Measuring the role of grid reliability and quality in electric cookstove adoption

Motivation

For roughly 2.1 billion people, open fires and solid fuels are used for cooking which leads to severe health and environmental challenges. The global development community is striving to provide clean and efficient cookstoves to reduce smoke emissions from cooking (decreasing the burden of respiratory disease especially for women and children), improve household and ambient air pollution, reduce forest degradation and deforestation, and promote financial savings (by saving households money spent on charcoal for cooking).

Household air pollution, mostly from cooking smoke, is linked to around 3.7 million premature deaths a year. Historically, progress has been very limited compared to electricity access.

IEA Access to Clean Cooking↗

As efforts expand to improve access to clean cooking via electric cookstoves, there have been notable challenges in persuading populations to switch using cleaner cook stoves. Researchers from University of Pennsylvania and University of Chicago are evaluating potential drivers of electric cookstove adoption, using Tanzania as a case study.

For electric cookstove adoption and usage to be successful, reliable electricity must be supplied to households. Will the bulk grid be capable of supporting mass adoption of electric cookstoves among grid-connected households? Do regulators have the data they need to ensure standards of grid performance are met to support electric cooking?

Power quality and reliability (PQR) data is fundamental for e-cooking rollout for grid-connected customers. For example, frequent power outages may lower the utilization of e-cook stoves for grid customers. Sustained low voltage or voltage spikes may also damage cookstoves, cause them not to function properly, or lead to decreased appliance life span. PQR data can also reveal where and how grids must be invested in to support the integration of e-cooking appliances.

nLine sensor data aimed to support this pilot study in Dar es Salaam in answering the following research question: Does poor power quality and reliability hamper electric cookstove usage and adoption?

Project Description

In October 2024, nLine sensors were deployed with households for two months to directly measure grid power reliability as directly experienced by each household. Of the 61 households that opted to purchase a BURN electric cookstove as part of the pilot study, 11 households were randomly chosen to have a nLine sensor installed at their home. The households were located in three wards in Dar es Salaam (Makangarawe, Kibada and Chamazi).

nLine generated household-level measurements of PQR, while also being able to generate grid-level insights and assess whether there are different areas within Tanzania Electric Supply Company’s (TANESCO) distribution grid network that provide better or worse power for residents.

nLine sensors continuously measure outlet-level voltage magnitude, AC frequency, and power state at two-minute intervals at each household. These sensors measure the extent of PQR problems during key cooking times, and whether poor PQR is correlated with lower willingness to pay and usage. Researchers will combine this sensor data with BURN cookstove usage data to characterize cooking behavior before and after grid outages and voltage sags and spikes. Data from qualitative and quantitative household surveys will also used to help answer the following research questions:

Key Insights

Stay tuned for results!