Harnessing the potential of Smart Microgrid Systems in African countries

Harnessing the potential of Smart Microgrid Systems in African countries

We kindly invite you to the SESA Online Webinar on ‘Smart microgrid systems in African countries’ to be held online via Zoom on 14th March 2024 at 12:00 – 13:30 GMT (15:00 – 16:30 EAT / 13:00 – 14:30 CET), jointly organized by the Stockholm Environment Institute, ICLEI Europe and F6S.

Webinar overview:

The energy poverty gap in sub-Saharan Africa affects approximately 597 million people, mainly rural households that are too remote from the main grid and are too costly to electrify by extending the main grid, thus posing a major challenge to the socio-economic development of these communities. With growing electricity demand, smart microgrids hold great promise as an effective off-grid solution to close the energy poverty gap and supplement existing electrification programs in rural communities by harnessing locally available energy resources to satisfy their energy demands efficiently.

This webinar provides an overview of smart microgrids and related technologies as well as the business models and the enabling policy environment for smarter, more efficient, and sustainable energy systems in SESA’s partner countries. The webinar will thus host speakers (entrepreneurs, industry players, representatives from local bodies, etc.) from outside the SESA project consortium to discuss businesses and policies in the African context. The webinar is part of the sixth module of the SESA capacity building programme, a self-paced e-learning programme that focuses on smart microgrid systems. The courses are available on the NUA campus platform.

Agenda: 

About SESA:

Smart Energy Solutions for Africa (SESA) is a collaborative project between the European Union and nine African countries (Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Tanzania) that aims to provide energy access technologies and business models that are easily replicable and generate local opportunities for economic development and social cohesion in Africa. Through several local living labs, it is expected to facilitate the co-development of scalable and replicable energy access innovations to be tested, validated, and later replicated throughout the African continent. These solutions will include decentralised renewables (solar photovoltaics), innovative energy storage systems including the use of second-life electric vehicle batteries, smart micro-grids, waste-to-energy systems (biomass to biogas), climate-proofing, resilience and adaptation, and rural internet access.

Running from October 2021 until September 2025, SESA is the result of a strong partnership between leading European and African universities, research centres, industry actors, local governments, knowledge and implementation organisations and networks. These will be strengthened via peer-to-peer exchange, policy dialogues, regional and international events among others.

GDPR:

By attending this webinar, I agree to allow the organizers of the SESA webinar, taking place on 14th March 2024 from 12:00 – 13:30 GMT (15:00 – 16:30 EAT / 13:00 – 14:30 CET), to publish and distribute the webinar recording in all forms and in all media. This includes but is not limited to digital distribution on the SESA project website and its social media channels, as well as those of its partners. The consent is given without a temporal or spatial limit and can only be withdrawn on a solid ground. 

Eight SMEs Selected as Winners of the SESA Call for Entrepreneurs 2023

Eight SMEs Selected as Winners of the SESA Call for Entrepreneurs 2023

The Smart Energy Solutions for Africa (SESA) consortium is delighted to announce the winners of the 2nd SESA Call for Entrepreneurs 2023. After a rigorous selection process led by SESA partner Siemens Stiftung, eight local Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) from Cote D’Ivoire, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Tanzania have been chosen to drive forward access to sustainable energy solutions across Africa.

Meet the selected entrepreneurs:

The SESA project, funded by the European Commission, operates across nine African countries with local and international partners. The initiative aims to test and validate sustainable energy solutions and business models that can be replicated and generate local opportunities for economic development on the African continent.

The selected SMEs demonstrated expertise in addressing Africa’s energy access challenges, particularly in rural and off-grid communities. Their initiatives encompass a range of technologies, including innovative solar home systems, solar irrigation solutions for small-holder farmers, waste-to-energy solutions for clean cooking, and solar cold chain technologies.

Each enterprise has received between €50,000 and €100,000 in service agreements to boost the replication and take up of the most promising business models and technologies developed throughout the SESA project and its livings labs. The SESA project’s initial Call for Entrepreneurs in 2022 validated several business models and technologies. Now with the 2nd Call for Entrepreneurs 2023, the aim is to build upon these validated results and outcomes to boost replication of the SESA concepts more widely across Africa.

Additionally, the selected companies will have the opportunity to participate in the SESA Incubator/Accelerator Programme run by SESA partner Smart Innovation Norway (SIN), which includes mentorship, coaching, and access to networks of industry experts.

The eight selected SMEs will be presented during the SESA Rwanda Regional Event at Kigali (Rwanda) on 24th April 2024, at the ‘SESA Procurement & Venture Summit’ where they will have the opportunity to present their ventures to investors and engage with stakeholders from across the energy sector.