community energy and sustainable energy transitions: experiences from ethiopia, malawi and mozambique

This open access book engages with the difficulties of delivering community energy in practice, building on practical experiences in Ethiopia, Malawi, and Mozambique.

Community energy refers to infrastructure and institutional arrangements whereby communities take control and ownership of the provision of energy services and enable the development of renewable, off-grid energy infrastructures. While the size and technologies used vary, community energy incorporates the perspectives of beneficiaries on electricity generation and distribution through collaborative mechanisms for decision-making. The combination of off-grid infrastructures with community governance has enabled the delivery of community energy systems, which can provide additional capacity to existing grids, provide off-grid services where the grid is absent, and bridge on-grid and off-grid systems. Community energy joins social development objectives (e.g., access to energy, energy justice) with sustainability ones (e.g., reduction of carbon emissions) in practical attempts to reimagine and put into practice sustainable energy futures.

These countries face a substantial gap in access rates to electricity. Community energy has become an important response to advance universal energy access. Yet, this book argues that community energy must also be understood beyond providing energy access as a wider tool for achieving resilience and justice across the energy system.

The book presents a feminist-informed perspective on community energy to advance energy justice, puts disadvantaged communities at the center of the transition, and explores what room for maneuver exists within existing regulatory systems, supply chains, and systems of delivery. The book also places particular emphasis on education and the need to develop energy literacy across policymakers, technicians, and communities.

Vanesa Castán Broto is Professor of Climate Urbanism at the University of Sheffield. She is Principal Investigator of the project Community Energy And Sustainable Energy Transitions In Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique (CESET), funded by the UK Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). The project has built a collaborative, multi-institutional partnership bringing together a network of researchers across Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, and the UK to discuss social-oriented alternatives to deliver sustainable energy futures.