Gathering 18 partners from 3 African, 5 European countries and 2 associated countries, SUNNY is a 48-months project that aims to provide highly replicGathering 17 partners from 3 African, 5 European countries and 2 associated countries, SUNNY is a 48-months project that aims to provide highly replicable solutions for green energy transition and energy access in Africa. To reach that goal, five Renewable Energy Technologies, reaching TRL 7-8 will be improved, adapted to the local context and demonstrated in two sites in Uganda and Rwanda, reaching around 1300 refugees and persons in the local host populations. The technologies developed in SUNNY will be upgraded following circular economy and local value chain approaches in order to create economic activity locally as well as ensure relevance of the solutions and long-term sustainability. To ensure uptake, a strong focus will also be made on cost-effectiveness and adapted business models. Solar home systems will ensure the access to basic energy needs at a household level (PR1). Clean hydrogen (PR2) and biogas (PR3) cooking solutions will allow cooking to be decarbonised while improving health conditions. Refrigerated food storage (PR4) and smart solar irrigation, combined with biogas, will allow to improve food security in rural African areas and address the WEF nexus. Holistic models (PR5) and assessment methods (PR8) will allow to identify and validate the benefits and sustainability of the technologies, while social innovation through among others capacity building will support the long-term socio-economic impact (PR6) and ensure local uptake as well as a strong replicability potential. Indeed, SUNNY ambitions to widely impact humanitarian energy practices through a replication plan comprising the involvement of 15 replication cases with new interoperability of technologies, training activities towards African and EU-wide energy-access and development agencies and camps managers, and policy recommendations (PR8).

Aiming at decarbonising the energy systems of geographical islands, MAESHA will deploy the necessary flexibility, storage and energy management solutions for a large penetration of Renewable Energies. Cutting-edge technical systems will be developed and installed, supported by efficient modelling tools and adapted local markets and business frameworks. A community-based approach will be adopted to ensure the constant consideration of local populations’ best interests throughout the project. Putting together 10 SMEs, 3 industrial partners, 2 universities and 6 public organisations from 9 countries, MAESHA gathers strong partners with the needed expertise to develop and disseminate relevant solutions for a universally beneficial energy transition on islands. After establishing the proper use-cases and architecture designs to ensure interoperability (WP1), MAESHA will develop modelling tools from real-time to long-term energy-economy observations (WP2) together with adapted business, market and regulatory frameworks (WP4). In parallel the community-based approach will be launched (WP3). All these activities lay the foundation for the technical development of management systems for aggregating flexibility (WP5) and devices based on synergies with assets of the territories (WP6), optimised together through a flexibility aggregating platform (WP7). After systems integration (WP8), the solutions will be fully demonstrated on Mayotte (WP10) and their replicabilities will be studied in five follower islands (WP10). Dedicated WPs for communication, dissemination (WP11) and management (WP12) will maximize the impacts. With its activities, MAESHA is expected to lead to at least 70% RE penetration and reach more than 90% of Mayotte’s population. Through its strong local implantation and the focus put on replication and dissemination activities, MAESHA will deeply modify insular energy features throughout Europe and its impacts will be felt far beyond the project’s framework.

Gathering 11 African-based partners and 17 Europeans with offices or subsidiaries in Africa, the ENERGICA project is ambitiously fostering the collaboration between partners of both continents on energy access and sustainable energy development. Developing innovative and tailored solutions on productive use systems through innovative nano-grids in rural Madagascar in WP4; low-tech efficient biogas system, coupled with water purification demonstrated in peri-urban Sierra Leone in WP5; and solar powered e-mobility solution for boda-boda in urban Kenya in WP6, ENERGICA addresses a wide range of issues and provides solutions. From energy production, local renewable value chain development and e-mobility also providing flexibility services to the grid, ENERGICA is applicable to many different technical and socio-economic contexts. Built upon local stakeholders and through a co-creation methodology that will take additional local stakeholders’ inputs into account (WP2), ENERGICA aims to reach a powerful market uptake and wide replication (WP9) during and after the end of the project, with strong environmental and socio-economic local benefits (WP8). The innovative business models developed in WP7 will support this movement for local market uptake while some of the solutions will even rely upon local production and manufacturing, and local business and workforce participating to capacity building activities (WP3). Developing solutions that are based on renewable energy (mainly solar and biogas), and studying projected climate change impact evolution in Africa, ENERGICA will strengthen the joint EU-AU climate change and sustainable energy partnership effort and contribute to fighting climate change as well as improving health and social conditions in the demonstration sites and beyond. ENERGICA will demonstrate its solutions and gather data for 24 out of the 48 months that it will last and will directly impact positively more than 1500 local stakeholders across Africa.