in terms of cost-effectively and sustainable extending grid electricity to the majority of households (due to the tremendous costs and time it takes to overcome the currently insufficient generation and distribution capacity and the wide scattering of households in the countryside) – and bearing in mind that it has taken over half a century to achieve even the ten percent while population pressure is still growing -, it appears that heavy reliance on the grid is unlikely to bring huge improvement in the overall electrification rate.  

to strengthen and extend its grid. In the case of Malawi, the Government has been looking for the past few years at the opportunity to utilize the existing interest of Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to produce and feed-in additional electricity from new public-private power plants, so that the industry, transportations networks and other basic services can grow and be supported. 

on a community and household level in areas with little grid penetration, decentralized off-grid energy solutions seem to be the only way to go if we seriously want to increase the rate of energy access for Malawians. 

is going to give you more information and resource materials to learn about the different decentralized off-grid technologies and approaches that are technically relevant and important to know if you want to make a decision about which off-grid energy devices to use or promote on household or community level. Please also consult our general resources section where you can also find some technical aspects in some of the manuals of different partners. 

on something you cannot find in these resources, please use our discussion forums on facebook CONREMA (Cooperation Network for Renewable Energy in Malawi) to engage with technical specialists from the energy sector (or on facebook MBAULA (Movement for Bio-Energy, Advocacy, Utilization, Learning & Action) if your question is focussed on bio-energy fuels or devices). on something you cannot find in these resources, please use our discussion forums on facebook CONREMA (Cooperation Network for Renewable Energy in Malawi) to engage with technical specialists from the energy sector (or on facebook MBAULA (Movement for Bio-Energy, Advocacy, Utilization, Learning & Action) if your question is focussed on bio-energy fuels or devices).