Project description
A renewable solution to energy poverty in Africa
Across Africa, more than 900 million people lack access to clean cooking facilities. This deficiency contributes to over one million deaths annually, primarily among women and children, due to the use of firewood and kerosene. Additionally, the relentless search for fuelwood also encroaches upon protected wildlife areas, exacerbating deforestation and biodiversity loss. In this context, the EU-funded AfricaEnergyParks project will apply the water-energy-food-ecosystem approach. Specifically, it will deploy solar PV, battery storage, and biomass for a plug-and-play microgrid. Enhanced with productive energy use technologies, such as improved cookstoves, it aims to mitigate deforestation caused by fuel gathering. The project will assess its social, economic, and environmental impacts, aiming for widespread adoption across Africa.
Objective
We will establish a Renewable Energy Park (REEP) in a rural community fringing the Mole National Park in Ghana to demonstrate energy access and climate resilience using the water-energy-food-ecosystem (WEFE) nexus approach. We will replicate a plug-and-play microgrid developed under the ongoing Horizon project “RePower”, using solar photovoltaics (PV), battery energy storage system (BESS) and biomass combined heat and power (BCHP). To increase energy demand of the community, we will develop technologies and activities for the productive use of energy (PUE) using a circular economy approach, whereby waste generated from agriculture and food processing serves as feedstock for the BCHP plant and cookstoves.
An estimated 900 million Africans have no access to clean cooking and over one million deaths occur annually from use of firewood and kerosene involving mainly women and children. We will test and promote the use of improved cookstoves (ICS) that can be easily integrated into the current traditional cooking system. This will help to arrest intrusion into the protected wildlife park for fuelwood which has led to widespread deforestation and loss of biodiversity.
We will use life cycle approaches to measure the social, ecoconomic and environmental impacts of the project and cooperate with other LEAP-RE and CCSE projects to facilitate the adoption of the results across Africa. We will identify and catalogue sources of funding including public and private investors and international private and donor funding. Attention will also be given to building local value chains for materials supplies and a skilled workforce for the operation and maintenance of the microgrid and PUE components.
The REEP will be fully operational by the end of the project period and is expected to become financially self-sustainable within 5 years. Our business model will be based on a public-private partnership and include other sources of financing such as sale of carbon credits.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels liquid fuels
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
- social sciences economics and business business and management employment
- agricultural sciences agricultural biotechnology biomass
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels renewable energy solar energy photovoltaic
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.2.5 - Climate, Energy and Mobility
MAIN PROGRAMME
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HORIZON.2.5.2 - Energy Supply
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-IA - HORIZON Innovation Actions
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL5-2023-D3-02
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
8000 Aarhus C
Denmark
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.