Expert technical support for energy access programs.
Enabling finance to deploy renewable energy.
Mentorship and training to build local capacity.
We offer our partners technical support and consultancy in the areas of: Renewable Energy System Integration, Project Management, Business Development and Support, Data Analysis, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning. We have specific experience of solar minigrid design, operation and business planning, community engagement and integration of productive uses of energy.
Acknowledging finance as a key barrier to accelerating off-grid energy access, we leverage international donor funding with patient capital investment to provide the financial resources to deploy sustainable decentralised energy infrastructure to off-grid communities. Our partnership approach that prioritises local ownership layers technical support and capacity building to reduce risk to investors and increase sustainability.
A key challenge preventing the scaling of energy access solutions are the barriers facing local organisations entering the market. We address this through long term partnership and mentoring of local renewable energy organisations, making knowledge transfer integral to our technical support, and offering bespoke training tailored to technical and social enterprise business requirements. We also make learning outputs from active projects freely available and encourage knowledge sharing though all our projects.
Through coordinating Scottish government funded energy access projects in rural Malawi, our portfolio includes technical design and implementation of off-grid and microgrid scale solar PV, productive uses of energy, market assessments of renewable energy technologies, social enterprise business modelling and social impact monitoring and evaluation. Project delivery has been multidisciplinary spanning several sustainable development goals, with a strong focus on partnership and capacity building. The step from university to consultancy allows for a more agile and affordable offering to partner organisations, while maintaining the high standards, solid expertise and innovative approaches gained through academia.
Through coordinating Scottish government funded energy access projects in rural Malawi, our portfolio includes technical design and implementation of off-grid and microgrid scale solar PV, productive uses of energy, market assessments of renewable energy technologies, social enterprise business modelling and social impact monitoring and evaluation. Project delivery has been
multidisciplinary spanning several sustainable development goals, with a strong focus on partnership and capacity building. The step from university to consultancy allows for a more agile and affordable offering to partner organisations, while maintaining the high standards, solid expertise and innovative approaches gained through academia.
Aran Eales is a multidisciplinary researcher and consultant with expertise in decentralised renewable energy projects and energy access in Africa. Through long term partnerships with in country partners in Malawi, Aran has been part of the minigrid journey from the beginning, through feasibility assessment to implementation and data capture and business modelling at scale. The work has culminated in Aran’s PhD which focuses on exploring the business case for solar microgrids in Malawi as well as understanding performance and impact. Aran holds a research associate position at the University of Strathclyde, coordinating research, implementation and dissemination of outputs as part of the Energy for Development Research Group based in the Department for Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Aran is a co-founder of =Access Energy and is technical lead in minigrid design and business modelling.
Damien has been working to improve energy access in Malawi since 2008, when he lived in the country delivering the Scottish Government’s first renewable energy project and establishing the partnerships that would go on to deliver the flagship Malawi Renewable Energy Acceleration Programme. Since then, he has focussed his career on enabling sustainable electricity access for rural, underserved communities, leading multiple initiatives in Malawi and building strong connections and relationships. He has expertise in renewable energy and local energy systems, working across technical, regulatory and policy focussed issues. Damien is a communicator who loves bringing together multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural teams to innovate and collaborate on the delivery of SDG7. He has a depth of experience from a range of research and knowledge exchange projects delivered in partnership with organisations in Malawi, from working directly with communities to address local priorities to working with policy makers on national strategy. He holds a Masters in Electronic and Electrical Engineering with Business Studies from the University of Strathclyde and is the programme manager for the University of Strathclyde’s Global Renewables Centre.
= Access Energy is currently formed of staff at the University of Strathclyde, a world leading University in Engineering and Sustainable Development. Operating as a spin-out of the University, = Access Energy will receive funding and support through ongoing partnership with the University.
Challenges Worldwide is a Scottish International Development Charity that grows businesses in developing economies by providing training and consultancy. = Access Energy is partnering with Challenges, receiving business and financial support and advisory services, specifically to develop the investment pillar of the social enterprise.
= Access Energy is currently formed of staff at the University of Strathclyde, a world leading University in Engineering and Sustainable Development. Operating as a spin-out of the University, = Access Energy will receive funding and support through ongoing partnership with the University.
Challenges Worldwide is a Scottish International Development Charity that grows businesses in developing economies by providing training and consultancy. = Access Energy is partnering with Challenges, receiving business and financial support and advisory services, specifically to develop the investment pillar of the social enterprise.
