Expanding Energy Access & Knowledge in Peru

Dear GlobalGiving Donors,

The past four months have been full of progress here in Lobitos, and we are proud to share the latest updates from ‘Expanding Energy Access and Knowledge in Peru.’ In our last report, we shared how we were anticipating looking ahead to continue our expansion of clean energy to more households, and medical centres, as well as expanding our educational initiatives. With the dedication of all our staff and volunteers, we are delighted to detail our recent progress:

Recent Highlights:

Maintenance of Solar PVs 

The solar UPS system was installed on the Lobitos Medical Post back in 2019, and as with all systems, requires regular maintenance to be able to keep vaccines continuously refrigerated and to keep the lights on during blackouts, and ensure patients can be treated. We have recently sent one of our volunteers to carry out an assessment of the system and to clean the panels to ensure everything is running optimally. This is particularly important in Lobitos, which experiences a blackout of 2–8 hours per week on average.

In addition, we also carried out maintenance on the residential PV systems we installed last year, that were detailed in the previous report. Our goal is not only to deliver hardware but to ensure that we spread knowledge about the technology we install, and to ensure that we are always there for our beneficiaries, be they private households or staff at the medical centres.

Buenos Aires Medical Centre Solar PV system

Following the success of our resilient energy systems in Lobitos, Talara, and Suyo, we’re bringing uninterrupted clean energy to another medical centre, this time in Buenos Aires, a town in the Piura province of Peru. With over 10 000 urban residents, this project will have a huge impact in a region that suffers from frequent power outages and will ensure that life-saving medicines and vaccines can be kept in continuous cold storage. Though not yet complete, our renewables team is working hard to design a system that can meet the centre’s requirements following a recent preliminary visit. We thank our partners, the NEXANS Foundation for making this project possible.

Looking ahead:

With roughly 1.5 million people in Peru still lacking access to electricity, and a deficient national grid that relies heavily on fossil fuels, the challenges remain immense. However, the success that we have seen regarding our recent electrification projects on community medical centres, as well as microgrids and individual households, remain very promising. We aim to continue to scale up the installation of these resilient solar PV systems, as well as expanding our educational initiatives to ensure that yet more communities can benefit from a just energy transition. Our future ‘Energy in Schools’ project plans to input a comprehensive course focused on energy and sustainability offered in four local schools, that will see students undertake practical lessons and work on a solar PV installation at one of the schools, which will help to reduce the unemployment rate and increase energy resilience.

A Heartfelt Thank You

Of course, none of this progress would be possible without the support of our generous donors and funders. We can only truly touch the lives of vulnerable people across rural Peru with your help, and are deeply grateful for your ongoing commitment and contributions that mean we can continue on this journey together. 

Once again, thank you.

Warm regards,

Andres Bustamante