The Viability of Solar Mini-Grid Irrigation as a Replacement for Diesel Technology in Ethiopia

Pairing electric irrigation systems with mini-grids in communities that currently lack electricity has the potential to both increase the productivity and resilience of smallholder farms and contribute to rural electrification in Africa. This research develops a solar mini-grid irrigation viability model to assess the feasibility of such a technology setup.

Unlike prior studies that typically apply geospatial data to try to characterize the feasibility of solar irrigation on a large scale, we parameterize the model using site-specific data—collected using surveys and from local extension agents—from 9 preidentified sites in rural Ethiopia, which were selected as pilot locations for such systems due to their current reliance on diesel pumping. We estimate costs and benefits relative to the current irrigation system and find that a mini-grid system could deliver large economic benefits in many of these sites. The economic viability of the mini-grid setup is highly dependent on several factors, however: cropping choices, their output prices, and on the sufficiency of current irrigation for supporting high-value production. Moreover, several sites would appear to require public or grant subsidies if they are to achieve both economic viability and affordability.

As these and other projects move forward to implementation, we argue that detailed empirical evaluation studies will be necessary to better understand the successes and limitations of this innovative approach, and to inform its potential scale up to other locations.