The difference between the moment before electricity to the moment after is amazing to experience - from the magnitude of what it means for a person to the extensive reach of its effect across a society. For households, clinics, schools, and businesses, the power that solar minigrids have is remarkable in their ability to improve health, education, and socio-economic development. We support OnePower's mission to precipitate this change across Africa, starting with Lesotho and now Benin.
With less than a third of Benin and only about 18% of people living in its rural communities with access to electricity, per capita consumption of electricity in Benin is among the world's lowest. The limited electricity access within the country deepens disparity between urban and rural areas. Employment opportunities follow along this division, making jobs and economic growth scarce in the country's rural areas. Solar minigrids are well poised to tackle these twin inequalities.
OnePower's innovative and field-tested solar mini grid designs are optimized to provide affordable electricity to 75 rural communities across Benin. With both solar and battery storage, our systems will supply reliable power to the people who need it most. We won't stop there, as our projects will create jobs to build and operate our mini grids. And the essential power our projects generate for students and entrepreneurs will initiate long term economic growth in the local communities we serve.
Starting with 40,000 households, 100 health clinics, 200 schools, and 3,600 small businesses, our solar mini grids will connect the rural communities of Benin with electricity and empower growth where the need and value is greatest. As a local renewable energy enterprise, we will support capacity building by manufacturing locally and providing opportunities for the communities we operate in to join our team and discover the power of solar.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
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