the African Uptimist

Lighting Africa awards - and the winners were...

Congratulations to the 16 companies that won Lighting Africa awards at the First Global Business Conference for Off-Grid Lighting In Africa, held in Accra, Ghana, earlier this month.  All 16 winners are listed below this post.  Thanks to Aled Blake, whose article on G24i, one of the winners, led me to the news.  The conference was organized by Lighting Africa, a World Bank Group initiative aimed at providing up to 250 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa with access to non-fossil fuel based, low cost, safe, and reliable lighting products with associated basic energy services by the year 2030.  That's about half the population who currently have no access to electricity on the continent.  5 criteria were used in selecting the winners: Innovation; Measurability of outcomes; Organizational and financial sustainability; Growth potential; and Realism.  The measurability criterion is especially significant.  It ensures that we have winners whose performance can be independently accessed, while adding to the growing collection of much needed tools for monitoring and evaluating clean energy initiatives on the continent.  The winners clearly deserve the seed funding (up to $200,000) they received to help them scale up the clean, safe and affordable energy solutions they have created.  Check out who they are in the list below, or learn more about each award winner here.

Developing a Delivery Model to Support Consumer Financing Schemes for Solar Powered Lighting Systems
COUNTRY: Kenya
PARTNER COUNTRY: None
ORGANIZATION: Energy for Sustainable Development Africa
CONTACT: Charles Muchunku
TEL: +254 20 3871027
EMAIL: [email protected]
WEBSITE: http://www.esda.co.ke

Technology Transfer and Development of Local Entrepreneurs in LED Based Home lighting in Kenya
COUNTRY: Kenya
PARTNER COUNTRY: India
ORGANISATION: THRIVE
CONTACT: Ranganayakulu Bodavala
TEL: +91 40 23736995
EMAIL: [email protected]
WEBSITE: www.thrive.in

Kodesha Mwangaza – Rent a Light
COUNTRY: Kenya
PARTNER COUNTRY: None
ORGANIZATION: Solar World EA Ltd
CONTACT: Charles Oteki Rioba
TEL: +254 20 3599
EMAIL: [email protected]
WEBSITE: www.solarworldea.com

Rural Lighting Access Program
COUNTRY: Kenya
PARTNER COUNTRY: None
ORGANIZATION: Gpower
CONTACT: Robert Mutsaers
TEL: +254 020 3566591
EMAIL: [email protected]

Recharging Fees for Lamps Can Buy Hours of Solar Light
COUNTRY: Uganda
PARTNER COUNTRY: Laos
ORGANISATION: Sunlabob Renewable Energies Co., Ltd
CONTACT: Andy Schroeter
TEL: +856 21 313 874
EMAIL: [email protected]
WEBSITE: www.sunlabob.com

Providing Affordable Home and Business Lighting for Africa with Dye Sensitized Solar and Mesopic LED Technology
COUNTRY: Rwanda
PARTNER COUNTRY: United Kingdom
ORGANIZATION: G24 Innovations Limited
CONTACT: David Slogan
TEL: +44 (0) 2920 837340
EMAIL: [email protected]
WEBSITE: www.g24i.com

Providing Affordable and Reliable Solar Systems in Northern Tanzania
COUNTRY: Tanzania
PARTNER COUNTRY: None
ORGANIZATION: Zara Solar Limited
CONTACT: Mohameddrafik Parpia
TEL: +255 28 2502910
EMAIL: [email protected]
WEBSITE: www.zarasolar.com

One Child One Solar Light
COUNTRY: Ghana
PARTNER COUNTRY: Germany
ORGANIZATION: Solux E.V.
CONTACT: Juergen Meinecke
TEL: +49 9621 74489
EMAIL: [email protected]
WEBSITE: www.solux.org

Power to the Poor: Off-Grid Lighting from Cassava Waste in Nigeria
COUNTRY: Nigeria
PARTNER COUNTRY: None
ORGANIZATION: Global Network for Environment and Economic Development Research
CONTACT: Dr. Joseph Adelegan
TEL: +234 8062843428
EMAIL: [email protected]
WEBSITE: www.gneeder.org

Lighting the Way
COUNTRY: Zambia
PARTNER COUNTRY: United States
ORGANIZATION: The Regents of the University of California Office of Research
CONTACT: Kurt Kornbluth
TEL: +530 304 0012
EMAIL: [email protected]
WEBSITE: http://eec.ucdavis.edu/

Popularize a Local Solar Lantern
COUNTRY: Burkina Faso
PARTNER COUNTRY: None
ORGANIZATION: CB Energie
CONTACT: Chabanne Arnaud
TEL: +00 226 20 521002
EMAIL: [email protected]
WEBSITE: www.cb-energie.com

Solar Energy Provision for Lighting and Portable Water Provision to the Low Income Rural Community of the Nganha village in the Adamaoua Province of Cameroon.
COUNTRY: Cameroon
PARTNER COUNTRY: None
ORGANIZATION: Global Village Cameroon
CONTACT: Dieudonne Thanfg
TEL: +237 22 23 31 52
EMAIL: [email protected]
WEBSITE: www.globalvillagecam.org

Lights for Life in Sub-Saharan Africa
COUNTRY: Multi-Country: Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda
PARTNER COUNTRY: Canada
ORGANIZATION: Lights for Life International
CONTACT: Sameer Hajee
TEL: +1 647 8661934
EMAIL: [email protected]
WEBSITE: www.lightsforlife.org

Family Pedal Power and Lighting Project – East Africa
COUNTRY: Tanzania
PARTNER COUNTRY: United States
ORGANIZATION: Dissigno
CONTACT: Gary R. Zieff
TEL: +001 415 601 3771
EMAIL: [email protected]
WEBSITE: www.dissigno.com

Village Lighting Solutions to Improve Education, Health, Safety and Productivity in Rural Namibia
COUNTRY: Namibia
PARTNER COUNTRY: United States
ORGANIZATION: Lebone Solutions
CONTACT: Hugo Van Vuuren
TEL: +857 928 6482
EMAIL: [email protected]
WEBSITE: [email protected]

Working Through Faith-Based Organizations to Provide Improved Lighting and Battery Charging for Low-income Households and Street Venders in Rural Communities
COUNTRY: Liberia
PARTNER COUNTRY: None
ORGANIZATION: Center for Sustainable Energy Technology
CONTACT: Augusts Goanue
TEL: 2316559266
EMAIL: [email protected]

Catching and bringing wind-power down to earth

Update: I have added links to additional information related to this post. The long-held dream of converting wind energy at high altitude into usable electricity on the ground is about to be realized. New Scientist's Phil McKenna writes about "flying windmills" capable of tapping jet stream wind currents to generate enormous amounts of reliable, renewable energy. Of the three technologies covered by Phil, the Air Rotor System developed by Magenn Power seems to be the one to watch for potential applications in Africa. An attractive feature of this technology is the ability to capture the energy available in the 600 to 1000-foot low level and nocturnal jet streams that exist almost everywhere. Such innovations should be of interest to any serious advocate of energy access for sustainable development in Africa and other developing regions. Why? Because expanding our energy options—rather than continuing to rely on one or two conventional approaches—is the key to solving our energy problems today for a better tomorrow. Watch the full length video of the Magenn system, and you will probably agree that bringing wind power down to earth is not as far-fetched or crazy as it might sound.

EMERGENCY keeps the heat out with solar energy and cool architecture in Salam, Sudan

Afromusing points us to an inspiring and practical example of sustainability principles in the design of a solar energy system for a hospital in Sudan.  While at the  TEDGlobal conference in Arusha last month, Afromusing's Juliana met Manuel Toscano, who works for EMERGENCY USA:

We talked shortly about solar power being a great technology for use in remote areas. He filled me in on a hospital that was designed using the following guiding principles.

• The idea of a “hollow” space and a pavilion-based system;
• The choice of the best possible technology given the context;
• The search for an ethical language for this type of architecture.

Hollow spaces...context-sensitive technologies...architecture as an expression of ethical discourse...!  Talk about thinking outside the box! The elaboration of these profound principles is a must-read for anyone seriously looking for concrete evidence that sustainability principles really work--even in the most unlikely places.   Download the  PDF document and see for yourself.

I hope someone at EMERGENCY is closely monitoring and documenting the performance of Salam hospital's energy system and the architectural design. Assessments of the benefits and costs--tangible and intangible--at local and national levels will also be helpful.  At the very least, such intelligence can be used to determine whether, and to what extent, these simple but effective novelties are indeed superior to conventional approaches in similar contexts.  If you have been tracking this space, it won't be hard for you to predict that following EMERGENCY's guidelines will consistently lead to cool, comfortable buildings in the tropics.  Congratulations to all those who worked so hard to build Salam's energy efficient, solar powered hospital, bringing effective medical services to 14 year-old Sunia and all others who need it in Sudan and beyond.

New 250kW solar PV plant for Rwanda

Matthew Sparkes at Treehugger reports that a new solar powered plant with a capacity of 250 kW has been unveiled in Rwanda.  Funded jointly by the German and Rwandan governments, the 1 million Euro facility increases the country's generating capacity to 50 MW.  But this is only 50% of the generation capacity needed to meet Rwanda's growing demand for power, so the obvious question is where the additional generation capacity is going to come from.  The Rwandan government appears determined to make maximum use of solar technology for this purpose.  Electrogaz, the national utility has plans to expand the capacity of the newly installed solar system as more funds become available, and the government has said that it will install similar plants in rural areas where there is little chance of grid connection in the near future.  In addition, Rwanda plans to harness the large methane reserves found under Lake Kivu, which straddles Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Lester Haines, citing Reuters, reports that a four megawatt methane-powered pilot plant is nearing completion, to be followed by a 25-megawatt facility.  Indeed, some "experts reckon the lake's reserves might one day provide 700 megawatts."

Kalene's hydro power project (Update: new picture added)

A small-scale hydroelectric scheme is nearing completion in the Kalene area of north western Zambia.  According to Charles Rea of the North West Zambia Development Trust, the project will provide cheap, clean and sustainable power to the local area.

It will remove dependence on diesel generators and will supply Kalene Hospital, the local schools, clinics and orphanage.  In addition, there will be opportunities for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) development.  Income from power would decrease dependency on expatriate income for the operation of Kalene Hospital and the other institutions at Kalene and the local area, freeing those funds for investment in other sectors of the local and national economy.  The project will create the basis of a self-sustaining, developing local economy.

The pictures below tell an inspiring story of work in progress (thanks to Charles Rea for all the photos).  Construction is expected to be completed in time for commissioning in April 2007.

Like many activities that are useful and worthwhile, the Kalene Project has not been without its ups and downs.  "It has been a long haul to get to completion in under three years of effort, " says Charles Rea.  But thanks to the strong support of the government and local leaders like the Honourable Chief Zengamina Nyakaseya and his senior wife, Charles and the project team knew that success in bringing clean, sustainable energy services to Kalene was only a matter of faith and time.

A new boost for sustainable energy in Uganda

The JCLOVE Group have posted excerpts of President Yoweri Museveni's New Year Message on their blog.  The text is quite comprehensive, touching on issues like peace in Northern Uganda, education, health, and several "key priority areas" including energy.

The first part of the section on energy sounded deceptively routine and very 1960ish to me, speaking as it did about the "construction of new hydro-power stations in Bujagali and Karuma...planned to start in February and September 2007, respectively."  As i continued down the page, however, it became clear that something new was happening here:  In addition to increasing installed capacity for power supply, the Ugandan government is implementing...

an energy-loss reduction plan in the power system, and further actions to improve efficiency in energy use and demand are being implemented through, for instance, the importation of energy saving bulbs. Moreover, support will be given to consumers, both private and commercial, in installing solar-lighting and water-heating systems. The use of bio-gas, improved efficiency stoves to cater for rural energy requirements and production of electricity from municipal waste for sale of power into the grid will be enhanced...We are also supporting the development of several projects including small hydro power options, co-generation in sugar mills (e.g. the Kakira sugar works project) and biomass-gasification plants that are being developed as public-private partnerships to generate at least 50MW for the grid. Mini-hydro projects will, for instance, electrify areas in Rukungiri, Masindi, and Kibaale.

What have we here? Strong evidence of a major shift in thinking about energy for development.  Museveni's new year message signals a break from the established energy paradigm which may be summed up as follows: "expand generation and transmission capacity, set tariffs, subsidize as expedient, problem solved."  Instead, Museveni seems to be walking the talk of a more balanced approach.  This includes commitments to increase the role of renewable energy, and the assignment of equal priority to efficiency and conservation.  And this is more than just talk. Museveni's new drive to promote the use of energy-saving light bulbs, for instance, is a first step in the right direction.

Update: A tale of two PV companies

Citizenre, a renewable energy development company based in Delaware, U.S. has launched a program that lets customers rent solar photovoltaic systems for specified periods of time.  Users pay a per-kilowatt fee that replaces the normal bill from the local utility.

The monthly rate is locked in when the 1, 5 or 25-year contract is signed, so as energy prices go up participants are likely to save money while significantly reducing their output of greenhouse gases.  The rental program, called REnU, is billed as a cost-effective response to the challenges many would-be solar users face when confronted with the high costs of solar system equipment, installation, and maintenance. The program’s only upfront charge is a security deposit of roughly US$500, which is paid back—with interest—at the end of the contract.

Citizenre is offering their program in all but nine U.S. states that have adopted net metering laws that allows users of grid-tied renewable energy systems to receive retail credit for at least a portion of the electricity they generate.

Under the REnU program, solar energy captured during the day is fed into the grid and pulled back out again for use at night. Although the systems won’t be ready to install until September, thousands of homeowners have already begun signing contracts.

Would-be solar users in Africa face the same kind of problem that Citizenre appears to have solved--high upfront costs of PV equipment, installation and maintenance.  The 'PV-for-Africa ' movement has been talking about adopting this "fee-for-service" solution for years.  Though success stories are somewhat scarce, one South African company called Nura has quietly been seemed to be making significant progress with this  model.

NuRa has a total of 60 employees led by a local management team that is supported by RAPS. Six energy stores have been opened and they have 6,000 satisfied  customers. In August 2004 a 20-year contract was signed with the South African government, under which 8,000 SHS will be subsidised over a period of two years...NuRa's current target is to reach the break-even point with 14,000 SHS.

Citizenre and NuRa are good examples is an example of what the private sector can do to expand access to energy services based on clean, renewable technologies.  But they need friendly governments willing to invest public resources in support of innovative private operators.

Update: Since writing this article, i have made two surprise discoveries. First, NuRa's Website appears to be down. The URL points to the home page of 'Flux' rather than NuRA.  Second, it seems NuRA lost their contract with the South African government some years ago! I have so far been unable to contact NuRa representatives to find out more about what happened/is happening.

Another big step towards universal access to clean energy in Mali

Happy New Year! Join me in congratulating my old friends Ibrahim Togola and Tom Burrel, as well as the hardworking folks at the Mali-Folkecenter.   What for?  Well, in partnership with local people, the Malian government and a couple of international organizations, they've taken a giant step towards jatropha-fueled electrification for poverty eradication in the West African country of Mali.  Don't know what jatropha is? Read about it here and here.  Tom broke the exciting news about the new project to me and several others on December 18, 2006, just a day before i went on vacation.  i had somehow missed the October 16th press release! The purpose of this initiative, he wrote,  is to:

...provide electricity for domestic and light industrial use in the Municipality of Garalo, in the Sikasso Region of southern Mali. This electricity will be generated from clean CO2 neutral Jatropha oil, produced locally from Jatropha plantations. The project, implemented with ACCESS (a Malian rural energy service provision company), the Municipality of Garalo, FACT Foundation, and the SHGW Foundation, will improve living conditions and combat poverty in the area. The project launch was attended by the Malian Minister of Mines, Energy & Water, who said the project was the beginning of energy independence for Mali.

The project involves the cultivation of about 1000 hectares of jatropha over a 3 year period.  115 hectares have already been planted.  A 245 kW generator will be producing electricity by March 2007, serving about 8000 people in Garalo commune.  All this has been achieved at the cost of about 600,000 Euro.  i will provide further details and updates as these become available in the coming weeks and months.

From all indications, this new project has got the sustainability idea down pat in terms of: a proven energy technology deployed via a social enterprise that is responsive to local markets for energy services; a relatively low-risk fuel supply chain; affordability of the energy services delivered to end-users; strong local ownership and government support.  Then there is that cool carbon-neutrality aspect.  Folks, this is "thinking globally, acting locally" in action!  An olympian leap towards energy for sustainable development in Africa that gladdens our hearts here at UNEP Energy Branch.  It demands careful study by the energy and development community for the purpose of maximum learning, context-sensitive replication and scale-up.  As for me, i'll keep tracking it closely over the  coming months.

And on that note, may i wish regular and first-time readers of this blog happiness and inner peace and light in the coming year.

Deploying energy microgrids in the war against poverty

Could an energy microgrid system being developed for the U.S. Army hold the key to achieving universal energy access as a strategy in the war on poverty in Africa?  This was the question that came to mind upon reading Roland Piquepaille's interesting post over at ZDNet the other day.  He reports that researchers at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) in collaboration with the U.S. army are developing an "energy surety model" that will not rely on conventional grid electricity systems.  Instead, it will be based on a microgrid system based on small power generation units close to where people--in this case, people in the military--live and work.

...[I]t will use renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power. The goal is to reach a 99.999% availability level for buildings without backup (5 minutes out/year) at the lowest possible cost. Once this concept is operational at an undisclosed military base the researchers think the technology could be deployed for ordinary people.

Those who have been following the sustainable energy discourse will immediately recognize that the concept being tested by SNL and the army is at least 30 years old.  Back in 1976, Amory Lovins had worked out the essentials in a Foreign Affairs article titled "Soft Energy Paths." In contrast to the conventional "hard energy path" illustrated in Figure 1, Lovins and other advocates adopted a different approach based on a redefinition of the energy problem, whereby:

The relevant question is not simply where to get more energy, of any kind, from any source, at any price. Rather, it is a series of inter-linked questions. What do we want the energy for? What are the end uses we are trying to provide, such as comfort and light and torque? And how much energy, of what kind, at what scale, from what source, will meet each of those end use needs in the cheapest way?

Citing Edwin Land, the father of Polaroid photography, Lovins attributes inventions such as the Soft Energy Path concept to a “sudden cessation of stupidity” and an ability to “stop having old ideas.”  As illustrated in Figure 2, a Soft Energy Path:

... involves efficient use of energy, diversity of energy production methods (matched in scale and quality to end uses), and special reliance on..."soft technologies" (a.k.a., alternative technology) such as solar energy, wind energy, biofuels, geothermal energy, etc.

During the intervening 30 years, a combination of inadequate political  support and funding prevented the development and large scale deployment of the needed "distributed generation" technologies and policies in the U.S.  Only the recently felt need to realize the twin-goals of "increased energy security and decreased dependence on fossil fuels" in an increasingly dangerous world has pushed the U.S. Army to pursue a soft energy path.  As explained by David Menicucci, Roch Ducey, and Paul Volkman, authors of the energy surety model:

Both goals suggest that the Army consider diversifying its current use of the local electric utility for primary power and engine-driven generators for emergency back-up power.  They also call for including renewable energy systems such as wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass, and other advanced distributed generation (DG) technologies such as fuel cells and microturbines.  Increased energy reliability and security and, therefore, enhanced mission readiness, can be achieved by networking these power systems together in an “intelligent” microgrid.  This concept is built on the philosophy that, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

There is at least one reason why this work should be of interest to energy and development decision-makers in Africa: some of the technologies being developed can help expand assess to cleaner energy services while achieving the increasingly important goals of "increased energy security and decreased dependence on fossil fuels."  The on-going war against poverty, disease and ignorance in Africa cannot be won without realigning the evolutionary trajectory of energy systems across the continent towards a soft energy path.  The U.S. Army's effort to create a replicable energy surety model might yield valuable technologies that can help win this war in Africa.  But ultimate victory will require institutional models that are antithetical t0 the command and control structures characteristic of military institutions and traditional energy utilities.  As Carl J. Weinberg, a long-time advocate of distributed energy systems put it in 1998:

The provision of energy services to the rural populations of the world, in a sustainable manner, will depend as much on innovation in organizational structures as it does on the innovation in technologies. So the challenge to utilities is that the delivery mechanism for energy services using renewables and distributed, new, radical technologies requires them to abandon the culture and the structure of control that made them a success.