Green People's Energy for Africa - Knowledge Hub - Community-based Approaches

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Green People's Energy for Africa
Knowledge Hub

Community-based Approaches

This topic page outlines how the Green People's Energy approaches helped improve the livelihoods of rural communities through energy access and economic perspectives.

I. Overview

Rural communities often experience poverty due to economic disadvantages. Energy poverty enhances this disparity even further. Only 25% of the rural population in SSA has access to electricity.

Connecting remote communities to the national grid is expensive and technically challenging. While renewable off-grid solutions could help bridge this gap, rural communities with low purchasing power struggle to cover the high up-front costs associated with such DRE systems. Modern low-cost alternatives in line with national requirements are needed to overcome these issues.

ICommunity energy projects aim to provide off-grid rural communities with energy solutions to increase economic, social and environmental well-being. In this context, “community energy” can be defined as the economic and operational participation and ownership by citizens or members of a defined community in a renewable energy project (IRENA Coalition for Action, 2018). Important characteristics are the right of co-determination, managerial or financial ownership in the project as well as direct social and economic benefits for (parts of) the community. Green People’s Energy for Africa therefore works together with political stakeholders and communities to:

  • support small and medium-sized businesses to generate and use renewable energy
  • engage citizens and communities as partners for green energy in Africa, in particular cooperatives
  • create job prospects in the energy sector
  • promote productive use of renewable energies for improved agricultural value chains
  • mobilise local investments

II. Case Studies

The initiative helped pilot innovative ideas. Additionally, it built on cooperation with other programmes, using synergies, and anchoring best practices sustainably. You can find examples of these measures in the following case studies and descriptions of Small Projects Fund projects:

Case Studies

Small Projects Fund

III. Publications

IV. Countries

Blue flags show the location of the relevant Small Projects Fund projects. The relevant case studies can be seen by hovering over the green highlighted countries.
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