SWARM-E

A significant portion of the global population without access to electricity lives in Sub-Saharan Africa, where limited access to grid infrastructure increases challenges in water, energy, and food security, thus perpetuating cycles of poverty and inequity.

SWARM-E is a collaborative and interdisciplinary project involving civil society organisations, research institutions, and the public and private sectors from Europe and Africa. It aims to establish, maintain, and scale access to affordable, reliable, modern, and sustainable clean energy solutions through SWARM electrification – the creation of a bottom-up, modular, and dynamic infrastructure that forms a circular renewable energy system. In these systems, businesses and households with solar home systems are interconnected with those without through a low-voltage distribution grid. This aims to ensure inclusive access to energy while addressing the water, energy and food productivity needs of communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The project will install and operate five SWARM grids, with four located in Rwanda and one in Tanzania, to demonstrate the possibilities for local energy ownership and management as well as the tangible financial and social benefits that the concept enables.

The Wuppertal Institute leads efforts in stakeholder engagement, value chain development, and capacity building with a focus on understanding local contexts, engaging communities, and developing business cases for prosumerism and productive uses.