Successful electrification of six leading hospitals in Sierra Leone inspired the extension 

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, 20 September - Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) has now extended the Sierra Leone Healthcare Electrification Project to provide solar power electrification of 0.308 Megawatt peak (MWp) to an additional government hospital in Kailahun and 25 Community Health Centres (CHCs) across the country. 

Currently, 18 of these CHCs have no existing power source and the remaining have unreliable access to the grid or are self-generating using diesel. But that will change when the solar PV and battery systems are installed, giving doctors and nurses a reliable power source for treating patients. The new systems will significantly lower reliance on diesel generators, which will reduce the government’s healthcare expenditure on generator fuel and prevent greenhouse gas emissions. 
 

This groundbreaking project is in collaboration with the Ministry of Health in Sierra Leone alongside support from the UK Government and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) until its completion date of October 2024. 

Collaborative efforts are vital, the Minister of Health, Dr. Austin Demby emphasized this: “The link between energy and health sectors is instrumental in improving service delivery and health outcomes. We made a commitment at COP28 that we will go green for health and this means that as we increase the number of health facilities and improve on existing ones, we will be conscious about the climate by ensuring that we prioritize renewable energy sources. This is why we are very pleased with the partnership we have with SEforALL and the UK Government as they help electrify our health facilities.”  

The Sierra Leone Healthcare Electrification Project was launched after needs assessments were carried out in October 2022. Solar panels with battery systems were commissioned at six prominent medical facilities including the Ola During Children’s Hospital and the Princess Christian Maternity Hospital both in Freetown, then Masanga Hospital in Tonkolili, and three more government hospitals in Kambia, Kabala and Bonthe by late December 2023.  

Solar power is life-changing, a Maternity Nurse at Kambia Government Hospital, Mariatu Kamara reflected: “Can you believe we used phone lights to perform deliveries in the maternity ward? Solar has made my work easier. I'm now free from the ordeal of holding a phone in my mouth while I do the delivery. The patients are also happy.” 

The initial six hospitals received a combined total of more than 0.6MWp of installed solar PV capacity with battery storage, and are now fully equipped to provide critical medical care at all hours of the day and night. 

This phase of the project will power facilities in several districts, including Bo, Bonthe, Kailahun, Kono, Tonkolili, and the Western Area, benefiting key centers such as Bo School Clinic, Gerihun CHC, Moriba Town CHC, Taiama Trauma Centre, and Jenner Wright in Freetown, alongside 20 other facilities.

The transition has been transformative for Sierra Leone and it’s only the beginning. SEforALL’s Sierra Leone Country Manager, Ngozi Beckley-Lines expressed pride in the project’s impact: “Rural and underserved communities can now rely on clean and renewable solar power, ensuring improved around-the-clock medical care. The energy transition work continues, and we will leave no one behind.”

SEforALL plans to install a total of 4.3MWp of solar power across Sierra Leone. The third and final phase of the Sierra Leone Healthcare Electrification Project will supply another 11 hospitals including Lakka, Port Loko, Makeni and Kenema Government Hospitals with solar PV and battery systems.

On 11 November, the Chief of Staff to the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Femi Gbajabiamila alongside Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, Damilola Ogunbiyi, visited Iponri Market in Surulere, Lagos State and inspected the first phase of solar installations deployed within the popular market. They were accompanied by Sterling Bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Abubakar Suleiman and All On’s Chief Executive Officer, Caroline Eboumbou.

This visit to Iponri Market afforded the dignitaries the opportunity to interact with the end-users and provided valuable insights into the impact of clean and reliable energy on their respective business operations.   

The solar projects, funded by Universal Energy Facility (UEF) a results-based finance facility administered by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) and executed by SOLAD Integrated Power, a clean energy and technology company, is an exciting development that underscores the commitment of both the Nigerian government and the Universal Energy Facility (UEF) to promoting sustainable energy solutions in the country.  

Cooking with firewood is harmful to peoples’ health and the environment, which is why the global push for clean cooking seeks to help people transition to less polluting cooking solutions.

According to the IEA, Rwanda ranks among the top 20 countries worldwide with the lowest percentage of the population with access to clean fuels and technologies. Approximately 93 percent of Rwandan households use biomass for cooking in the form of firewood (76 percent) and charcoal (17 percent), according to the 2022 Population and Housing Census of Rwanda.

A study developed by Sustainable Energy for All and its partners examined the potential for electric pressure cookers (EPCs) to replace these traditional, polluting cooking methods in Rwanda and inform government and industry efforts to promote the technology’s adoption.

The electric cooking (eCooking) study was a joint initiative between Nexleaf Analytics, Modern Energy Cooking Services, Electrocook, A2EI and Climate Solutions Consulting, with support from Swedish Postcode Foundation. It involved Electrocook providing 100 participants with EPCs  as a replacement for the charcoal and/or LPG stoves they were previously using. Their experiences with the EPCs were tracked to assess several factors, including overall usage, cooking costs, time savings, changes to cooking habits, and more.

Key findings of the study are summarized in a report titled Examining the Experience of Using Electric Pressure Cookers in Urban Households in Kigali, Rwanda and show that the overall experience of cooking with an EPC, which was a new cooking appliance to nearly all participating households, was positive.

The study shows that transitioning to eCooking offers numerous advantages both within households and on a wider scale. Study participants appreciated the cleaner and more convenient cooking experience offered by the EPC, both in terms of the fuel preparation and the cooking process itself. For example, the median time taken to prepare a meal decreased from one hour 44 minutes in the baseline phase to one hour 30 minutes in the pilot phase, resulting in a time saving of nearly 15 minutes.For some food like vegetables, about 30 minutes can be saved and savings for cooking beans are even greater.

However, the study also revealed several key barriers to consumer uptake of EPCs. For example, participants commonly resorted to fuel stacking (using an additional cooking method), indicating the challenge of cooking multiple dishes in an EPC, especially given that only one pot was provided with the appliance. This finding emphasizes the need for a cooking appliance that can accommodate multiple dishes simultaneously and include multiple pots (whether as an extra item paid for upfront or in instalments, or as part of a set).

These types of insights are meant to guide the efforts of industry and government to support a transition to clean cooking. Additionally, the report highlights that it is crucial to overcome potential barriers to people buying and using appliances. These include the cost, the current lack of training and familiarity with how to use eCooking appliances, user-centric design considerations, shared household electricity meters, and lack of awareness on cost competitiveness of cooking with electricity as part of a cooking mix. By addressing these factors, households can be encouraged to move away from biomass and transition towards cleaner and more sustainable fuel alternatives.

Up until recently, cooking with electricity was not viewed as a viable clean cooking alternative in Rwanda and other low-middle income countries due to the relatively high cost and inefficiency of electric cooking appliances, low levels of electricity access, and high cost of electricity where connections are available. However, with the emergence of energy-efficient appliances such as EPCs and the increasing availability and improved reliability of electricity, particularly in urban centres, electric cooking has become an option for greater numbers of people.

Study findings were presented during a workshop in Kigali on 8 November involving representatives from the Rwandan government, development partners, researchers and local clean cooking companies. The EPC pilot dataset is integral to the electric cooking model in the Integrated Clean Cooking Planning Tool that is being used to develop the Rwanda National Integrated Clean Cooking Plan, which will be publicly accessible by all stakeholders within the clean cooking sector. This strategic initiative will, in turn, facilitate informed decision-making for both government agencies and private sector actors.