RENEWVIA ENERGY
RENEWVIA ENERGY
OPERATING MINIGRIDS
OLKIRAMATIAN
KAJIADO, KENYA
Olkiramatian is located in the beautiful South Rift Valley in Kenya and is home to the Maasai. In February 2021, Renewvia commissioned a solar minigrid bringing clean, renewable, and affordable energy to this community for the first time. We can expect to see tangible positive impacts for Olkiramatian, including medical services that can be provided more consistently and later into the day via the local health facility, extended school and study hours for children, better overall business outcomes, and improved public safety.
OYAMO
HOMA BAY, KENYA
Oyamo Island is located in Lake Victoria, Kenya. Until 2020, approximately 600 households (about 3,000 people) were living without electricity. In early 2021, Renewvia commissioned a solar minigrid to serve the community and its residents, small businesses and other institutions. To date more than 140 households and businesses have been connected, and more are expected in the future.
RINGITI
HOMA BAY, KENYA
Ringiti is a small island in Lake Victoria that is two and a half hours away by boat from the lakeside regional hub of Mbita, near Kenya’s southwest boarder. Until 2018, Ringiti had no source of power for its 10,000 residents besides kerosene, petrol, and disposable batteries. Following a national solar minigrid feasibility study funded by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), Renewvia commissioned this microgrid plus another on the nearby Ndeda Island. Payments are made easy using Renewvia’s mobile payment platform, using M-Pesa and Commercial Bank of Africa to facilitate the transactions.
As our 140 customers on Ringiti expand their use of energy and more and more new customers want to connect to the power lines, we are currently securing funding for an expansion of Ringiti’s system to increase our supply of clean and reliable power.
OLOIBIRI
BAYELSA, NIGERIA
In 2020, Renewvia commissioned a solar and battery microgrid serving Oloibiri, Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The minigrid currently connects approximately 160 households, businesses, schools and churches with the ability to expand as needs arise. Oloibiri was where petroleum was first discovered in Nigeria in 1956, so we’re excited to bring renewable energy to a community that was relying on a generator that only ran a few hours a week.
Renewvia's minigrid in Oloibiri will power the new Oloibiri Health for Life Medical Center (H4LC) and Knowledge Management Institute, one of the hub health facilities funded by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) under the flagship Oloibiri Health Program. The program is a local government-wide health system strengthening partnership with the Bayelsa State government. It will provide reliable, consistent power, at a reasonable cost, to enable frontline healthcare workers to provide quality assured health care to Ogbia communities.
KALOBEYEI TOWN
TURKANA, KENYA
Kalobeyi Town is a community of 8,000 people located in Turkana County, the second largest county in Kenya, and one of the poorest, with more than 88 percent of the population living in extreme poverty. In September 2019, Renewvia commissioned a solar minigrid serving Kalobeyei Town, the community’s first ever source of reliable electricity. The grid currently connects more than 120 customers including homes, shops, restaurants, churches, and schools, as well as the local Kenya Red Cross field post.
KALOBEYEI
SETTLEMENT
TURKANA, KENYA
The Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement was established in 2015 by Turkana County Government and UNHCR with three distinct “villages” across 15 square kilometers to house refugees largely coming from South Sudan. In September 2019, Renewvia commissioned a solar minigrid to serve Village One, which is currently providing electricity at an affordable cost to almost 500 households, schools, businesses, institutions, and places of worship. In 2022, Renewvia expanded the size of the mini grid increasing it's size by nearly 10X and completing the largest minigrid in East Africa. This minigrid now connects nearly 2500 members of the community to power around the settlement.
NGURUNIT
MARSABIT, KENYA
Ngurunit is a remote community located in Marsabit County in northern Kenya, with a population of approximately 5,000. In January 2020, Renewvia commissioned a solar minigrid serving Ngurunit, connecting 200 households, businesses, schools and churches. Our solar power plant, connected to the community via a 11 kV line, is providing clean and reliable power with the ability to expand as energy needs grow over time.
NDEDA
SIAYA, KENYA
Ndeda is a small island in Lake Victoria 45 minutes away by boat from the small lakeside town of Uyawi. Until 2018, Ndeda had no source of power besides kerosene, petrol, and disposable batteries. Following a national solar minigrid feasibility study funded by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), Renewvia commissioned this minigrid plus another nearby on Ringiti Island. Payments are made easy using Renewvia’s mobile payment platform, using M-Pesa and Commercial Bank of Africa to facilitate the transactions.
After a few months of operation, we increased the generation capacity of the system with a 6 kW wind turbine that coordinates with our solar system to charge the batteries whenever there is sufficient wind. The lake breezes keep it spinning during the valuable evening hours when consumption is high, allowing us to provide even more energy.
AKIPELAI
BAYELSA, NIGERIA
In 2020, Renewvia commissioned a solar minigrid serving Akipelai, a busy town in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria surrounded by thick forests and slow tidal rivers. To date, more than 250 households, businesses, schools and churches have been connected to the minigrid.
The solar minigrid in Akipelai utilizes lithium ion battery storage to provide reliable power throughout non-daylight hours and is designed to scale as individual and communal power demand increases, without any financial burden to the community. The individual can simply buy more power when needed, as opposed to buying more equipment (diesel generators, home solar kits), which can prove to be unreliable, expensive and hard to maintain.
KAGINTAN KORI
TURKANA, KENYA
Located about 40 Km from Lokichar in Turkana, Kenya, Renewvia Energy Africa completed a minigrid that serves nearly 800 community members in Kagintankori. This location is rich in agriculture, bee keeping, and livestock rearing and the connection to power allows for advancements to be made in the community’s households, schools, and businesses.
NAKUKULAS
TURKANA, KENYA
In 2021, Renewvia Energy Africa completed the construction of a minigrid in the village of Nakukulas located about 30 Km East of Lokichar Town in Kenya. This minigrid serves both primary and secondary schools, the health center, Police post, and multiple churches in the area connecting upwards of 1,400 people to reliable power.
LOCHEREMOIT
TURKANA, KENYA
Locheremoit is one of seven minigrids completed by Renewvia Energy Africa in Turkana, Kenya. It is located midway between Lodwar and Lokichar along an under-construction highway that, once complete, will link Kenya and South Sudan. Due to the increasing traffic that comes with the construction of the highway, this location is fast growing with a lot of business potential for those that settle there. Our minigrid is currently serving households, businesses, schools, health centers, and churches.
LORENGELUP
TURKANA, KENYA
Lorengelup is a community located East of Lodwar town on the way to Kerio in Turkana, Kenya. In 2021, Renewvia Energy Africa was able to build a minigrid in this highly concentrated location near Lake Turkana to provide power to schools, households, businesses, health centers, churches, and pumping stations in the area. Very close to the health and shopping center along the highway, our minigrid supports the villages charcoal production, weaving, and more.
KAPELBOK
TURKANA, KENYA
In the most central part of the Katilu ward, Kapelbok is a highly concentrated village located along the Turkwell river in Kenya. It was formed in order to deter raids from neighboring tribes. Renewvia Energy Africa has the privilege of aiding the community’s security and protection against wild animals with the addition of the power generated by our solar minigrid. Many of the households in the area are constructed using mud and iron sheets and accessibility can become an issue when there is heavy rain.
KATIKO
TURKANA, KENYA
Katiko Village is an off-grid village located along Kalokol-Katboi Road in Turkana County which is bordered by Ethiopia and Uganda on the North and West borders. Much of the Eastern flank of the county is on Lake Turkana which stretches North-South for more than 200Km. The county is administratively divided up into 7 sub-counties, 30 wards, 56 locations and over 150 sub-locations. Katiko Village has a multitude of commercial and residential structures that were without electricity prior to the addition of Renewvia's minigrid. These institutions in the village include government offices, schools, health centers, shops, homes, etc. and the majority are now connected to power through the minigrid.
OZUZU
CROSS RIVER, NIGERIA
Located in the Etche local Government area of Rivers State Nigeria, Ozuzu is considered the Food Basket of the state with most people of the area engaged in agriculture. The Etche area was one of the first places that oil was discovered in Nigeria and holds the largest deposit of Natural Gas south of the Niger River.
In 2021, Renewvia commissioned a minigrid providing reliable power to approximately 250 households and businesses that serve over 1,200 citizens of the Ozuzu community. With the introduction of this new power source, the community was immediately able to start a commercial cooling business with Renewvia that focuses on the sale of ice to surrounding communities as well as its own. Renewvia is working on additional partnerships with the community to facilitate both current and upcoming businesses in Ozuzu in order to promote economic growth throughout the community.
LOMEKWI
TURKANA, KENYA
Located near Katiko is Lomekwi Village which is an off-grid village located in Turkana North Sub County. The main economic activity in the Village is fishing and prior to the addition of Renewvia's minigrid, many institutions including government offices, the village's primary and secondary schools, and health centers were in need of electricity. In 2021, Renewvia completed construction of the minigrid and is now providing reliable power many of the institutions that were in need.
OPU
CROSS RIVER, NIGERIA
Surrounded by green vegetation in all directions, the Opu community is located east of the Greenwich Meridian in the Ikom local government area of Cross River State. Despite the presence of electric poles, power lines and transformers in the communities, there is no connection to the national grid and therefore no access to electricity. The addition of Renewvia's minigrid in the area is directly connecting upwards of 1,100 people to the distribution grid and providing them with access to power. Farming and other income generating activities such as trading, and hunting are prominent in the community and patches of agricultural land in the area intertwine with residential lands in which small retail shops and businesses are located.
BALEP
CROSS RIVER, NIGERIA
Also located in the Ikom local government area of Cross River State, Balep is a neighboring community to Opu. It is bordered by the community primary school, and like the Opu community, it lacks connection to the national grid. The people of the Balep community share the primary school with Opu and join the people of Opu in the celebration of an event called "Moninkim" each year showing how intertwined the two communities are. Moninkim is a symbolic performance of ritual which marks the passage of a young girl to womanhood. The Balep community itself consists predominately of farmers and is a major producer of cocoa, bananas, and plantains for the Nigerian market. Renewvia's minigrid serves nearly 800 people in this community.
EKONG ANAKU
CROSS RIVER, NIGERIA
Ekong Anaku is located in the Akamkpa local government area of Cross River State which was established in 1973 and transformed into a local government in 1976. The area has an estimated population of over 150,000 people that migrated from Babinda in the southwest providence of Cameroon and settled in Nigeria. Consisting of two two main ethnic groups, the Ejagham and Dusauga lyong people, the Ekong Anaku community is headed by a Chief called an "Orbon." Renewvia's minigrid is currently serving a growing proportion of this community's population giving people access to a new reliable power source. The abundance of granite rocks and other solid minerals such as limestone, coal, and gold in the area has led to the establishment of many quarrying companies that can grow as a result of the connection to our minigrid.
BENDEGHE AFI
CROSS RIVER, NIGERIA
Bendeghe-Afi is a rural agrarian settlement located very near the Opu and Balep communities in the Ikom local government area of Cross River State. The settlement is comprised of two clans, the Abanko and the Olopko, and the community as a whole is headed by Chiefs referred to as "Munen" as they constitute the highest authority. Surrounded by agricultural land use this minigrid is providing over 1,400 people with reliable power. Like the Opu and Balep communities located nearby, Bendeghe-Afi is not connected to the national grid, so Renewvia's minigrid is currently the only connection to electricity. Those that are not connected to Renewvia's minigrid use Kerosene lanterns, candles, and battery powered torchlights for light and kerosene stoves or firewood for cooking.
EMEROKE
AWKA-IBOM, NIGERIA
Emeroke is one of 19 villages in the Eastern Obolo Local Government Area which is located in the Niger Delta fringe between the Imo and Qua Iboe Rivers. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the South with a shoreline of nearly 200 Km and the people in Eastern Obolo are of both Andoni and Iko extractions primarily speaking the Obolo language. Eastern Obolo has abundant mineral deposits with both onshore and offshore oil wells as well as fishing depots and forest reserves that include mangrove, coconut, peas, mango, and more. The Emeroke community relies mostly on farming and fishing to generate income and the majority of their transport operations rely on waterways and footpaths. Renewvia's minigrid is currently connecting nearly 2,000 community members to electricity enhancing people's daily life and overall productivity.