Over the next three years, Statkraft, a European renewable energy producer, will collaborate with the international development organisation SolarAid to alleviate energy poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa using solar electricity. Statkraft will donate $2.7 million in cash and equipment to SolarAid over that time. The funds will be used to provide clean, safe, and easy solar lighting to ensure that all households, schools, and clinics in the region have access to electricity by 2030.
Today, 548 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa are living in energy poverty, with the figure predicted to rise to 630 million by 2013 as the region’s economic recovery slows. The donation to SolarAid comes as a result of Statkraft’s acquisition of Solarcentury, a sustainable energy firm and the creator of SolarAid.
Statkraft is a global leader in hydropower and Europe’s largest renewable energy provider. The company generates hydropower, wind power, solar electricity, gas-fired power, and district heating. The donation also contributes to Statkraft’s efforts to assist progress toward the 7th UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of ensuring universal access to energy and combating climate change.
The donations will go to areas or homes that rely on expensive, hazardous, and poisonous lighting sources like candles and kerosene. The contribution will also help health care institutions by allowing healthcare professionals to perform life-threatening surgeries in the light and keep vaccinations such as those for COVID-19 in solar-powered fridges for safe administration. The collaboration was inspired by the acquisition of Solarcentury in 2020, and the companies want to ensure that everyone has access to modern energy.