The UN Secretary General’s Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change defines Universal Access as “access to clean, reliable and affordable energy services for cooking and heating, lighting, communications and productive uses”. The International Energy Agency (IEA) establishes that achieving a minimum basic Universal Access to electricity and providing clean cooking facilities for 2030 would require around $1 trillion cumulative investment. IEA also highlights electricity as the most critical energy carrier for development while the use of biomass in inefficient stoves remains one of the main causes of premature deaths.

Although decentralized approaches cannot be ruled out it is clear that a problem of this magnitude cannot be seriously approached without private capital and without the profound involvement of energy companies. This will happen only if the relevant business models are developed inclusively and with the in-depth participation of the concerned communities. The model should include: the definition of the appropriate (low cost) technologies; a regulatory framework that clearly defines the rights and obligations of all parties involved; the rules of remuneration for the provision of the service and the sources of finance. Such considerations are central to this research project and represent a considerable challenge for rural areas.

The project contributes to the development of Universal Energy Access strategies and tools for policymakers and businesses developers by assessing those low‐cost energy technologies most suited to socioeconomic, environmental, and geographic/climatic conditions of those regions where energy access is still an issue (i.e. Latin America, Africa, Asia).

The information is used to provide preliminary evaluation of universal access to modern energy services in specific geographical areas. The model could then be adopted by planners (including distribution companies, policy makers, regulators) to estimate electrification costs and appropriate electrification modes at a regional level (i.e. network extensions, isolated mini-grids and stand-alone-systems).

The project is developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) acting through MIT’s Energy Initiative (MITei) and Comillas Pontifical University – Institute for Research in Technology (COMILLAS – IIT) under the scope of the Comillas University Massachusetts Institute of Technology Electricity Systems (COMITES) Program, in collaboration with Enel Foundation.