Community Energy Systems and Sustainable Energy Transitions in Ethiopia, Malawi and Mozambique (CESET)

A collaborative multi-institutional research partnership funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund, CESET explores the potential of community energy systems to accelerate inclusive, just, and clean energy transitions in Ethiopia, Malawi, and Mozambique.

Map showing extreme precarity of energy access in Ethiopia, Malawi, and Mozambique

News

CESET work package 4 – the living energy lab complete!

5th December, 2025

Work package 4 of the CESET project involved creating a Community Energy Laboratory – a non-commercial microgrid within the city of Maputo – serving as a practical demonstration site to deliver theoretical and empirical evidence into what works for community energy systems.

The Community Energy Laboratory involved the installation of a solar kiosk and streetlight in Chamanculo, Aeroporto A neighbourhood, delivered by Africa Energy Services: Solar Panel and Engineering.

Community energy projects in Africa

6th November, 2025

An online exhibition looking at the people and projects bringing sustainable energy solutions to communities in Ethiopia, Malawi and Mozambique features in Sheffield's Festival of Social Science from 23 October to 9 November 2025.

The online exhibition is linked to the ESRC’s Festival of Social Science theme for 2025 of ‘our working lives’ as the featured videos demonstrate how people in the global south are harnessing off grid electricity to support healthcare, business development and food production.

CESET presents at the American Solar Energy Society Conference

19th August, 2025

Amare Assefa, a CESET project member from Addis Ababa University, presented a research poster titled “Reliability Analysis of a Micro-Hydro-Based Microgrid Due to the Integration of a Solar PV System: The Case of Chipopoma Microgrid, Malawi” at the American Solar Energy Society Conference, hosted by the University of Colorado Boulder from August 4–6, 2025.