SOLAR IN WEST AFRICA – PROJECTS AND GOALS OF ENERGY FOR OPPORTUNITY

Robert Munro,

(former) CIO, Energy for Opportunity,

CEO, Idibon

E-Discuss, San Francisco

November 2013

Sierra Leone

6.5 Million people Electricity coverage:

urban ~10% rural ~1%

GDP per capita: US$679 (1.5% US)

Adult Literacy: 38.1% Life Expectancy: 47.3 years 3 Physicians per 100,000 people 53% of population has access to

safe drinking water

STEADY IMPROVEMENT & STABILITY

v

Top 5 countries in Africa by Global Peace Index

SIERRA LEONE

Development is not for lack of resources

ENERGY FOR OPPORTUNITY

Background (2007): Environmental Foundation

for Africa, Sierra Leone United Nations High

Commission for Refugees

WHO WE ARE

Simon Willans – Exec Director

Chernor Jalloh – Engineering Manager

Mohamed Turay – Engineering Manager

Idrissa Tarawally – Engineering Manager

~100 people employed by EFO or at charging stations that we created

STATUS OF COMPANY

Self-sustaining as of 2013: We can cover cost of operations with for-profit

installations Admin is <10% of budget >95% of people employed were born in Sierra

Leone 170 KW has been produced by EFO

10 KW in the country before EFO Direct/Indirect population 100,610 / 928,130

Full electrical systems and education Eg: 7W LED vs 60W incandescent

IN THE LAST YEAR:

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene – 3 Districts Kamakwie District Hospitals

Madina CHC 15 CHCs/CHPs --- Bonthe, Kenema and Tonkolili

Community Charging Stations GIZ --- Koindugu, Kambia, Kono and Kailahun Christian Aid --- Bonthe WHH --- Bo and Kenema

BBC Media Action Eastern Radio Freetown Office

IN THIS TALK

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene – 3 Districts Kamakwie District Hospitals

Madina CHC 15 CHCs/CHPs --- Bonthe, Kenema and Tonkolili

Community Charging Stations GIZ --- Koindugu, Kambia, Kono and Kailahun Christian Aid --- Bonthe WHH --- Bo and Kenema

BBC Media Action Eastern Radio Freetown Office

COMMUNITY CHARGING STATIONS (CCS)

Thirty five CCSs in operation We had two in 2010

Creates income for the communities Eg: Light and power rentals, charging cellphones

Converting to a self-sustaining business unit within the company Partnerships with entrepreneurs within the

country who can deploy and manage multiple systems to villages from district HQs

KAMABAI COMMUNITY CHARGING STATION

One of our first: allows longitudinal (ish) study.

Lighting is expensive 10-15% of rural

household incomes 500x more spent on

lighting than people from industrialized countries

90% cellphone ownership

Kamabai in 2010 (Mohamed)

ExternalTarget Community

Kerosene Retailer /

Torch Batteries

Funds to re-supply

Mobile rechargin

g business

Generator Fuel

Community Members

Payments

Payments

• Low-lumen light• Fire and burn hazard• Indoor pollution• Loss of community revenue

Profits

ProfitsProfits

Profits

Usual Energy Use in a Sierra Leone Village

(10-15% of expenses)

ExternalTarget Community

Community Charging

Station

Maintenance and repair(most still within the country)

Community Members

Payments

• High Lumen Light• Improved education outcomes• Reduced hazards• Creation of community

revenue

Community Fund

Wages

Community Charging Station (CCS) approach for Rural Lighting and Mobile

Phone charging

PROFITS

KAMABAI PROFITS

Greater acceptance of solar as an electricity source that won’t fry a phone.

CCS Funds

Town Water Supply

Health Clinic

Secondary School

KAMABAI

KAMABAI SECONDARY SCHOOL

Average passes and credits (n=40)

v

“Immensly improved the status of the school. We have bad results in the school; With the solar system, children will come in to study, teachers, using whatever equipment we have, especially computers, will help the children to have more materials to study”

(Jnr School Principal Kamabai)

“We don’t have money to buy kerosene. The income that we usually put into light I spend on food and textbooks”

Daniel K Amen (Senior student Kamakwie)

NEXT STEPS: PRIVATIZATION WITHIN SIERRA LEONE

SOLAR POWERED WATER PURIFICATION

v

SOLAR POWERED WATER PURIFICATION

Community based and managed Revenue generated for maintenance and

upgrade Builds off CCS model

Localized treatment Reduce transportation and other transaction

costs Focused treatment

Contrast to large scale, general treatment facilities

SOLAR POWERED WATER PURIFICATION

SolaWata can be purchased from the CCS in one or five gallon containers (containers by deposit)

Le 3,000 for the five gallon container and Le 1,000 for the one gallon container ($0.70 / $0.23)

Le 1,000 = cost to pay someone to fetch a container of water from well/stream

Positive image, but still with limited uptake

CONTAINER SYSTEM

Addresses donor concerns over environmental impacts of plastic packets

Minimises risk of after sales contamination of water

Challenge is to create package options that meet the demand from customers at an affordable price point

BRAND/MARKETING

Logo development Highlights the sun and water

aspects and the relationship between them

Radio programming Discussion and jingle

Direct marketing ‘Noisy’ campaigns, t-shirts, and

flyers Community visibility

Kiosk and container stickers

UPTAKE

More time by installers on site.

Lowered cost

Allowed community containers

REASONS WHERE THERE IS A LACK OF UPTAKE BY COMMUNITIES

v

Water bags are *much* more expensive, but have familiarity

CONCLUSIONS / CURRENT & FUTURE WORK

Community charging station expansion Establishment of PCSs to complete the distribution

chain US Embassy Housing

12KW hybrid system including NPA (grid) connection UNOPS Hospitals River 2 Micro Hydro:

Our first ‘micro-grid’, combining solar and hydro Further reading:

Simon Willans, Amé Christiansen and Paul Munro (2011). "Emerging Forms of Entrepreneurship: For-Profit and Non-Profit Partnerships for the Dissemination of Solar Power into Rural Sub-Saharan Africa". The 56th Annual ICSB World Conference: Sweden.