Sierra Leone: Closing the energy access gap with mini-grids Contact online >>
Sierra Leone: Closing the energy access gap with mini-grids
This milestone project, implemented by Off-Grid Power * (funded by PIDG company, InfraCo Africa) aimed to provide first-time electricity to 6,657 households & businesses in Sierra Leone, making it the largest off-grid solar energy initiative in the country.
Sierra Leone has one of the lowest electricity access rates in the world: the national electrification rate is approximately 26 percent; however, this figure drops to only 6 percent in rural areas. To close the electricity access gap, mini-grids can present a least-cost solution while providing higher tiers of energy services.
Reliable access to energy 24/7: The solar microgrids will provide round-the-clock renewable power to the general hospitals and health centers, to improve the delivery and quality of healthcare services and better health outcomes across Sierra Leone.
As part of efforts to address the electrification gap in the African continent, clean energy microgrids paired with battery storage have been rolled out as an affordable and reliable option. Since 2017, Systems Sunlight has been engaged in strengthening energy infrastructure through Sierra Leone''s Rural Renewable Energy Project, aiming to
Arizona State University (ASU) researchers have unveiled a rapid microgrid design that aims to cut design costs and speed acceleration of electrification in rural areas and undeveloped countries.
ASU is now using the design in Sierra Leone on the coast of West Africa, a project that highlights the benefits of electrification to women and girls.
Researchers developed the microgrid mapping project to reduce the cost and time involved in minigrid and microgrid feasibility assessments, especially in emerging markets, said Nathan Johnson, associate professor at The Polytechnic School at ASU and director of ASU''s Laboratory for Energy And Power Solutions (LEAPS).
The researchers say their system can cut design costs by 60% to 80% and by 90% for the time required for site assessments of mini grids — off-grid systems — as well as microgrids that are tied to the grid.
The effort in Sierra Leone is getting a boost from students, who are participating through YouthMappers, along with the Mapillary and ASU teams. YouthMappers are students worldwide who use public geospatial technology to help identify settlement patterns, road networks and existing electrical grid infrastructure to help with development. Mapillary, recently acquired by Facebook, provides street level views and map data.
Without this remote mapping, feasibility studies involve time-consuming in-person visits, said Johnson.
In developing countries, in-person feasibility studies require workers to go door to door and talk to residents and shop keepers, asking about their demand for electricity and ability to pay for it. In addition, workers gather GIS points that identify where generation assets are located. "It''s a person literally walking around and writing down coordinates," said Elena van Hove, off-grid solutions lead at LEAPS. This can be time-consuming, expensive and inaccurate, she said.
Instead, the ASU project uses remote mapping tools — remote data and GIS information — to map buildings and roads and help locate existing conductors and utility poles.
"The work seeks to greatly reduce the time required for feasibility assessment of minigrids in emerging markets, and further, enhance the technical and financial rigor in analyses," said Johnson. The goal is to reduce planning time by 80-95% and potentially eliminate the need for in-person visits that are now limited by the COVID-19 crisis, said Johnson.
The next step is completing the power engineering and initial power system analyses, based on the information collected.
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The project is also designed to attract investors.
"When funders look to fund, they want financial metrics that are as accurate as possible," said van Hove. "With limited technical feasibility, they''re not as accurate."
In Sierra Leone and other undeveloped areas, access to electricity is limited or unreliable, which poses challenges for girls and women. Reliable electricity will help females boost their incomes by offering products and services. And it will reduce the time associated with completing household chores, said van Hove.
"Women are empowered by access to electricity," she said. With electricity, women and girls can use appliances and electric devices that will help them spend less time completing chores. Electrification will also provide more lighting to extend the work day. In addition, with electricity, women will have more options for working — running hair salons, for example.
If the researchers target user groups such as women, governments may pay for minigrid and microgrid studies and developers may build systems out, said van Hove. The researchers want to design systems that serve the needs of consumers, boost economic development and potentially attract government grants and developers.
"We want to create something that sustains microgrid technology financially and managerially after we leave," said Johnson.
The national grid is now very restricted, serving a limited number of towns in Sierra Leone. It doesn''t meet the demand for electricity. Off-grid minigrids are being developed, and when the national grid is able to expand, the minigrids will be connected to the grid as microgrids, said von Hove.
"Minigrids and microgrids can bring electricity to these communities much faster and more economically than the national grid is able to," she said. Creating minigrids is less expensive than the cost of extending transmission lines to remote locations.
And all that will happen faster and less expensively with mapping tools — in Sierra Leone and beyond, she said.
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In 2020, Sierra Leone had a rural electrification rate of just 4.8%, one of the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa. The Government of Sierra Leone''s (GoSL) National Renewable Energy Action Plan recognises the potential of off-grid solutions to address the electricity needs of the country''s rural population where the economies of grid deployment are prohibitive. Following the impact of the Ebola virus on Sierra Leone''s people and economy, the President''s Recovery Priorities include access to energy.
To progress the GoSL''s priorities for rural electrification, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) supported the development of a Rural Renewable Energy Project (RREP). The first of its kind in scale and scope in Sierra Leone and the wider region, RREP was implemented by the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) to deliver 5MW of off-grid power, electrifying 94 communities across four regions.
Through the RREP, PowerGen has developed off-grid power solutions in two of Sierra Leone''s four geographic regions under a 20-year public-private partnership with the GoSL. InfraCo Africa worked with PowerGen, to develop this ground-breaking project which also secured US$110,825 of grant funding from PIDG Technical Assistance.
The project company, Off-Grid Power (SL) Ltd (OGP) financed, developed, constructed, commissioned, and now owns and operates a portfolio of forty solar hybrid mini-grids serving over 99,000 people across the southern and eastern half of Sierra Leone. The initiative is generating local employment and 85% of customers have reported that their lives have improved since accessing electricity from the solar mini-grid programme.
OGP has demonstrated the potential of off-grid energy to accelerate access to clean energy in remote and rural communities, supporting global progress towards achieving SDG7 and net zero.
Developed by InfraCo Africa and PowerGen Renewable Energy.
Isata Foday runs a telecentre in Tikonko Chiefdom. By saving her money on diesel fuel, our Sierra Leone Mini-grid project enables her to better provide for her family.
Mohammed Kabba Turay is PowerGen''s Foreman for the Tikonko facility. Our Sierra Leone mini-grid project is generating jobs and opportunities in this community and across the country.
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