News

The Tigray regional state of Ethiopia faces significant challenges regarding energy access. Before the conflict that began in late 2020, the energy access rate in Tigray was already low, with a considerable portion of the rural population relying on traditional energy sources like firewood and charcoal for cooking and heating.

CESET team member Amare Assefa from Addis Ababa University conducted a two-day practical and theoretical training on 16-17 September 2024 for Chipopoma small-scale hydropower plants technicians and local young community members aimed to equip them with the knowledge and skills necessary for the successful operation, and maintenance of chipopoma mini hydropower. 

The training objectives were: 

In October 2024 Adu presented on "​​GIS-based mini-grid wind energy geographical economic potential assessment: A case study of Ethiopia" at the conference at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, USA. Adu provides an overview on the presentation given in the blog below.

Ethiopia, with a population exceeding 126 million as of 2023, faces significant challenges and opportunities in the energy sector, particularly in expanding access to electricity. As of 2022, only 54.2% of the population had access to electricity, highlighting the need for innovative solutions to bridge this gap.

This webinar took place on 6th November 2024 convened by CESET team member Harshit Vallecha. This webinar explored the strategies to realize resilient community energy systems which can withstand unforeseen natural hazards, climate change induced risks and socio-political disruptions. Building resilient community energy systems is critical to ensure clean and reliable energy access to vulnerable communities residing in remote and risk prone regions, especially in developing countries of Global South.

Dr Aran Eales, Research Fellow in Electronic And Electrical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde has been commissioned to produce a second report for CESET entitled "Global Perspectives on Community Energy for a Just Transition: The case for UK-Africa Community Energy Twinning".

At the 2024 IEEE PES/IAS PowerAfrica Conference, I presented findings from our study titled “A Comprehensive exploration of renewable energy education landscape in Ethiopian public universities,” conducted by CESET in Ethiopia. This research aimed to analyze the state of energy education across Ethiopian higher education, particularly focusing on program offerings, curriculum content, geographical distribution, and the challenges and opportunities within the sector.

This hybrid workshop took place on Wednesday 25th September 2024 at The Royal Society in London. Professor Vanesa Castán Broto gave a welcome lecture on "realising the benefits of community energy for a just energy transition", followed by a keynote by Professor Yacob Mulugetta on "community energy in the just transitions agenda". You can watch the recording of these presentations on the CESET YouTube Channel via the link below. 

Our publishers - Palgrave - are offering a 20% discount code until 23rd October 2024 for the newly published CESET edited book "Community Energy and Sustainable Energy Transitions - experiences from Ethiopia, Malawi and Mozambique". You can use the code for a printed copy of e-bbok. 

Enter the following coupon code at checkout on link.springer.com to apply discount - dN6G2oOSKIg4u4 / Valid Sep 25, 2024 – Oct 23, 2024 

Our Malawian CESET colleagues Chris Hara and Chrispin Gogoda have recently published a new report "Female technician and Engineers Training" funded as part of the CESET project. This was the second cohort of trainees that Mzuzu University trained over 4 weeks earlier in the year delivered by the Test and Training Center for Renewable Energy Technologies.