Request for Proposals for the uptake of new courses
This call is now CLOSED
TEA-LP is designing three new Masters’ level energy access courses to be taken up by universities across Africa, South Asia and the Indo Pacific into Masters’ level programmes. The courses that are being offered are:
- Course #1: Local Solutions for Energy Access
- Course #2: Mini-grids: Planning and Design
- Course #3: Appliances for off-grid communities
The course design process started with a dedicated virtual roundtable for each course, to determine the course Learning Outcomes and embed expert input from TEA partners and external sector experts. These inputs will inform the design of the new courses. The three course design leads are experts from the first phase of TEA-LP.
In the coming months, TEA-LP will select and contract with 20 new partners to support the delivery of the new courses to post-graduate students in their respective countries. At the same time, TEA-LP continues to collaborate with our original 8 universities currently delivering their energy access Masters’ programmes.
- Course#1: Local Solutions for Energy Access
This high-level, multi-disciplinary course aims to provide the postgraduate student with a framework for understanding the off-grid or distributed renewable energy (DRE) sector, while also providing them with the necessary skills and knowledge to assess its challenges and to offer potential solutions for achieving SDG7. It covers mini-grids as well as stand-alone solar systems and possible future grid integration. The course introduces the different distributed generation options (including individual DRE like standalone solar home systems and micro-grids) as well as drivers and barriers to their implementation. The student will be introduced to the latest developments in the EA sector, in terms of technology solutions, energy demand and socio-economic considerations, business models, financial and policy options as well as environmental considerations. The student will also gain some experience of the latest tools and data used for decision-making in the sector. The student will be able to apply this knowledge holistically to analyse and contribute to local and regional distributed renewable energy (DRE) solutions. If situated early on in a Masters’ programme, the course aims to open options for career paths or entrepreneurship opportunities in the energy access sector.
Course #1 Lead: Prof. Augustine Makokha, Moi University.
- Course #2: Mini-grids: Planning and Design
This course aims to impart holistic, high-level, practical skills to plan and complete a technical design for a mini-grid to support sustainable energy access for off-grid communities. After completing the course, the student should be able to identify and apply the most suitable socio-economic and business design to implement mini-grids in that country. Throughout the course, the student will examine relevant case studies (both successful and less successful) and work in groups to analyse the topic. At the end of each unit, the student will complete a section of a mini-grid project development plan for a given context. At the end of the course, the student will present the project development plan to a panel (of developers or examiners). One of the key objectives would be to help students understand how mini-grids are developed today, but that this “status quo” is not sufficient to make significant progress towards SDG7. So students need to be pushed to think differently. A guiding question is: how does a developer scale-up and develop a portfolio of 1,000 mini grids in 2 years?
Course #2 Lead: Prof Moeketsi Mpholo, National University of Lesotho.
- Course #3 Appliances for off-grid communities
This multi-disciplinary course aims to provide the Master’s level student with the knowledge and skills to contribute to the growing off-grid appliances sector by assessing potential innovative solutions in the context of technology readiness, market opportunities and local socio-economic conditions. The course provides insights into the technical, environmental, socio-economic, policy and business aspects of off-grid appliances that improve quality of life, livelihoods, local economies and climate resilience. The student will learn to assess appliances’ efficiency, performance, durability, affordability. The student will learn to conduct market research that assesses appliance preferences, financing options for end-users as well as the expectations of maintenance and after-sales service. This course supports the following approaches:• A systems thinking approach, recognising that off-grid appliances are part of an ecosystem;• A case study approach highlighting the best examples of global and regional solutions as well as national and local solutions;• the use of data for decision-making.
Course #3 Lead: Prof. Ruona Diemuodeke, Port Harcourt University.
