Tell us how you used this resourceSuggest a green growth resource

Browse by:

Sector

Country

Region

Theme

Organisation

Type

You are here

Home > Databases > Library > Rethinking Power Sector Reform in the Developing World

Rethinking Power Sector Reform in the Developing World

September 2019
Source: 
World Bank Group
Rethinking Power Sector Reform in the Developing World presents a comprehensive picture of developing country experience with power sector reform that distills the lessons learned over the last 25 years and reflects on how recent technological trends that are disrupting the sector may call for new thinking on reform strategies.
 
The report finds that while regulation has been widely adopted, practice often falls well short of theory; and cost recovery remains an elusive goal. The private sector has financed a substantial expansion of generation capacity. Yet, its contribution to power distribution has been much more limited, with efficiency levels that can sometimes be matched by well-governed public utilities. Restructuring and liberalisation have been beneficial in a handful of larger middle-income nations; but have proved too complex for most countries to implement.
 
Based on these findings, the report points to three major policy implications:
  • First, reform efforts need to be shaped by the political and economic context of the host country. The 1990s reform model was most successful in countries that had reached certain minimum conditions of power sector development and offered a supportive political environment.
  • Second, reform efforts should be driven and tailored towards desired policy outcomes, and less preoccupied with following a predetermined process; particularly given that standard market-oriented reforms alone will not deliver on twenty-first century policy objectives.
  • Third, countries found alternative institutional pathways to achieving good power sector outcomes, making a case for greater pluralism going forward.
Read online
Sectors: 
Energy
Themes: 
Infrastructure, Development

Related Research

November 2017

Charting the Diffusion of Power Sector Reforms across the Developing World

GGKP Annual Conference, World Bank Group

Some 25 years have elapsed since international financial institutions espoused a package of power sector reform measures that became known as the Washington Consensus.

November 2015

A Conceptual Framework for Measuring the Effectiveness of Green Fiscal Reforms

Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP)
This GGKP working paper provides a conceptual framework for assessing the effectiveness (strengths and weaknesses) of a green fiscal reform.
June 2020

Ukraine Country Forest Note: Growing Green and Sustainable Opportunities

World Bank Group
The objective of this note is to strengthen the dialog with Ukraine on the forest sector in light of the ongoing reforms in the country. It explores how the sector can increase its contribution to the post-pandemic economic recovery. It presents an overview of the sector and outlines opportunities to increase jobs and value added. It also looks at opportunities for a stronger forest based green economy through the revival of wood processing industry.
October 2020

Designing fossil fuel subsidy reforms in OECD and G20 countries

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
This paper provides a sequential approach that may assist in providing support for the analysis of fossil fuel's implementation on various countries as they face seemingly irreconcilable policy agendas of economic growth and sustainability coupled with potential political backlash against austerity and rising costs.