Renewable Energy
“The future is green energy, sustainability, renewable energy.”
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
The Challenge
Providing reliable energy access to every household is one of the largest challenges for developing economies around the world. Despite heavy investment and clear progress over the past 20 years, nearly 1.5 million people in Peru still do not have access to electricity (INEI, 2020). One of the major factors for this is that roughly 80% of the country’s energy is generated centrally (MINEM, 2023), and long distances need to be covered to distribute energy to remote villages and rural communities, often resulting in an unreliable supply with fluctuating currents, constant blackouts and elevated prices.
The Facts
Nearly 1.5 million people in Peru have no access to electricity
Roughly 80% of energy in Peru is produced in the central region of the country
In Lobitos we experience roughly one blackout of 2-8 hours a week
Only 4% of Peru´s energy is generated from non conventional renewable energy sources (solar, wind, etc.)
After food, energy costs represent the largest monthly expense for low income households (approx. 20%)
Possible Solutions
Peru is a country with vast natural resources, offering tremendous potential for the use of renewable energy technologies such as wind, solar, geothermal and more. These abundant resources coupled with the remoteness of rural communities demonstrates a clear need for investing in decentralized energy systems that can offer reliable electricity supply. In 2019 the Peruvian government announced they will invest US$ 102 million (54% of the 2020 energy sector budget) in electrification of rural communities, however most of this continues to be through the centralized national grid, which has proven to be extremely unreliable. At EcoSwell we are focused on providing people access to renewable energy and ensuring the resilience of key infrastructure and communities.
Our current strategy focuses on Three Core Pillars:
Designing and developing Low cost & High impact renewable energy and energy efficient technologies for community wellbeing
Securing the energy independence and resilience of the communities we work in
Ensuring other project areas of EcoSwell are leveraging renewable energy where and when applicable
Our Initiatives
At EcoSwell, after several years living in the northern coastal region of Peru, we understand first hand the energy crisis that rural communities suffer from on a daily basis. The constant energy cuts and high prices pose a challenge for our operations, but are even more critical for families and local grassroots organizations. We take a people-centered approach to designing and implementing projects, placing the community's needs at the forefront of our decision making. Our projects include:
UPS System installed in the Lobitos Medical Post, December 2019.
UPS + Solar system installations in Medical Centers
After completing our UPS + Solar installation at the Lobitos Medical Post in 2021, we have partnered the Nexans Foundation, Indeco by Nexans and Huemura to provide the Talara Medical Center with energy resilience through a similar system. The installation of a UPS + Solar system will allow us to safeguard vaccines and other key medications from energy cuts and ensure the continuity of service in the emergency room. EcoSwell aims to continue supporting Medical Centers across Peru with UPS + Solar systems to ensure their resilience and contribute to improving national healthcare.
Nazca/Enel sponsored microgrid installation in the Justo Pastor community, November 2022.
HYBRID Micro-grid installations
In 2022, we led the implementation of a 13.04 kWp hybrid micro-grid in the community of Justo Pastor, Nazca, Peru. This community of 40 families had lived off-grid for over 80 years and we were able to give them access to clean electricity through wind and solar energy. This project was done in collaboration with Waira Energia SAC and sponsored by Enel Green Power. EcoSwell aims to continue implementing micro-grid projects for off-grid communities across Peru, contributing to reducing the number of people without access to electricity.
Lobitos family experiencing electricity for the first time in their home, December 2022.
Residential PV system installations
In the effort to continue reducing the number of families without access to electricity, we have started to identify and work with families that are off-grid to design and implement solar PV systems and give them access to energy for the first time. In 2022 we did our first project and installed a 1.5 kWp system for a family of five, giving them access to lighting, power outlets, a refrigerator and TV, greatly increasing their quality of life. We plan to continue helping more families achieve their dream of energy access and independence.
Renewables Supervisor, Hugo, with EcoSwell volunteer interns and our solar distiller, March 2023.
Solar Distiller
Water scarcity is a major issue in the northern coast of Peru. For perspective, in Lobitos, households receive only 6 hours of water per week, and during summer months, the community can be without water for several months. The Solar Distiller replicates the water cycle, evaporating and condensing sea water to produce fresh pure distilled water. Over the years, we have built several prototypes and are close to finding a final, scalable design.
Cookstove expert Cesar, building a new cookstove model in Sichez.
Improved Cookstoves
Unfortunately, in the region there are families that cannot afford gas or electric cookstoves and still cook in open fires with wood collected from the surroundings. The smoke produced from cooking in this way poses a huge health risk for families, especially young children, who in many cases develop respiratory illnesses. Moreover, the low efficiency of an open fire consumes a lot of wood and puts stress on the local ecosystem. We have designed and built cookstove prototypes, and are working on improving efficiencies, before scaling to more families.
EcoSwell Volunteer providing information on energy consultations to local community members living off-grid.
Energy Consultations
Every household and family is different. We want to understand the energy situation families are in and support them in becoming more resilient and independent. For this we have developed a free energy consultation program where interns will work directly with families to understand their needs and offer assistance with understanding electrical bill structure, learning energy efficient habits, providing energy audits and, if appropriate and feasible, designing and implementing solar PV systems.
