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FeatureSDG 17

Knowledge hub for renewable energy online in Mozambique

The share of non-hydro renewable energies in Mozambique is still vanishingly small. But the sector is developing. To increase growth, actors need qualified know-how of technologies, business and financing models. Together with energypedia, Green People’s Energy (GBE) launched the Mozambique Off-grid Knowledge Hub. The site provides information on solar energy, clean cookstoves, nano- and mini-grids and on productive use of renewable energy.

The government of Mozambique is pushing for electrification in the country and has been able to increase spread significantly from five percent (2001) to 29 percent. Urban populations benefit in particular. 72 percent in towns and cities are now connected to the electricity grid.

The situation is quite different in the rural regions. About 95 percent of people living there have no access to electricity. For most, this means lighting houses with candles or paraffin. They can neither process their harvests nor refrigerate food, drinks or medicines. They still have to prepare their food on open fires, biomass is often their only source of energy.

Knowledge platform – hub for qualified information

As long as there is enough biomass, especially wood, energy supply is not a problem. However, deforestation is progressing rapidly. Around 13 percent of forestland disappeared between 2001 and 2021. In addition, too many people die due to toxic fumes from cooking fires. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates mortality rate in 2020 at around 3.2 million people.

This is precisely why the new Mozambique Off-grid Knowledge Hub provides information not only about solar energy, mini- and nano-grids and the productive use of energy, but also about clean cooking solutions in English and Portuguese. Stakeholders can find background information, market analyses and business models, important political framework conditions, practical examples and webinar offers (Portuguese) on the site.

Huge potential – renewable energies can provide electricity for all

The country in south-east Africa has excellent conditions for supplying its growing population with electricity. The potential for solar energy is 23,000 gigawatts,(GW), 4.5 GW for wind, 2 GW for biomass and 12,000 megawatts (MW) for hydropower. Today, they still use only one percent of the potential, excluding hydropower.

The potential of renewable energies now gives the country a great opportunity to electrify rural regions with off-grid technologies and supply them with clean cooking solutions. With the help of green energies, people can take economic development into their own hands, generate local added value and prospects locally.

Knowledge and exchange are key to the transition

The platform provides the knowledge for this as well as opportunities to network and exchange ideas. “This hub is a one-stop shop for high-quality and verified information on key technologies such as solar home systems, improved cookstoves, nano/mini grids and productive use of information,” says of Alexander Fischer of GBE. Users can find links to new tools on the platform. Webinars and in-depth expert discussions add to the platform’s content, provided by the non-profit German organisation energypedia and the Mozambican Association for Renewable Energy (AMER).

It doesn’t just want to inform, it is also an invitation to stakeholders to share their experiences and knowledge on the platform, say the makers at energypedia. The initiators want the platform to be a hub for information. The faster it rotates, the more actors will be better informed and networked. This can also be a model for other countries.