The e-GUIDE Initiative was launched in December 2018 and is backed by a $3.8 million grant from The Rockefeller Foundation.

Its overarching goal is to transform the approaches used for planning and operations of electricity infrastructure in developing regions to better direct investments and scale projects that can end energy poverty. One of the first milestones of the project is the Electricity Consumption Prediction service. Developed in conjunction with utilities and off-grid electricity providers, the service provides high-resolution estimates of future electricity consumption created by combining satellite imagery with historic and big data sources to improve the planning and provision of electricity.

The Electricity Consumption Prediction service is freely available for anyone to use. However, we expect that it will be of most interest to utilities, regulators, system planners, off-grid companies, and researchers who are seeking to forecast electricity consumption levels, particularly in areas that are either unserved or underserved by electricity.

The service will initially provide intelligence on residential consumption in Kenya with Uganda and Rwanda to follow. The Electricity Consumption Prediction service will allow utilities and off-grid companies alike to identify where opportunities exist to stimulate consumption. The right stimulation can grow economies and communities to improve lives and livelihoods.

Source: Power Engineering International