CEPREC Kick-Off Meeting Promoting Transition to Circular Microgrids in Africa

The much-anticipated Circular Economy Powered Renewable Microgrids Kick-off meeting took place at Warwick University in the United Kingdom (UK) at the Radliff Conference Centre between 24th and 28th March 2025. CEPREC, a UK multimillion-dollar project funded by the UKRI/Ayrton Fund challenge, brought together over 11 institutions from the UK and across Africa. The project consortium consists of two universities in the UK, De Montfort University and Warwick University, as well as Chatham House and over 9 institutions across Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and South Africa (see more information https://www.ceprec.co/). Additionally, over 20 industry and government partners have committed to supporting the implementation of the project’s aim across Africa.

According to the Principal Investigator and Director at CEPREC, Dr Muyiwa Oyinlola, Professor of Innovation for Sustainable Development at De Montfort University, CEPREC aims to integrate the circular economy principles into renewable microgrids technologies, fostering innovative energy solutions for the continent. In a continent where over 600 million of its population lacks access to reliable energy, CEPREC is positioned to have an impact in extending access to clean energy solutions.

The meeting kicked off with a brief introduction of the team members, followed by a discussion on implementing the circular microgrids addressing energy storage challenges, and engaging partnerships between academia, government and industry players. The project team is keen to use a triple helix approach in ensuring that partners across the industry adopt some of the innovations and the government helps to create an enabling environment for innovations through policies and incentives that facilitate faster technology adoption.

In attendance, Dr William Murithi, a Senior faculty member at Strathmore University, who is leading the Kenyan team in the implementation of the project, and co-leading work package 7, which seeks to investigate and develop the appropriate business model for Circular microgrids across Africa. He gave an impactful presentation during the kick-off on Kenya’s transition to renewable energy[1]. Dr Murithi noted that Kenya’s government is leading efforts in achieving Vision 2030, which at the centre is the provision of affordable energy, with Kenya seeking to transition to 100% renewable energy by 2030. Kenya is a leader in Renewable energy, with 90% of its energy sources being renewable energy.  Additionally, Kenya is the leading countries in Africa in geothermal energy sources, with an estimated potential of 7,000-10,000 MW.

Energy access in Kenya has grown over the last decade by 32 per cent, with the national access to electricity at 84 per cent. This is due to Kenyan electricity generation growing at a brisk pace in 2013-22, by 4.9 per cent a year on average, which outpaced the average real GDP growth of 4.5% and stood at 3,321 MW from 1800 MW in 2014. The Kenyan government, through various development partners, has championed access to renewable energy through the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC). Further Kenya has developed policies and incentives that promote access to renewable sources, such as the Energy Act (2019) that provides a legal framework for renewable energy development, mini-grids and private sector involvement. Further, the Mini-grid regulations (2021) define licensing, tariff-setting, and technical standards for mini-grids. Several incentives, such as VAT exceptions on solar products, lowered costs, and boosting adoption, saw the solar home systems sales grow by 15 per cent annually from 2018 to 2023.

CEPREC TEAM visit to the Warwick University Engineering unit, marking a race car from renewable materials, dubbed ‘Water 2 Race’

The team at Warwick University also visited Chatham House, where they were hosted for a discussion on policies and the implementation of the circular micro-grids projects. The event[1] at Chatham House saw the participation of the African countries’ high commissions. This event was graced by the High Commissions from Sierra Leone, Namibia, South Africa and Rwanda, who shared their country-specific experiences on access to energy and how the circular microgrids could transform the energy landscape not only in African nations but also globally. It is critical to note that the success of the project depends on effective collaboration with the various stakeholders. The communities are at the centre of implementation and must be engaged from the outset. Various organisations such as Acumen, Africa Development Bank, IRENA, and FCDO, among others.

The CEPREC team has committed to building capacity within the African Partner nations to enable the transfer of knowledge and technologies that will facilitate Africa’s Green Energy transition. The team will work with postdoctoral and research assistants to implement the project. Additionally, CEPREC will host over 15 doctoral students who will research different key areas identified within the project. The participation of Kenya is critical in the project, as it not only positions it to benefit from the implementation of circular practices to support green energy transition but also enables it to share its experience and expertise on energy transition. This noble project will be working towards greening Africa’s energy systems and providing an opportunity to harness Africa’s diverse resource pools to aid in its economic and social development.

Article by Dr. William Murithi

https://www.chathamhouse.org/events/all/research-event/empowering-africas-energy-transition

I have inserted this link: https://www.chathamhouse.org/events/all/research-event/empowering-africas-energy-transition

Audio Vlog: https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/a7a0f42f-d3d1-4062-8e6a-7f1563591a1d/audio