A groundbreaking initiative, RePower, is set to illuminate the future of renewable energy and rural electrification. This ambitious project, funded by the European Union, aims to significantly enhance the penetration of renewable energy through innovative plug-and-play microgrids. With a total project cost of approximately €12.7 million, of which the EU is contributing up to €9.9 million, RePower stands as a testament to Europe’s commitment to sustainable energy and global development.
RePower, formally known as “Improving Renewables Penetration Through Plug and Play Microgrids”, is a pioneering four-year initiative. It seeks to address a critical global challenge: nearly 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity. By 2030, this number is projected to increase in line with population, making initiatives such as RePower essential to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 7: to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”.
Moses Mengu, Senior Project Leader at the Danish Technological Institute, highlighted the project’s unique approach: “RePower will empower African off-grid communities to power their own development through the productive use of energy, moving beyond traditional electrification to drive true economic growth”.
The project will install advanced microgrids in Madagascar, Niger, Senegal, and a replication site in Ghana. The goal is to provide electricity to 20,000 off-grid consumers by 2027. These microgrids, based on Africa GreenTec’s (AGT) containerised Solartainer® system, will combine solar photovoltaic panels (PV), battery energy storage systems (BESS), biomass combined heat and power units (BCHP), and energy management systems (EMS) to deliver reliable renewable energy to off-grid consumers. By reducing the time required to install microgrids through a modular design and increasing reliability and resilience, the project aims to cut the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) from €1[1] to about €0.3 to €0.4 per kWh.
Corneliu Barbu, RePower Project Coordinator and Associate Professor at Aarhus University, emphasised the scalability of the project: “Our work in Madagascar, Niger, Senegal, and Ghana provides a blueprint to scale up successful use cases, developing a process for the industrialisation of microgrids. This will cater not only to immediate energy needs but also anticipate future community development.”
The RePower project aims to enable social and economic opportunities for people living in rural, remote areas. The benefits of RePower go beyond electrification and include capacity building, and stakeholder engagement. In terms of capacity building, the project will set up hubs to train 50 renewable energy technicians in the short term and many more beyond the life of the project. The project seeks to engage with all stakeholders, from grassroots organisations to businesses and governments, to seek solutions that are tailored to local needs and are sustainable in the long-term.
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About RePower
RePower is a collaborative effort involving the following 12 organisations: Aarhus University (Denmark), Africa GreenTec (Germany), ATA Insights (Spain), Blue Nova Energy (South Africa), Danish Technological Institute (Denmark), Go2power (Serbia), Green Africa Youth Organization (Ghana), Hybrid Greentech Energy Intelligence (Denmark), Mash Makes (Denmark), Ministry of Energy (Ghana), Remote Sensing Solutions (Germany), and the University of Nairobi (Kenya).
RePower is a European Union funded project under the Horizon Europe programme. The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA.
Further information on RePower please contact carlos.marquez@ata.email. Please check out the website https://repowerproject.com/ or profiles on LinkedIn and Facebook.