A collaboration between the Nordic Folkecenter for Renewable Energy, the sister organization Mali Folkecenter and the Danish company Energivagt will increase the energy supply in Mali with a Danish-developed Sun Generator. The founder of the Mali Folkecenter, Ibrahim Togola, visited Nordic Folkecenter in August to coordinate further cooperation.
Perhaps you have experienced more and longer dry periods in recent years where you live? In the West African country of Mali, climate change’s increased temperatures and longer periods of drought very serious matter – here, it’s not just about the flowers and strawberries in the garden. Livelihoods are at stake. In addition, the demand for energy is not being met – so everything from small households to larger workplaces is challenged on several (and many) parameters.
“In recent years, we at the Mali Folkecenter have focused on setting up 17,000 solar panels in schools, maternity clinics and emergency rooms, while at the same time training local people to maintain them. But there is still a long way to go before ordinary families in Mali have access to sufficient and stable energy supply,”
says Ibrahim Togola, who is chairman of the Mali Folkecenter and who in week 32 visited Denmark and Nordic Folkecenter to coordinate further cooperation.
The collaboration between Nordic Folkecenter, Mali Folkecenter and Energivagt seeks to solve the energy challenges in Mali by developing a Sun Generator.
Use solar energy directly – and without loss
With 12 hours of sun every day for most of the year, the Sun Generator has great potential for energy supply for both households and workplaces.
“The Sun Generator, as we know it today, can supply sufficient electricity for kitchen equipment that has an output of a maximum of 400 Watts. But it is not enough for many workplaces, and therefore the goal is to scale up the Sun Generator so that it can deliver 3,000 W – i.e. 3 kW. It will be enough to, for example, operate a welding machine,”
says Jane Kruse, director of the Nordic Folkecenter for Renewable Energy, and continues:
“Such development work is expensive, and therefore Nordic Folkecenter together with Energivagt and Mali-Folkcenter will now seek to obtain two million kroner to finance a two-year development work of the Sun Generator.”
If you want to know more about the Sun Generator and the projects connected to it, read more here or stop by Nordic Folkecenter for a chat.
Interview with Ibrahim Togola
Our Social Media Manager, Joachim Plaetner Kjeldsen had a chat with Ibrahim Togola during his visit.