Work drawing on the GRC knowledge base has been published and presented at the IEEE Global Humanitarian Technologies Conference.
The full paper is available here and a video presentation here.
Electricity access for large proportions of the population is a major challenge for Malawi and numerous other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Detailed least cost electrification plans are in place but have some limitations in the options considered. In urban areas where the national grid is present, grid densification (‘last mile’ connections) accounts for a large amount of new connections. However, the existing grid struggles to meet current demand, with large scale load shedding a regular occurrence. The role of smart local energy systems has increasing prominence in the UK and other countries, demonstrating how renewable energy minigrids can meet local community needs and also contribute to the wider electricity system needs. This paper describes an initial study to assess how utilising community based smart local energy systems for grid densification could deliver grid densification and also help alleviate existing generation shortages.