Innovative Mobile Minigrid-scale Service and Storage for Rapid Scaling of Rural Energy Access in Kenya

In order for rural communities in the developing world to access productive uses like welding or flour milling, they require access to minigrid-scale power (typically \>10kwp). Yet minigrids are notoriously commercially unsustainable, due to the capital expenditure required, and difficulties in efficiently matching loads and supply throughout the day and week. One particular problem we have noticed in our work in rural development throughout East Africa is that very high power loads, like milling machines, are sometimes only used 1 or 2 days a week in mid-size communities, contributing precisely to that uneven load profile.

To facilitate energy access and access to these productive uses in more small and mid-size communities in Africa, we are proposing to develop and test a mobile "minigrid" scale energy access solution.

By installing 10kw of rapidly deployable solar power in a trailer, we would create a solution which could be driven to a different village each day, offering not only the high-power occasional services like flour milling or welding, but also a range of other productive uses like battery charging, printing and photocopying that might not usually be available in those communities.

For mobility, the weight of the trailer will be critical, with the storage technology making the greatest contribution. Therefore we will be working with UK Li-Ion battery partner Aceleron for them to further develop their innovative 2nd-life batteries from small-scale units to much larger minigrid-scale storage, at the 15-20kWh level. These batteries are contructed by Aceleron in Kenya from local e-waste, for unrivalled environmental sustainability in a battery.

The integrated battery/mobility solution will provide productive-level energy access to communities that would otherwise not be able to justify the cost/power of their own minigrid, while at the same time providing a reliably high load-factor for the equipment, allowing efficient utilisation and payback potential from the mobile minigrid operator.

While community productive services providers are likely to be the most significant market for the innovation, we will also investigate other more niche uses for the same technology anywhere that requires rapid access to temporary power, for example to deploy it to disaster areas or refugee camps, or as a backup for equipment failure in permanent minigrids.