May 03 2017
African Energy Week workshop identifies other barriers and opportunities for achieving 2030 access targets in high-impact region Abidjan: With a high percentage of the West African population living in remote rural areas, clean energy-powered mini-grids (CMEGs) have been identified as an essential tool for achieving universal energy access. An ambitious target of building 128,000 in …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/press-release-providing-robust-enabling-environment-investment-essential-ambitious-ecowas-clean-energy-mini-grid-targets-met/
Mar 30 2017
The Smart Villages Initiative, in collaboration with the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) and the European Union Energy Initiative Partnership Dialogue Facility (EUEI PDF), held a workshop titled ‘High-level workshop on energy access in West Africa’ in March 2017. The inceptive workshop served as a kick-off event to a wider capacity-building engagement on CEMGs in the ECOWAS region and provided …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/workshop-report-ivory-coast/
Mar 29 2017
A high percentage of the West African population lives in remote rural areas without access to modern energy services. Clean energy mini-grids (CEMGs) have been identified as essential to helping achieve universal electricity access in the region and they feature as important parts of national targets and renewable energy action plans for all ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) countries. It is estimated that mini-grids …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/policy-brief-ivory-coast/
Feb 02 2017
This report focuses on mini-grids that generate a substantial portion of electricity using renewable energy sources. The IEA (2011) estimates that mini-grids are the best solution for providing electricity to 45% of the rural population without access to electricity. Mini-grids can utilise locally available energy sources such as wind, solar, biomass, and hydro. Using locally available renewable energy sources has the advantage of low …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/business-models-mini-grids/
Jan 14 2017
Rural areas that are not connected to an electricity grid are nevertheless seeking to increase their use of electricity to support services such as healthcare, education, and entertainment, and for productive uses to increase incomes. Such increases in electricity use in rural communities—“ climbing the energy ladder”—require a step-change in electricity provision to currently off-grid households. The supply of electricity through centralised generation and …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/future-direct-current-electrical-systems-off-grid-environment/
Jul 29 2016
The Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc) together with the Smart Villages Initiative held a workshop in July 2016 focused on mini-grid energy generation, storage, and transmission technologies in India and how they will be implemented. The workshop was held at the IISc campus in Bangalore and brought together academics, students, policymakers, business people, and NGO practitioners interested in sustainable energy and rural electrification.
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/bangalore-policy-brief/
Jul 20 2016
A large portion of India’s population lacks access to reliable energy. For many, the solution to this will involve decentralised energy infrastructure in the form of renewable solar, or hybrid solar, diesel, battery, and biogas mini-grids. The Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc) together with the Smart Villages Initiative held a workshop focused on mini-grid energy …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/bangalore-workshop-report/
Jun 29 2016
The Smart Villages Initiative has today published a Technical Report analysing baseline data from the remote off-grid Rwandan village of Rubagabaga. The findings comprise the first part of an impact evaluation study exploring the relationship between modern energy access, its productive use, and rural development outcomes. The report furthers efforts to establish and finance development …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/analysis-rwandan-village-reveals-uniquely-detailed-picture-energy-poverty/
Dec 24 2014
This note provides a summary of the workshop’s findings and recommendations for policy makers. A more detailed report of the workshop, together with copies of the presentations made at the workshop can be found here. Key points 1.3 billion people worldwide have no access to electricity. 3 billion people are still cooking with dangerous and inefficient stoves. Policy …
Permanent link to this article: https://e4sv.org/findings-arusha-smart-villages-workshop/