Standards Development

Scope

This standard is applicable to electrical systems that are meant to satisfy all the attributes associated with energy access outlined in Tier II(product kits up to 35 V DC) and Tier III (48 V DC fixed installations) of the ESMAP Multi-Tier Framework for electricity access. As a result, it is expected that the proposed standard will become the bedrock for enabling electricity access to over 1.2 billion people worldwide who today are not having any access to electricity at all.

Electricity is a key enabler of socio-economic development. UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 7 attempts to “Ensure access to affordable, sustainable, reliable and modern energy for all” and specifically a timebound target for delivery is stated through Target 7.1 which declares that “By 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services”

The document is framed in such a manner to include renewable energy and enable higher energy efficiency by adopting a purely DC based approach than conventional AC based approaches . 

Purpose

For all facets of life, electricity has emerged as an essential requirement. Access to electricity remains a major challenge for significant number of human population. It is a key enabler of socio-economic development. Target 7.2 declares that “by 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix” and Target 7.3 states that “by 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency”. It is therefore obvious that new ways of delivering electricity to the ‘have-nots’ is going to be the main driver for delivery of Target 7.2 and 7.3

Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) is a partnership between the World Bank Group and 17 partners to help low and middle-income countries reduce poverty and boost growth, through environmentally sustainable energy solutions (https://www.esmap.org/). Situated within the World Bank, ESMAP influences billions in loans for development projects, leverages public and private financing, and shapes global policy. The ESMAP has developed the Multi-Tier Framework for evaluating, defining and enabling developing economies to efficiently deploy programs for rapid rural access to electricity.

It is also evident that those nations having electricity access challenges (potential beneficiaries of this proposed standard) are also all developing economies low on financial resources. Hence it is critical to provide an affordable, effective and simple system for electricity access.

Considering IEC’s role as a standards developer with experts in standards and technology, it is imperative that IEC present a system-level framework for electricity access. This can then be dovetailed with efforts and actions of multiple TCs developing or updating requisite standards and collectively delivering safe, efficient and affordable use of electricity to all.

From a standards perspective, the delivery of energy access based on the ESMAP Multi-Tier Framework is beyond the scope of a single committee within IEC and needs a Systems Committee to work with Technical Committees and create a “System Standard” which will draw upon the standards of multiple Technical Committees and call out those particular aspects of a standard that are relevant to the use-case. The resulting set of standards will reflect the cumulative expertise of all the Technical Committees.

These guidelines are the starting point for standardization of the enabling technology - LVDC. It is anticipated that this will lead to rapid development of other relevant standards.

This standard is expected to provide investment security to developing economies which generally secure international sovereign debt to finance electricity access projects. As a result, this establishes IEC’s standards firmly in the operational processes of the World Bank Group as well.