Clean EnergyNGO
Yemen's Women-Run Solar Microgrids
by UNDP Yemen · HQ 🇾🇪 Yemen
0microgridsSolar microgrids installed across four governoratesas of 2021-03-18 · may be outdated
0peoplePeople reached with clean poweras of 2021-03-18 · may be outdated
0% lowerReduction in household electricity billsas of 2021-03-18 · may be outdated
In Abs, in Yemen's Hajjah governorate, ten women trained by the Enhanced Rural Resilience in Yemen programme built a solar power station and became its owners and operators — the first privately run solar grid in the country. It started with 43 households and a $37,000 grant, and sells power at roughly 80% less than the diesel generators most Yemenis depend on. UNDP and its partners have since installed 13 solar microgrids across Hajjah, Hodeidah, Abyan and Lahj, reaching more than 44,000 people, and the model has seeded 163 solar enterprises in rural Yemen. Customers' electricity bills fell by about 65%. In a country where the grid collapsed with the war, the women who run these stations are the utility.