Speaking at the launch of the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project in Kanengo, Lilongwe, Chakwera emphasized the importance of reliable and sustainable energy supply in accelerating development. Contact online >>
Speaking at the launch of the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project in Kanengo, Lilongwe, Chakwera emphasized the importance of reliable and sustainable energy supply in accelerating development.
"This project will improve security and reliability where storage during low-usage hours will help us discharge adequate power when it is most needed," said Chakwera.
Scheduled to be fully operational by June 2025, this innovative system is designed to enhance security and reliability by storing energy during low-usage hours for release during peak demand.
The Malawi leader also expressed optimism that this project will pave the way for Malawi to eradicate power outages, expand electricity access, and stimulate development through various profitable ventures for households and businesses.
"My administration remains focused on increasing electricity access from the current 20 percent to 100 percent by 2030 with more than half the population connected to the national grid," he added.
When the sun sets in Malawi each day, most rural Malawians use candles, torchlights and kerosene lamps to light their homes. From sunset to sunrise, between roughly 6 p.m. and 5 a.m., they socialize, do household chores and study in near-total darkness because they are living without access to electricity.
Malawi is one of the world''s least-developed nations, with 70% of its population living on less than $2.15 USD a day, according to the World Bank. Most Malawians experience energy poverty, meaning they lack access to sustainable and affordable modern energy services and products. Approximately 85% of Malawi''s population of more than 20 million people have no access to electricity. Only 3% of Malawi''s population have access to a clean fuel for household cooking.
"The depth of energy poverty for people living in Malawi cannot be overstated," says University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) Professor Pam Jagger, a political economist who focuses on the dynamics of poverty and the environment in low-income countries.
For the past decade, Jagger has been collaborating with Professors Charles Jumbe and Thabbie Chilongo, development economists at the Center for Agricultural Research and Development at the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) in Malawi. They have worked together on several studies focused on energy access.
The team has been supported by a five-year, $4.79 million award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Partnerships in International Research and Education (PIRE) program. This multi-institutional, multi-country project has enabled Jagger and her collaborators to study the effectiveness of different interventions designed to improve energy access. Most recently, they completed data collection for a study in rural Malawi exploring what types of households are early adopters of solar technologies, what types of technologies they are using and the benefits they derive from them.
Solar power—which includes standalone solar panels and solar home systems or kits consisting of a solar panel, rechargeable battery/inverter, and light bulbs—is touted by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), governments and the private sector as an affordable electricity solution for people living in places where there is no access to grid electricity now or in the foreseeable future.
From left: Longtime collaborators Professors Thabbie Chilongo (LUANAR), Pam Jagger (U-M) and Charles Jumbe (LUANAR).
"There is a very interesting trend happening throughout Africa where we''re seeing rapid take-up of solar technologies that are used for cell phone charging, lighting, and powering TVs, radios and stereo systems," says Jagger, who leads the Forest Use, Energy and Livelihoods (FUEL) Lab at SEAS.
A representative of VITALITE, a social enterprise selling solar products, shows off solar home systems for sale on a pay-as-you-go basis in Lilongwe, Malawi. There are approximately 20 social enterprises selling similar systems in Malawi.
"We went back to observe any additional take-up of solar technologies, including solar home systems or kits, and to understand their impact and what people are doing with those additional hours of lighting," Jagger explains. "Are their kids studying more, are people doing things related to their businesses or other economic activity? Or are people just enjoying having a source of lighting in their household?"
People in rural Malawi often travel more than an hour to get to a trading center or shop to charge their cell phone.
Because solar home systems or kits offer greater availability of lighting, households that used the VITALITE solar home systems reported an extra three hours of light per night, according to the study. "Most of the people who adopt these systems go from no lighting to some lighting," Jagger notes. The study also found that those same households also experienced an increased sense of security. While there is little crime in Lilongwe District, Jagger says, the households with solar-powered lighting reported feeling safer in their homes as a benefit of having the additional lighting.
Perhaps the biggest finding, though, is that households were using the increased lighting for leisure rather than productive activities, Jagger says. While the donor community and social enterprises such as VITALITE tout the potential for this type of energy solution as "having far-reaching impacts on education, health and productivity," Jagger''s team found that their data didn''t support that claim. "It''s an important finding," says Jagger, "because it shows there isn''t a lot of evidence to support the economic and human-capital benefits of solar technologies."
Digging more into this observation will be a major focus of analysis of the endline data where even more households have solar technologies, according to Jagger.
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