News about Minigrids

@Off-grid Europe
The urgency of the climate crisis is undeniable. From intensified droughts, floods, and storms to devastating heatwaves, climate impacts are rapidly accelerating worldwide, driving hunger, poverty, and humanitarian crises. Yet, the shock of these impacts is unfairly experienced by the most climate vulnerable nations.
Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee
In Nomzamo, an informal settlement in the coal heartlands of Mpumalanga, energy is no longer something handed down from Eskom. Families relocated here after floods in 2016 power their homes through modular solar systems.
As we enter 2025, microgrids are driving the evolution of the New Energy Landscape, fueled by advancements in renewable energy and smart technology. I see several transformative trends that will impact efficiency, resilience, grid modernization, and sustainability, underscoring microgrids’ crucial role in the future of energy.
Electricity access is a persistent issue across Africa, particularly in the sub-Saharan region that is home to most of the nearly 600 million people on the continent without affordable electricity. Minigrids have proven themselves a key electrification strategy that’s up to solving this herculean challenge.
Hakwata village in Zimbabwe launched a 200-kW solar microgrid system earlier this month that will power a health clinic, school, shops and homes. In Nigeria, plans to build a solar minigrid to serve 1,000 customers in the village of Duduguru were announced.