Energy access and off-grid electrification in sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Opportunities
This is an online event. To sign up register through www.energy.ox.ac.uk
Over 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa currently lack reliable and affordable access to energy and the achievement of SDG 7 by 2030 – Universal Access to Energy – seems currently out of reach. Rural electrification in developing countries faces numerous and complex challenges on various levels. As a consequence, most mini- or microgrids (island solutions that are detached from the main electrical grid) face sustainability issues. Studying these systems by applying an interdisciplinary approach that considers the energy systems in the context of the local and national environment and by integrating technical, legal, social and financial perspectives reveals challenges, opportunities and strategic implications on various levels. This lecture will discuss these challenges based on the comprehensive research findings generated by the research projects ‘RISE – Renewable, Innovative and Scalable Electrification‘ and, ‘Mumuni Singani’. The presentation will discuss major challenges and opportunities for rural electrification in Africa incorporating three perspectives: local communities, the private sector as well as the policy-level and focusses on the question of what is needed to develop sustainable decentralised renewable energy solutions for the region.
Date: 17 November 2020, 16:00 (Tuesday, 6th week, Michaelmas 2020)
Venue: Online event
Speaker: Dr Susann Stritzke (Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford)
Organising department: Environmental Change Institute
Organiser: Anne L Ryan (Oxford Energy Coordinator)
Organiser contact email address: info@energy.ox.ac.uk
Host: Dr Philipp Grunewald (University of Oxford, Engineering Depart.)
Part of: Energy Colloquia Series
Booking required?: Required
Audience: Public
Editor: Anne Ryan