GridWatch Accra Dataset
Explore 5 years of high-resolution power outage and voltage measurements from nLine's 1,300+ sensor fleet across 21 electricity districts in Accra, Ghana.
This comprehensive dataset informs critical policy discussions on energy access, reliability, and infrastructure investments in developing countries, where accurate grid performance data has traditionally been scarce.
Dataset Overview and Project Context
The GridWatch Accra Dataset consists of high-resolution endpoint voltage and frequency measurements collected by nLine over five years in Accra, Ghana. This dataset provides unprecedented insights into power reliability and quality in a major urban center during a period of significant infrastructure investment. It can help inform policy decisions, evaluate infrastructure investments, and contribute to filling critical gaps in information for researchers, economists, data scientists, and other stakeholders working to improve grid reliability and performance in similar contexts.
Key Details
- Geographical Coverage: Greater Accra Region, Ghana
- Temporal Coverage: July, 2018 - July, 2023
- Sensors: 1,300+ GridWatch devices
- Resolution: 2-minute intervals
- Scale: 21 electricity districts
- Measurements: Power outages, voltage quality, grid frequency
Project Details
- Focus Areas: Achimota, Dansoman, and Kaneshie districts
- Participants: Households and small businesses
- Measurement: Outage duration, frequency, voltage quality, and grid frequency
- Evaluation: Impact of the $316 million Ghana Power Compact
- Infrastructure Upgrades: Low-voltage line bifurcation and transformer injections
This data was collected as part of the University of California, Berkeley and Mathematica Policy Research independent evaluations of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Ghana Power Compact. The project aimed to increase electricity access and reliability through targeted investments in low-voltage line bifurcation, adding new transformers into the low-voltage grid network and splitting out existing low-voltage lines. The dataset provides a unique opportunity to analyze the impact of these infrastructure investments on power reliability and quality at an unprecedented scale and resolution.
nLine's field team enrolled 1,300+ study participants and ensured proper sensor installation and maintenance throughout the five-year project.
Data Applications and Research Opportunities
The GridWatch Accra Dataset offers a wealth of opportunities for researchers, economists, data scientists, and policymakers to gain insights into power reliability and quality in developing urban contexts. Some potential applications include:
- Evaluating the impact of infrastructure investments on power reliability
- Analyzing trends in power availability and outage frequency over time
- Comparing power quality across different neighborhoods in Accra
- Correlating power reliability with other datasets, such as socioeconomic indicators
- Developing and training machine learning models on time series power data
- Studying the effects of seasonal variations on grid performance
Researchers can leverage this dataset to develop new metrics for power reliability, create predictive models for outages, or conduct comparative studies with other urban areas in developing countries.
Data Collection Methodology
The GridWatch Accra Dataset was collected using nLine's GridWatch technology platform, which consists of plug-in sensing devices installed directly in outlets at households and small businesses. Key features of the data collection process include:
- High temporal resolution: Measurements taken at 2-minute intervals
- Real-time data transmission via cellular network
- Local data storage for periods of network unavailability
- Integrated GPS for precise location data
- Battery backup to capture outage start and end times accurately
This methodology allows for the collection of highly accurate and granular data on power reliability and quality, providing a more comprehensive picture than traditional survey-based methods or utility-provided data.
API Access
We are interested in hearing about novel uses of the data! To access the GridWatch Accra Dataset, please fill out the form below. You will receive an API key that enables access to:
- Our Python utility for programmatic data access and analysis
- The public GridWatch dashboard for data visualization and easy downloads of KPIs and sensor data as CSVs
Potential use cases for this dataset include:
- →Evaluate infrastructure investments' impact on power reliability.
- →Analyze trends in power availability and outage frequency.
- →Compare power quality across Accra's neighborhoods.
- →Identify areas with frequent low-voltage events.
- →Correlate power reliability with socioeconomic indicators.
- →Train machine learning models on time series power data.
The dataset and Python tool are licensed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license, which allows for non-commercial use and sharing with attribution. Please contact us if you have any use cases that might extend beyond these terms.
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