Impacts of Energy Efficiency Projects in Developing Countries : Evidence from a Spatial Difference-in-Differences Analysis in Malawi

Spatial difference-in-differences analysis is used to study the impacts of a large-scale development intervention aimed at improving energy efficiency in Malawi. The estimation strategy takes advantage of the geographical variation in the implementation of different project components and is based on a combination of remote-sensing (satellite) data and national household survey data. The results suggest that a combination of demand-side and supply-side interventions was associated with a statistically significant increase in electricity access, a decrease in the frequency of blackouts, and a switch from traditional fuels to electricity as the main source of energy for lighting (but not for cooking). At the same time, there is no evidence that the intervention caused households to pay more for electricity. The results are consistent with an emerging view in the literature that there are synergies between energy efficiency and energy access, especially in places where the bottleneck to wider electricity access is limited electricity generation capacity rather than the cost of connecting more clients to the grid