Monitoring Renewable Energy Solutions for Improved Health Service Delivery

Motivation

Access to reliable, high-quality electricity plays an essential role in the delivery of health services. For example, health facilities that lack reliable electricity access are unprepared to deliver adequate health care due to poor lighting, absence of refrigeration and sterilization services, and insufficient use of electricity-dependent medical equipment.

In Sierra Leone, Sustainable Energy for All’s (SEforALL) critical market assessment of the country’s health sector revealed that 38% of health facilities lack any access to electricity and 80% of primary health facilities are not connected to the national grid. For those health facilities that do have some form of access to electricity, most continue to experience unreliable and inadequate access regardless of their combination of electricity sources. Many of these health facilities lack access to affordable, clean energy and rely on diesel generators with frequent breakdowns and prohibitively expensive fuel costs. Based on SEforALL’s market assessment, more than 1,000 health facilities in Sierra Leone either need new power solutions or a backup solutions.

To that effect, SEforALL—with support from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP)—is electrifying health facilities in Sierra Leone with renewable energy solutions and battery storage to provide clean, reliable energy to support health service delivery. Crown Agents—the implementing organization for this Hospital Electrification Project—summarizes the theory of change as:

If health facilities have on-going access to clean, reliable electricity…

then the quality and availability of health services will improve…

and diesel consumption to power generators will reduce.

nLine’s technology generates data-driven insights on power quality and reliability at health facilities before and after the installation of solar PV systems. This Healthcare Electrification Project in Sierra Leone presented an opportunity to use nLine’s remote monitoring technologies to evaluate the impact of renewable energy solutions on health service delivery, and set a foundation for power quality and reliability standards that ensure the provision of usable, sustainable energy services for health facilities.

Project Description

nLine uses its GridWatch system to continuously measure the frequency and duration of power outages, voltage and frequency levels, and the usage of generators. nLine detects, monitors, and disaggregates power quality and reliability issues by energy source (e.g. grid, solar, or generator) and identifies specific areas within a health facility that are experiencing better or worse power (e.g. in specific buildings, wards, or rooms).

nLine sensors were deployed in 17 already-electrified public hospitals in Sierra Leone. The table below summarizes the existing, functioning energy systems at each hospital prior to the SEforALL-funded installation of new solar PV systems with battery storage.

At six of the hospitals (Bonthe, Kabala, Kambia, Masanga, ODCH and PCMH) nLine collected baseline power quality and reliability metrics for five months prior to the installation of new solar PV systems. For the remaining 11 hospitals, nLine installed sensors to collect data for energy audits and energy needs assessments that will inform the design and procurement of solar PV systems with storage at these hospitals. Remote monitoring will continue at these 11 hospitals through the installation of the solar PV systems, which will provide a rich measurement of the impact of the new systems on power quality and reliability (pre and post-installation).

Sensor data collection at all 17 hospitals is ongoing will continue for at least one full year in order to measure seasonal power quality and reliability trends at each hospital.

Key Insights

nLine sensor data and aggregated power quality and reliability key performance indicators (KPIs) are supporting Crown Agents and SEforALL in understanding the impact of the newly installed renewable energy solutions on resolving existing power quality and reliability challenges at each hospital. The comprehensive baseline data collection provides a robust picture of the current electricity reliability and quality challenges facing these hospitals.

nLine will monitor power quality and reliability for several months after the new solar PV are installed to evaluate changes in the availability and quality of supplied power, quantify the impact of these changes on health service delivery, and inform standards for future health electrification projects. This longitudinal remote monitoring will also enable month-to-month and seasonal comparisons of electricity reliability and quality over a one year period.

Detailed results are forthcoming. Stay tuned!