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2012 REGISTRATION DOCUMENT SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC86
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
2SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC, A RESPONSIBLE CORPORATE CITIZEN
Investments internationally
One transaction was concluded as part of the SEEA international
portfolio in2012:
•Simpa Networks, a company based in Bangalore (India)
whose business is to make Individual Solar Systems available
to disadvantaged people through a specifi cally developed
prepayment system. Simpa relies on a network of partners such
as Selco to distribute the systems.
Discussions are under way for other partnerships in India and Africa.
This international investment follows up on two transactions carried
out in2011:
•Kayer SARL, a Senegalese company involved in the distribution
of photovoltaic solar panels in rural areas. Its offering includes
individual systems (SHS) as well as collective systems for
supplying irrigation pumps or agricultural windmills;
•Nice International. A company that manages networks of
Internet cafes using solar power systems. These Internet access
points allow users to access training, communication and
information means. The SEEA investment alongside FMO (Dutch
development aid funds) and Rabobank investments allow the
company to expand in Tanzania.
Offers and economic models for the base of
the pyramid (Innovation)
Innovation is refl ected in the design and implementation of rural
electricity offers, products and solutions for disadvantaged groups.
Approach
Innovation for Schneider Electric starts with the local needs and the
socio-economic context of those with little or no access to clean,
healthy and reliable electricity. With this in mind, the chief aims of its
offers and economic models are to:
•respond to the energy needs of villages to support sustainable
economic and social activity;
•include and involve local populations in projects to guarantee
their sustainability in the long term.
Schneider Electric sets out to provide comprehensive energy access
solutions that support revenue-generating entrepreneurial activities,
foster community services or meet domestic needs. Products and
solutions are developed to meet a range of both individual and
community needs across the energy chain, from lighting systems
and battery charging stations to decentralized small power plants
and water pumping systems.
Action plans
Low-consumption lighting system
In a program to extend access to energy, lighting is one of the
fi rst vital needs expressed by population groups denied access
or reliable access to electricity. Lighting makes it possible to study
after the sun has gone down and to extend entrepreneurial activities
into the evening. Schneider Electric developed In-Diya in2010, an
innovative and very low-cost domestic lighting system. The system
consists of a lamp made up of low-consumption LEDs that can be
connected to a battery, which is in turn connected to a photovoltaic
panel for charging.
The In-Diya system was improved in2012: the connectors have
been simplifi ed, with no additional tools required; a USB port has
been added to the battery to allow charging of cellular telephones;
LEDs have been replaced to reduce the cost of the system, while
maintaining equivalent lighting quality.
This new system is available practically everywhere in the
world. Partnerships have been set up with local institutions and
organizations to optimize deployment of the product and to target
the poorest communities.
The lamps are sold through our distribution networks, subsidiaries,
a number of NGOs and businesses in the sector developing access
to electricity.
Electrifi cation of villages in Nigeria and Senegal and a
partnership with Grameen Shakti in Bangladesh
In 2011, Schneider Electric established a partnership with the
Grameen Shakti organization based in Bangladesh. Through the
partnership, Schneider Electric aims to supply lighting products and
power control systems customized to demand for Grameen Shakti.
Following the strengthening of this partnership through the roll-out
of training programs that are fully within the BipBop approach, the
links between Grameen Shakti and Schneider Electric are tightened
by the creation of a social business joint venture. It was signed at
the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) held
in Rio, Brazil, in June2012. The joint venture will be operated in
accordance with the principles of Social Business as defi ned by
Professor Muhammad Yunus.
Rural electrifi cation continues following the success of four projects
launched in 2011. The fi rst three projects in Senegal concerned
the electrifi cation of three eco-villages situated around Dakar. They
were implemented in partnership with the ANEV (National Eco-
Villages Agency) and the company KAYER, a local installer with
whom Schneider Electric signed a partnership agreement in2010.
The success of the electrifi cation of a village in Nigeria in Ogun
Province led to the electrifi cation of 10 other villages in the same
province. Schneider Electric set up off-grid solar power stations
that powered community buildings and battery charging stations.
These stations are managed by a local entrepreneur who rents the
batteries to individual households on a daily basis.
A new solution for rural electrifi cation has been implemented in
Brazil and Egypt. These hybrid solar power stations can provide
reliable electricity for economic, community and home uses.
Intelligent management of the two sources of energy production
provides optimized power.
In India, Schneider Electric deploys an energy service sales model
through the creation of a network of battery-charging entrepreneurs
for the low-consumption lighting system In-Diya. In 2012, the
network of more than 120 selected volunteer entrepreneurs at the
start of a basic electrician training program offered this rental service
to more than 1,000households.