The State of Electricity Access Report (SEAR) 2017

A new report that examines the role of energy in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the status of electricity access in the world has been launched at the Vienna Energy Forum.

The report explores how countries can create a suitable environment to close the electricity access gap. It does this by presenting the critical role of clean energy and by showing insights from emerging innovative service delivery models and countries that have successfully expanded electricity access. A broad perspective is offered, ranging from electricity planning to human capital, climate change and financing.

The report sets out to answer five main questions:

• Why is electricity access critical for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development?
• What is the status of electricity access?
• What are the challenges and drivers of transformative electricity access?
• Why is it important to explore synergies between access, renewables, and energy efficiency?
• What are the emerging and innovative business and delivery models?

Among its key findings:

• Urgent measures are needed to speed up access to modern energy services and reach the universal electricity access goal by 2030.
• Energy is inextricably linked to the other Sustainable Development Goals – health, education, food security, gender equality, poverty reduction, employment, and climate change, to name a few. Thus meeting universal electricity access is essential to reaching other 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
• Both grid and off-grid approaches will be vital, but they have to be supported by a suitable environment. The right institutions, policies, strategic planning, regulations, and incentives are critical.
• The fact that the costs of renewable energy technologies is falling rapidly should make it possible for countries to expand access to energy.
• Innovative energy service delivery mechanisms offer new opportunities for private sector-driven off-grid electrification and accelerating universal electricity access, if the right environment is there for the measures to be replicated and scaled up.

You can download the report here

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