Resources

This report has been prepared by the African School of Regulation (ASR) under a collaborative research project with Sustainable Energy Africa (SEA) on “An Analytical Framework for Rate Design in the Presence of Distributed Generation in Africa”.

This Excel based tool is used to assess DG applications that a utility receives. The tool assesses the potential impact of DG applications on the utility network based on the Simplified Connection Criteria. DG systems are evaluated using either the MEC constraints Method or the Voltage Rise Method. The tool includes printable Assessment and Commissioning reports.

This document is part of a set of templates to establish an enabling environment for Distributed Generation. The templates should be customised as necessary by Regulators and Utilities in different countries.

The Energy Regulatory Authority Act [Chapter 13:23] establishes the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) and its governing Board, outlining their functions and management.

This document by the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) outlines guidelines for licensing electricity undertakings above 100 kW, covering generation, transmission, distribution, and supply. It defines three licence categories and provides a framework to promote competition and efficiency in Zimbabwe’s electricity sector.

This document outlines Zimbabwe’s national energy policy.

Guidelines for Uganda’s renewable energy feed-in tariff (REFIT).

This document outlines the net metering regulations for Uganda.

A document outlining Liberia’s National Renewable Energy Action Plan (2015), which sets targets for expanding electricity access, modern cooking solutions, and renewable energy development, while strengthening policies, regulations, and institutions to meet ECOWAS commitments for 2020 and 2030.

A document outlining Liberia’s National Energy Policy (NEP), developed through broad stakeholder engagement to ensure universal access to modern, affordable, and sustainable energy services, and to transition from reliance on traditional biomass toward modern energy for economic and social development

Connection Guidelines for Small-Scale Renewable Generating Plant.

Feed-in-tariffs policy on renewable energy resource generated electricity (small hydro, biomass and biogas).

The Energy Act 2019.

Energy (electricity market, bulk supply and open access) regulations 2024.

Electricity and Renewable Energy License Application Guide.

The energy (solar photovoltaic systems) regulations, 2012.

Conditions and application process to become a grid-tied embedded generator in the Eswatini Electricity Company electrical network.

Embedded Generation Bylaws 2024

DG rules for Côte d’Ivoire and Tanzania

This document amends Zimbabwe’s 2018 Net Metering Regulation. It expands eligibility to systems up to 5 MW, revises crediting rates for exported electricity, updates technical requirements for grid interconnection, and introduces detailed net metering connection guidelines to enhance safety, compatibility, and operational standards for renewable energy systems.

This document sets out Kenya’s Energy (Net-Metering) Regulations, 2024, providing the legal framework for consumers to generate renewable electricity for their own use and export excess energy to the grid. It outlines eligibility criteria, technical and billing requirements, and the responsibilities of both consumers and electricity licenses. The purpose of these Regulations is to promote the use of renewable energy technologies by providing consumers with energy storage on the grid.

A generic White Paper on the rationale, benefits, cautions, processes and other issues relating to integrating DG onto utility networks. Clarifies the GET.Transform support program approach to DG. Can be customised and used to guide an approach to DG in specific countries.

Template Regulatory Framework for DG which can be customised for application in different countries. Covering net billing as well as permitting process and technical compliance aspects.  It draws on net billing regulatory frameworks from various countries, amongst other sources.

The regulatory framework seeks to support sustained investment in renewable energy resources in Lesotho. It provides power producers framework guidelines and legal instruments; principles underlying determination of renewable energy tariffs, and the economic and financial model; standardised Power Purchase Agreements for renewable energy generation projects guidelines and legal instruments; and guidelines for the procurement of power.

Authours: Mercados for LEWA

The regulations concern procedures for obtaining a licence to generate, transmit, distribute, supply or import and export electricity from the Lesotho Electricity Authority.

The masterplan forecast’s outcomes of the current and planned policies in the energy system to the year 2034 and shows comparative scenario results that assume deployment of diverse technologies and measures to meet the country’s energy demand which the private sector can use in their plans.

Authours: Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy

The act regulates the generation, transmission, distribution and supply of electricity in Eswatini.

The act to reform and consolidate the law regulating the generation, transmission, distribution and supply of electricity and to provide for matters incidental thereto.

The document is based on the Energy Masterplan. It is a short-term (5-year) power sector generation plan, where two power generation technologies are prioritised i.e. solar and biomass.
Authour:by Energy System Planning (Pty) Ltd

This document seeks to reduce the investment requirements for independent producers adding power into the national grid, and to allow customers who generate their own energy to reduce their reliance on the grid, and to promote the production and use of sustainable renewable energy sources including in small scale projects. All renewable energy technologies are eligible for net metering. All distribution consumers are allowed to install net metered facilities. The document sets the regulatory framework on net metering, including carbon credits for consumers who self-generate energy.
Authour: Ministry of Mines and Energy

The Policy recognizes and discusses the issue of eradication of energy poverty mainly in rural areas.

The energy policy sets out the strategic direction of the country’s energy sector developments.

Model Business Case: Solar Photovoltaic (PV) for Commercial and Industrial Facilities
Authour: GET.invest

A set of standards that ensure safe electrical installation work relating to embedded generation activities. The standards are legally enforcable and ensure uniformity by stakeholders within the Namibian ESI.
Author: Shootecc Engineering CC

Seeks to address barriers to energy generation development and IPP growth to enable a successful transition of Eswatini’s energy matrix towards sustainable energy sources and to open the market to the private sector in a controlled way via IPPs.
Authour: USAID Southern Africa

This document legally establishes technical and other requirements for the connection to and use of an electrical utility in a manner that will ensure reliable, efficient, and safe operation.

NRS097-2-3 (2023): This specification clarifies conditions under which small scale embedded generators (<1MW) may connect to distribution feeders without negative network impact, and thus not require impact studies. Application of the specification speeds up connection approvals significantly (NRS Association).

NRS097-2-1 2017 (Ed2.1 revised July 2020): This section of NRS 097 series aims to be technology neutral and focuses on the requirements at the interface between the embedded generator and the utility, although it is expected that the specification will mainly apply to photovoltaic grid connected systems interfaced through static power converter technology. Static power converters are also utilized to convert for example, wind power, micro-hydro power, pico hydro power, battery storage energy and fuel cells to grid compatible electricity.  This specification covers aspects of the Grid Code relevant to small-scale (up to 1MVA) embedded generators, including power quality and safety concerns. (NRS Association)

(SAMPLE) VDE -AR-N 4105 (2011) – Technical minimum requirements for the connection to and parallel operation with low-voltage distribution networks. German standard summarising essential aspects to be taken in to account to ensure safe and reliable network operation.

These are the set of rules which define conditions for accessing the electricity grid.

The guideline is intended to standardise the installation of Rooftop Solar PV in South Africa in the absence on national standards covering such systems.  It explains the basics of electricity generation, Solar PV components, planning and sizing of the Solar PV installation. Other general guidelines are presented on working from heights, recurring duties and appropriate example installations. This therefore presents a detailed overview for everyone who is involved in the planning, installation, operation and maintenance of PV systems. The Solar PV Installation Guidelines are aligned with the National Solar PV Service Technician Qualification and assists the Solar PV installer to use international best practices when installing and maintaining grid-tied Solar PV systems (South African Photovoltaic Industry Association).

Grid codes provide the rules for the power system and energy market operation, ensuring operational stability, security of supply and well-functioning wholesale markets. A set of grid codes can include, for instance, connection codes, operating codes, planning codes, market codes. This report provides guidance to regulators, policy makers, system operators and other stakeholders on how grid connection codes should be developed and implemented. It considers the country context with a view to enabling a higher share of VRE in the power system (IRENA).

The objects and principles of this act are to amend the Electricity Act, Cap. 145. The proposal to amend the Electricity Act, Cap. 145 was intended to remove inconsistencies in the law introduce flexibility in its implementation and to streamline operations of the electricity sector.

(Powerpoint) Provides an overview of the IEEE 1547-2018 Standard.

This standard:

Specifies functional requirements for all Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) connected to typical primary or secondary distribution voltage levels.  It applies regardless of type and size—synchronous, induction, and inverter-based resources of any size.

Gives precedence to synchronous generator design standards for DERs with synchronous generator units rated 10 MVA and greater.

Does not apply to resources directly connected to the bulk power system.

(Note: Superseded by 2018 version) This standard focuses on the technical specifications for, and testing of, the interconnection itself.  It provides requirements relevant to the performance, operation, testing, safety considerations, and maintenance of the interconnection. It includes general requirements, response to abnormal conditions, power quality, islanding, and test specifications and requirements for design, production, installation evaluation, commissioning, and periodic tests. The stated requirements are universally needed for interconnection of distributed resources (DR), including synchronous machines, induction machines, or power inverters/converters and will be sufficient for most installations. The criteria and requirements are applicable to all DR technologies, with aggregate capacity of 10 MVA or less at the point of common coupling, interconnected to electric power systems at typical primary and/or secondary distribution voltages (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).

Recommendations for the Connection of Type Tested Small-scale Embedded Generators (Up to 16A per Phase) in Parallel with Low-Voltage Distribution Systems.

The purpose of this Engineering Recommendation is to simplify and standardise the technical requirements for connection of Small Scale Embedded Generators (SSEGs) for operation in parallel with a public low-voltage Distribution System, by addressing all technical aspects of the connection process from standards of functionality to site commissioning (Energy Networks Association).

This Regulation (EU 2016/631) establishes a network code which lays down the requirements for grid connection of power-generating facilities of any size, namely synchronous power-generating modules, power park modules and offshore power park modules, to the interconnected system. It, therefore, helps to ensure fair conditions of competition in the internal electricity market, to ensure system security and the integration of renewable electricity sources, and to facilitate Union-wide trade in electricity. (European Commission)

(SAMPLE) This European Standard specifies technical requirements for the protection functions and the operational capabilities of micro-generating plants, designed for operation in parallel with public low voltage distribution networks.

It applies irrespectively of the micro-generating plants’ primary source of energy, where micro-generation refers to equipment with nominal currents up to and including 16 A per phase, single or multi phase 230/400 V or multi phase 230 V (phase-to-phase nominal voltage).

This Regulatory Guidebook offers practical guidance to adapt regulatory frameworks so that they maximize the benefits to society of growing use of distributed energy (DE), and to allow regulatory reforms to be realistically implemented in Africa.

The report is a summarised version of a study which provides an overview of the characteristics of the Indian power system and its problems with regard to a large-scale rooftop PV rollout, as well as a template for distribution companies on how to deal with rising PV shares, which studies to conduct and which technology options to select.
Authour:Thomas Ackermann, Eckehard Tröster, Peter-Philipp Schierhorn, Bharadwaj Narasimhan, Jan-David Schmidt and Dwipen Boruah

In New Zealand, the recent rapid uptake of distributed generation, in particular for photovoltaics, and the diversity of distribution companies’ guidelines, along with the vision of a future common framework for New Zealand has inspired the review of all international standards and a cross comparison with local guide lines has been performed. The purpose of this analysis is to build a picture of these standards and give a brief insight into the current stance the national distribution companies have via their policies.

Electric Power Engineering Centre (EPECentre) New Zealand

This paper addresses the need to define all important aspects of self-consumption with the focus on commercial issues and avoidance of cross-subsidization among consumer’s groups.  A primary goal of this paper is to recognize all important aspects that need to be regulated to make prosumers concept fully effective in practice. Where possible it provides recommendations that can be used as a good practice for policy makers in the European Union Energy Community countries (ECDSO-E Working Group, EU).

This report is the first in a series called “From Sun to Roof to Grid” dealing with distributed photovoltaics.  It targets policy makers, regulators and utilities—and provides a menu of ideas, approaches, and examples to resolve challenges to the deployment of DG and realize the benefits it can bring (World Bank Energy Sector Management Assistance Program – ESMAP).

Explores Embedded Generation (or Distributed Generation) tariffs amongst different municipal electricity distributors and the impact on utility revenue. Principles to ensure cost recovery/revenue neutrality are covered, ephasizing the importance of moving from purely volumetric tariffs for DGfixed charges to recover fixed costs. revenue impact amongst different distributors is illustrated graphically (Sustainable Energy Africa, AMEU Convention)

This short report defines compensation mechanisms for grid connected, behind-the-meter distributed generation (DG) systems as instruments that comprise three core elements: (1) metering & billing arrangements, (2) sell rate design, and (3) retail rate design. This report describes metering & billing arrangements, with some limited discussion of sell rate design. We detail the three possible arrangements for metering & billing of DG: net energy metering (NEM); buy all, sell all; and net billing.
Authors:
Owen Zinaman, Alexandra Aznar, Carl Linvill, Naim Darghouth, Timon Dubbeling, and Emanuele Bianco

This study covers the “net metering” mechanism in which a self-generating customer can inject the surplus into the grid and receive compensation for each kWh injected. From data collection done in a selection of countries and literature review, an inventory of best practices is presented. (International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Programme).

This brief sets out the policy approaches that will help promote the effective integration of behind-the-meter Distributed Energy Resources. It highlights best practices from around the world to allow the full potential of DERs to be tapped (Regulatory Assistance Programme)

The following document is the final report of the study on ‘Permissible PV penetration level in the Dominican distribution grids’ and supported by GIZ and the Dominican Ministry of Energy and Mines.
The study analyses the maximum PV penetration levels on a number of representatives, real distribution feeders in the Dominican Republic and provides recommendations to improve the current regulatory landscape for distributed generation.
Authors:
Leonard Hülsmann, Alice Turnell and Dr. Thomas Ackermann

Electricity Net Metering Rules for Tanzania (Govt of Tanzania)

Model net metering rules proposed for regulators in the USA (Interstate Renewable Energy Council, USA)

This brief presents key technical, interconnection and regulatory measures that should be considered to enable a smooth integration of renewable-based DG with high modularity and widespread installation in the distribution grid, such as PV and wind power plants.
Authors:
Leonard Hülsmann, Thomas Ackermann and Jan-David Schmidt

Covering final recommendations for developing the new Model Regulation for Grid-Connected Rooftop Photovoltaic (GRPV) in India after analysing inputs gathered from stakeholder consultation, international review and As-Is assessment of the current regulatory framework in India (World Bank-State Bank of India Grid-Connected Rooftop Photovoltaic Technical Assistance program).

How Energy Ministers can support cheaper, faster decarbonisation via distributed energy resources. Based on the Australian experience, recommendations are provided for unlocking distributed energy resources, including describing the necessary technical and regulatory frameworks (Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis).

The significant decrease of costs of small-scale renewable energy technologies creates new opportunities for electricity consumers to get involved in driving the energy transition. ‘Prosumer’’ refers to an electricity consumer that produces part of his/her electricity needs from his/her own power plant and uses the distribution network to inject excess production and to withdraw electricity when self-production is not sufficient to meet his/her own needs.

The Policy Guidelines summarize the findings and recommendations of the study: “Distributed Generation for Self-Consumption, Key Aspects and Recommendations of Good Practice” prepared under the cooperation platform of Energy Community Distribution System Operators (ECDSO-E), with a focus on recommended practice for small installation of “prosumers” connected to distribution network.

A guide for integrating grid-connected DG onto distribution networks, covering technical, regulatory, policy, financial and economic aspects thereof, and pointing to areas where support may be useful. Draws on international and African experience, and is relevant to utilities as well as technical assistance providers (GIZ as part of the GET.Transform Programme)

The purpose of the Energy System Transformation Outlook (ESTO) is to document a high level summary of the electricity landscape in Namibia and is the outcome of a high level overview and assessment that followed a ‘ interview, identify’ approach.  The ‘review’ phase focused on a desk top review of a multitude of publicly available energy and power sector publications.

The ‘interview’ phase focused on further discussions with the key public sector actors (MME, NamPower, and ECB) to identify
potential needs, opportunities and gaps, and culminated in the public sector actors formally expressing their key priority needs.

The ‘identify’ phase focused on defining potential technical assistance and capacity building projects that will strongly support a
power transition in Namibia and that GET transform is well positioned to support It also provides a starting point for further
engagement with the public sector and other donor agencies.

The purpose of the Energy System Transformation Outlook (ESTO) is to document a high level summary of the electricity landscape
in Mozambique and is the outcome of a high level overview and assessment that followed a ‘ interview, identify’ approach.

The review phase focused on a desk top review of a multitude of publicly available energy and power sector publications.

The interview phase focused on further discussions with the key public sector actors (MIREME, ARENE, FUNAE and EDM)
to identify potential needs, opportunities and gaps, and culminated in the public sector actors formally expressing their key
priority needs.

The identify phase focused on defining potential technical assistance and capacity building projects that will strongly support the
energy transition in Mozambique, and that GET transform is well positioned to support It also provides a starting point for further
engagement with the public sector and other donor agencies.

The ESTO is not a prescription of what should be done by the country or the public sector actors.

The purpose of the Energy System Transformation Outlook (ESTO) is to document a high level summary of the electricity landscape
in Eswatini and to present the outcome of a high level overview and assessment that followed a ‘ interview, identify’
approach.

(March 2023)

Non-technical information on DG for the general public. Can be customised by Utilities as necessary.

This informative report covers the technical and other considerations that Utilities and Regulators should consider in establishing a PV DG permitting process, drawing on a significant amount of DG experience around the world.

A template letter which Utilities will issue to customers once the DG has been installed and the Commissioning Report has been submitted and approved.  Can be customised by Utilities as necessary.

A template letter issued by the Utility to the customer installing the DG once the Utility has approved the DG based on information in the Application submitted by the customer. Can be customised by the Utility as necessary.

An agreement for the connection and billing reconciliation of DG to be entered into between the Utility and customer prior to commencement of DG generation. Can be customised as necessary by Utilities.

A document which lays out all of the technical, regulatory and process requirements of a Utility, such that customers have clear guidance as to what is permitted, and the process through which approval to install DG is obtained.  This document contains a wealth of detailed information on DG as it relates to Utility permitting, technical issues and customer compliances.  Can be customised according to the needs of particular Utilities. (yellow highlights in the document point to potential areas where customisation is needed)

A report on the commissioning checks that are to be undertaken on DG before the Utility can issue ‘Permission to Generate’. Can be customised and adapted to the needs of different and Utilities.

A form that can be customised and used by Utilities such that customers to apply for permission to connect DG.  The form collects the necessary information to enable the Utility to assess whether the DG can proceed to installation or not.