ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the challenges and opportunities for decentralized electricity provision for providing access to electricity for people without access, and explains why decentralized solutions are necessary. Moreover, the book presents a case of private-sector-led mini-grids in Senegal, created by a German company in cooperation with Senegalese actors. The case is considered to be relevant for small-scale, renewable mini-grids in the Global South. The chapter presents a framework for analyzing such village-scale electricity systems, which directs the attention to six interacting dimensions: (1) National and Global Energy System Context, (2) Local Context, (3) Socio-technical Design, (4) Functionality, (5) Electricity Services, and (6) Replicability. The research methods are also described, and the remainder of the book is outlined.
