The TEA-LP in 2026 and beyond
Over the past couple of years, the TEA-LP has grown immensely. As we embark on our final year of the current project timeline, we reflect on our progress and share plans for the upcoming months.
“Personally, I am immensely grateful to be part of this group of universities and partners. Learning about their work, ambitions and personal journeys has been one of the most rewarding things in career to date, and it continues to shape how I think about collaboration and leadership of universities, but also about how we make true impact in energy access.” – Jiska de Groot, Project Lead
How far we have come
Thirty partner universities have now implemented cutting-edge masters’ curricula aimed at addressing energy access. What has been unique about the TEA-LP approach is how each university has adapted course content for their individual settings, making courses both universally and locally relevant. To date, 1247 students have enrolled in TEA-LP supported masters’ programmes and 76 student cohorts have completed these. We have delivered 2 training workshops for 97 academics and continue to support our partners through funding, marketing and training. Leslie Ashburner, lead of this work stream, reflects; “From the start, a key aim has been for the TEA-LP universities to develop a living partnership where they can grow and share expertise on sustainable and clean off-grid energy access. In 2025, we saw this aim materialise – several partners worked on two collaborative proposals and secured significant external funding that will support research and policy work related to climate justice, climate finance, and scenario assessments as well as intra partner visits and exchanges.”
In collaboration with 8 content experts, the TEA-LP has developed four Continued Professional Development courses aimed at providing vital skills to professionals already working in the sector; Future Female Leaders in Energy (in collaboration with African Management Institute); Integrated Energy Systems; Integrated Data Energy Analytics; Circular Economy and Sustainable Energy Transition. These CPD courses have been very popular, and we are delighted that to date, the courses have attracted 423 FFL students, 122 IES students, 96 IDEA students, 25 CSET students across 36 cohorts in 35 countries.
Mascha Moorlach, lead of CPD development shared;
“One of the most rewarding aspects of this work is seeing the tangible impact these programmes have on participants’ lives and professional journeys. The stories of growth, confidence, and community impact continue to demonstrate the importance of sustained investment in capacity development.”
Furthermore, two industry webinars have covered relevant and pertinent topics: Powering the Future: The Integration of AI and Smart Grids in the Internet of Energy and Green Hydrogen in Africa and welcomed 150 attendees. These webinars are available for viewing on our dedicated TEA-LP YouTube Channel.
We have also been incredibly excited to see our network strengthen and grow through various initiatives; our LinkedIn community is now over 4600 followers who have access to our content, updates and opportunities shared; we have welcomed three new universities into the TEA-LP (Jimma University, Addis Ababa University and Harare Institute of Technology) and most importantly, the implementation of the TEA-LP Rolling Fund has been a great success with support for 9 partner-led activities. The Rolling Fund offers reimbursement funding of up to 2000 pounds for partners to initiate activities or interventions they deem as worthwhile within energy access. Through this mechanism, we have supported workshops, conference attendance and faculty exchanges. Feedback from our partners has been positive and we are thrilled how partner-driven activities are creating local impact. Jiska de Groot shared; “The most significant achievement has been the launch of the Rolling Fund and, in particular, seeing how quickly and confidently partners have taken ownership of it. The creativity, initiative and enthusiasm with which TEA-LP members have proposed and led their own activities has reinforced that we are moving toward a genuinely partner-led model, rather than one driven more centrally.”
Through these three parallel, yet over-lapping work streams we have seen partners connect, collaborate and drive change in energy access. We have seen partnerships form that we trust will continue long after the end of the official TEA-LP project timeline and this is by far our greatest achievement – that our partners continue to engage, collaborate, share and drive capacity building in energy access.
What’s coming next:
The final year of the TEA-LP project is lining up to be a busy one. We hope to catalyse the momentum we have gained so far to further expand the network, deepen connections and inspire more collaboration and interventions throughout our partnerships. Jiska noted; “My primary goal is to ensure that the network continues to thrive and deepen, with stronger connections and collaboration across older, current and new partners. As TEA2 moves toward completion of this phase, it is important that the foundations we have built are strong enough to continue the learning, partnership and collective action that we have helped to facilitate beyond the duration of TEA2”
Similarly, Leslie shared; “In 2026, we will continue to support our university partners to produce masters’ graduates with the engineering skills to design off-grid solutions whilst also being able to engage with policy, community needs and business development aspects of renewable energy projects.”
We are excited to be sending several partners to the 2nd International Conference on Sustainable Energy Education, taking place in Amsterdam next month, where we will be hosting a workshop exploring how to develop relevant, meaningful CPD courses.
The Alliance for Rural Electrification Energy Access Investment Forum is always a highlight, and we plan on attending again this year! Taking place in Nairobi in April, we will be sure to have TEA-LP representation attend, and share the insights gleaned from this event.
The Rolling Fund is already supporting 8 women who have been involved in our CPD courses with various initiatives and the final round of the Rolling Fund for the rest of our partners will be announced soon. CPD course scholarships will support at least 10 qualifying participants in advancing their skills and careers.
We look forward to connecting, learning and growing with you!
