Village Help for South Sudan -

On- and Off-(micro)grid PV Electric Cooking: generating field data towards integrated energy access in South Sudan

THE CHALLENGE

In South Sudan, over 99% of households utilize traditional charcoal and wood fuels for cooking and the vast majority of cooking is on indoor, unvented, and unimproved cookstoves or over open flames. This results in high levels of household air pollution, which can lead to serious respiratory illness and death, especially among women and young children. Traditional cooking also perpetuates gender inequalities by placing extreme time and physical burdens on women, thus diminishing women’s quality of life and opportunities for education and income generation. Socioeconomic impacts are also seen from fuel costs which can limit available income for other expenses like education and food. Finally, the use of carbon-based fuels can lead to significant environmental impacts ranging from land degradation to climate change.

THE SOLUTION

To create an improved cooking solution for rural communities in South Sudan which lack access to sustainable energy sources, Village Help for South Sudan (VHSS) implemented an innovative project that leverages stand-alone solar and storage micro-grids to deploy electric pressure cookers (EPCs), electric induction stoves, and a general 30W outlet for lighting and phone charging. In the process of piloting this model, VHSS determined that the EPCs were effective in cooking most items central to South Sudanese cuisine and could yield 15-50% cost savings and 25-85% time savings when compared to the use of charcoal for producing the same dishes. Throughout the CHIC funding period, VHSS trained over 20 staff to cook with the EPCs and established a partnership with SunGate Solar to integrate electric cooking into their broader business model. Overall, they hope this project lays a strong foundation for future business models for both clean cooking and energy access in South Sudan by demonstrating the viability of electric cooking solutions and creating actionable evidence to improve the enabling environment for wider deployment of similar technologies.

www.villagehelpforsouthsudan.org

@VHSouthSudan