Four Leading Universities and The Rockefeller Foundation Launch Initiative Using Cutting-Edge Data to End Energy Poverty

AMSTERDAM, June 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- UMass Amherst, Columbia University, Carnegie Mellon University, Colorado School of Mines and The Rockefeller Foundation today announced the launch of the Electricity Growth and Use In Developing Economies (e-GUIDE) Initiative, an effort to apply data science to electricity demand prediction in energy-poor emerging economies. The e-GUIDE Initiative is being funded through a $3.8 million grant from The Rockefeller Foundation, which has a dedicated focus on ending energy poverty and improving livelihoods by leveraging breakthroughs in data science and decentralized energy to both accelerate the pace of electrification and dramatically decrease the cost.

While there are a variety of advanced tools available in Europe and the United States to accurately estimate electricity demand, the tools and methodologies needed to discover the best-fit methods for expanding access to reliable, affordable power in emerging markets are lacking. The e-GUIDE Initiative will partner with electricity service providers across Sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia to enhance the data available for planning and operating their systems, and enabling the roll-out of integrated electrification strategies, especially in rural areas where unreliable demand prediction has hindered universal electrification efforts.

The consortium is developing an openly available application programming interface (API) that will enable data and insights on electricity consumption growth to flow across borders and throughout the sector. The tool is powered by applying new machine learning techniques to geospatial data from satellites in conjunction with real electricity billing and consumption data from hundreds of thousands of emerging market commercial and residential customers.

"Better electricity consumption predictions enable clear-eyed, informed planning of future electricity systems," said Jay Taneja of UMass Amherst's department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the project lead. "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it. Better data helps governments and international donors to better direct investments to expand electricity access and grow emerging economies."

Ashvin Dayal, Associate Vice President and Managing Director of The Rockefeller Foundation's Power Initiative said: "Increasingly, actors across the electrification ecosystem - from planners to investors to utilities and project developers - need to better understand how electricity consumption will evolve as they work to integrate the most appropriate mix of grid and off-grid technologies. In the context of the 21st century we can't end poverty without ending energy poverty, and e-GUIDE has the potential to dramatically improve our understanding of the under-served electricity consumer and spur a new wave of innovation to reach hundreds of millions of people more quickly than would otherwise be the case."

Indeed, the ability to accurately predict energy demand is critical for grid-expansion in energy-poor areas. "Of the nearly 1 billion estimated to not have electricity access most are within the service territories of electric utilities whose finances frequently preclude them from generating the internal resources to invest in new access, maintenance and upgrades to their grid network," said Vijay Modi at Columbia University's Department of Mechanical Engineering. "For many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa the task would be near impossible without external loans that are a scarce and precious commodity. e-GUIDE will contribute towards shaping prudent cost-effective investment decisions, shaping grid roll-out to areas with a high potential for income generation that will be win-win:  for people's livelihoods and the utilities."

Intelligence and analysis at the center will also support coordinated investments at the nexus of the electricity and agriculture sectors. Paulina Jaramillo of Carnegie Mellon University's Department of Engineering and Public Policy and Co-Director of the Green Design Institute noted that, "In Sub-Saharan Africa almost 20% of cereals produced and nearly 50% of all fruits and vegetables are lost before reaching consumers. We believe that finding opportunities for coordinated energy-agriculture investments can simultaneously increase the efficiency of the agricultural supply chain, increase revenues for electricity utilities in dire need of sustainable business models, and support development and human well-being."

Even in areas with grid connectivity in emerging economies, electricity is often unreliable. Including data on reliability in their models, the e-GUIDE team hopes to inform the sector and help it address current shortcomings. "What is the first sign that the power has been cut? The lights go out," said Christopher Elvidge, Director of The Payne Institute for Public Policy's Earth Observation Group at Colorado School of Mines. "We are developing methods for rating the reliability of electric power services using nightly satellite observations on electric lighting. We plan to develop national level maps showing the frequency of electric power disruptions."

To ensure that the tools and methods developed by the project have a long term and sustainable impact, the Initiative is also engaging with companies and public institutions to improve data analytics capacity within the electricity sector in sub-Saharan Africa, through Carnegie Mellon University's campus in Kigali, Rwanda. "e-GUIDE is supporting internships for graduate students who come from across the continent to train young professionals to address critical challenges within the sector," said Nathan Williams at CMU's Department of Engineering and Public Policy. "We are also providing support to mid-career professionals to develop data analytics skills through participation in the yearlong Africa Industrial Internet Programme at the African Leadership University. These programs will help to fill critical skills gaps within the sector."

e-GUIDE is set to become a global center for collaborative engagement across the sector, fundamentally altering the ways in which governments and companies plan and roll out electrification at the national level. To find out more visit: www.rockefellerfoundation.org/e-guide and e-guide.io

SOURCE The Rockefeller Foundation

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