Rural electrification is the process of bringing electrical power to rural and remote areas. Electricity is used not only for lighting and household purposes, but it also allows for mechanization of many farming operations, such as threshing, milking, and hoisting grain for storage. In areas facing labor shortages, this allows for greater productivity at reduced cost.
Rural electrification systems, in contrast to urban systems, tend to use higher voltages because of the longer distances covered by those distribution lines. Between 11 kV and 22 kV with single wire earth return systems (SWER) are used to electrify remote rural areas in South Africa.
Conductors for distribution may be carried on overhead pole lines. Urban and suburban distribution is done with three phase systems to serve residential, commercial, and industrial loads. Distribution in rural areas may be only single-phase if it is not economical to install three-phase power for relatively few and small customers.
Only large consumers are fed directly from high distribution voltages connected to a transformer, which reduces the distribution voltage to the relatively low voltage used by lighting and interior wiring systems. The transformer may be pole-mounted, as in this case, or set on the ground in a protective enclosure. In rural areas a pole-mounted transformer may serve only one customer, but in more built-up areas multiple customers may be connected.