The United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) Africa Office, the Renewable Energy Solutions For Africa (RES4Africa) and other partners will be conducting a Micro-Grid Training for the Africa Women Energy Entrepreneurs from the East Africa Community in Nairobi, Kenya from April 4 to 13, 2018.
Over 25 women working as energy entrepreneurs are expected to participate in the training, including other women entrepreneurs from Europe including Italy. The training is expected to boost south-south cooperation and share best practices.
The objective of the training is to enhance access to energy in rural communities, local enterprises and job creation. This, according to the UN, will positively impact on health and education services, women empowerment, environmental protection and climate change mitigation.
The workshop holds at the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) facilities in Nairobi and will use the 20 – 40kW micro-grid for hands-on training. It will support managers and engineers to plan, design, build and operate grid connected as well as hybrid mini-grids.
The workshop holds within the framework of the implementation of the innovative environmental solutions, as recommended by the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), which has called on countries in the region to strengthen the technical and business skills of African women entrepreneurs in the energy sector.
The workshop will be led by the Micro-Grid Academy (MGA), which is an Eastern-African capacity building platform that aims to enhance access to energy and green jobs market through technical and entrepreneurial training programmes. The platform focuses on decentralised renewable energy solutions.
The UN Environment will convene a one-day meeting on Tuesday, April 10, 2018 to share best practices on renewable energy development among trainees, instructors and representatives of partners of Microgrid Academy.
