In Africa, mini-grids could very well be the cornerstone that will allow access to electricity to the 620 million Africans currently deprived of it. Indeed, the drop in the prices of renewable energies brought about new perspectives to Africa, experts reveal.

According to Francesco Starace from Italian power firm Enel SpA, Africa is just following the same path Europe went on years back. “Back 130 years, electrification in Europe started with mini-grids. There was a rich man who had a mini-grid for his house and his factory. Progressively, his workers got connected, and then there were transmission lines till we slowly reached the current network. There is no reason for Africa to do differently,” he told Bloomberg.

To prove this theory, the company will launch in three months the construction of a mini-grid which will power 100 villages in Kenya with solar power. For this project, Enel will partner with Kenyan Powerhive and American First Solar Inc. specialized in solar panels.

Duarte Cunha who coordinates the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa also bets on mini-grids. He believes that whilst “a solar panel, despite representing a significant advancement, feeds only a lamp or two, a mini-grid for its part can stimulate the local economy in a whole”. The African Development Bank also reached this same conclusion and now plans to triple its investment in Africa’s renewable energies pushing it to $5 billion by 2020.

Leo Schiefermueller, Director General of Austrian firm TerraProject, believes that though the African population currently lacking access to electricity will not fully be connected to power grid, mini-grids will make a tremendous impact for one out of five of these people who make a total of 120 million.