method: conduct Research and Development on business models that can scale to address specific aspects of energy poverty. We are an incubator for ideas and business models that are pre-commercial but have great potential.

Building infrastructure from scratch ‚ where no incumbent exists ‚ means it is possible to leapfrog directly to today‚ best technologies and business models, but best practices in smart grid, tariff structures, and grid resiliency have not yet been clearly defined for the ‚ energy access‚ markets. Enter EarthSpark. When no low-cost, high-functionality smart meters existed on the market for EarthSpark‚ inaugural grid in 2012, EarthSpark developed prototype smart meters to meet its needs. In 2013, EarthSpark spun off the smart metering company SparkMeter, Inc., which is now enabling grid operators to increase energy access and improve operations in 16 countries. EarthSpark drives practical innovation to meet the needs of the rural poor, and EarthSpark is now developing a scalable model for microgrid development and operation. Bundling technical innovation, community engagement, diverse partnerships, and novel financing, EarthSpark is building project-based change and ‚ de-risking by doing.‚

Link: Facebook:

http://www.earthsparkinternational.org http://www.facebook.com/earthsparkintl http://www.twitter.com/earthsparkintl