Project - Otumfuo
Installing integrated hybrid energy systems (solar + generator) in African clinics and hospitals will reduce GHG emissions and contribute to development goals.
Background: In Ghana, like many other African countries, the electricity grid functions sporadically and cannot be relied upon 24 hours a day. Public facilities, private companies and many households fill the gap with diesel generators. In many rural areas where there is no grid access at all, communities rely entirely on generators for electricity.
What we are doing: Working in partnership with the Ghanaian Catholic Church we have begun transforming rural hospitals, giving them clean and dependable electric power 24 hours a day. Together with a team from the Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University, we have developed a showcase for a smart system that utilises the generator to its maximum efficiency, supplementing a baseline of energy from solar panelling. Our project has generated considerable interest locally, in particular from the Royal Palace ('Otumfuo' is the official title of the King of the Ashantis). Without dependable electricity supply, it is difficult for the hospitals to retain qualified staff and fulfil their role within the community. Even minor surgical procedures, for example, cannot be undertaken without a reliable source of electricity.
This will enable the standard of healthcare provision to increase dramatically here, but it's also all being done in a low carbon way by the use of a solar power battery system to provide the electricity.
Dr Christian Jardine, Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University
The next step: We are working together with the church to finalise data gathering on all their healthcare and educational facilities in the country. We will then help them raise the funding required to re-engineer these facilities using the hybrid system. According to ECI calculations the showcase project, affecting two small hospitals, will represent an annual CO2 saving of 60 tonnes. The broader project that is in planning should multiply this, while transforming delivery of healthcare around the country.