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Off-grid areas in many African countries do not necessarily lack access to electricity. In the last decade, energy technologies based on solar power achieved higher penetration rates, also in rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. Mini-grid technologies are expected to play a key role in expanding the access to electricity. However, grid extension is still the preferred technology to enhance electrification rates. Taking into account the Multi-Tier-Framework (MTF) by the World Bank, electricity access is no longer a binary metric but a multi-dimensional phenomena. Reliability is one of the criteria considered in the new framework. This study strives to reflect enhanced reliability through an interconnected mini-grid system by comparing the effects of power outages on households in the Southern Tanzanian Region. The focus of this paper is the daily mean lighting hours consumed per household in both a mini-grid-electrified area and none mini-grid electrified areas. Lighting is one of the most important intermediary outcomes of electricity through which households can benefit in many fields. As has been expected, lighting hours consumed by households in mini-grid-connected areas are affected by power outages but are still significantly higher than in not yet grid-connected villages. The analysis underlines the importance of interconnected systems supporting the reliability of electricity access, which is also crucial for productive uses. Additionally, fertile ground for further research is identified. Propensity Score Matching Method is recommended to identify treatment and control group to further study the impacts of interconnected mini-grid electrification.

This chapter analyses the opportunities that prosumers, as new energy actors, bring to achieving energy security goals in the context of the European Union (EU). In energy governance, there is a progressive top–down diffusion of potential, competences, and leverage across the energy value chain from States and corporate actors towards prosumers. Private and public finance should be attracted and directed to infrastructure schemes that will enable a transition from the traditional centralised power network to the decentralised nexus of smart grids. Technology will play a crucial role in facilitating the role of prosumers in the new market in-the-making.