The TEA-LP welcomes Addis Ababa University to the network

We are delighted to welcome Addis Ababa University (AAU) and its College of Technology and Built Environment (CTBE) into the Transforming Energy Access – Learning Partnership (TEA-LP). As one of Ethiopia’s leading engineering and applied sciences institutions, CTBE brings deep technical expertise, a strong public mission, and a clear commitment to advancing sustainable and inclusive energy systems.

AAU has played a central role in training the engineers, planners, and researchers who underpin Ethiopia’s technological and infrastructural development. Within this broader institutional legacy, CTBE has emerged as a multidisciplinary hub for education and research in fields critical to national progress. The College hosts a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes across Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Architecture, Urban Planning, Biomedical Engineering, Materials Engineering, and Renewable Energy Technology. This breadth enables CTBE to approach energy access not as a standalone technical issue, but as a systems challenge that intersects with infrastructure, climate resilience, urbanisation, and socio-economic development.

Energy access is a defining priority in Ethiopia and across the region. While significant progress has been made, rural electrification gaps, grid integration challenges, and the need for climate-resilient infrastructure continue to shape the national agenda. CTBE’s teaching and research portfolio directly engages with these realities. Academic staff and postgraduate researchers work across renewable energy systems, energy efficiency, mini-grid design, distributed generation, power systems engineering, sustainable infrastructure, and clean cooking technologies. Applied research spans solar photovoltaic systems, wind energy assessments, productive-use applications, and urban energy planning – ensuring that technical innovation is grounded in local context.

The College’s facilities and flagship initiatives reflect this practical orientation. Its Solar Energy Laboratory and training facility, established with support from the International Solar Alliance, provides hands-on training in solar PV system design, installation, and testing. The lab has supported microgrid and solar technology training for experts from federal and regional institutions, reinforcing the College’s role as a national capacity-building hub. Complementing this is a recently launched three-month mini-grid training programme for 50 trainees, implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Water and Energy and supported by the United Nations Development Programme. Focused on solar PV, wind, and mini-hydro systems for rural communities, the programme exemplifies CTBE’s commitment to equipping practitioners with immediately applicable skills.

Research at CTBE is closely aligned with real-world energy challenges. Faculty and students are addressing grid resilience through studies on voltage stability, load management, and renewable integration, while also advancing decentralised and off-grid solutions for underserved communities. At the same time, the College is developing tailored postgraduate curricula for national utilities to strengthen institutional capacity from within. These efforts are reinforced through partnerships with government agencies, industry, and international collaborators, ensuring that research outputs translate into policy insights, technical guidelines, and pilot initiatives.

CTBE’s engagement extends beyond technical excellence to questions of equity and institutional transformation. Through its work under the JUSTGESI project, supported by UKRI’s Ayrton Challenge Programme, the College is embedding inclusive and gender-responsive approaches into engineering education. By integrating social sciences perspectives alongside engineering, CTBE is strengthening pathways for underrepresented groups and cultivating a new generation of professionals equipped to deliver people-centered energy transitions. This interdisciplinary ethos – linking engineering, planning, policy, and social inclusion – resonates strongly with TEA-LP’s mission.

Membership in the TEA-LP network reflects CTBE’s ambition to further enhance curriculum quality, expand staff and student training opportunities, and contribute to global conversations on transforming energy access. The College has already begun sharing curricula in power engineering and energy studies with fellow network members and is keen to engage in collaborative curriculum development, joint research, and faculty and student exchanges. By learning from peers across Africa, Asia, and beyond, CTBE aims to refine industry-aligned, practice-oriented education that meets Ethiopia’s evolving energy needs.

In welcoming AAU to the TEA-LP community, we look forward to collaboration, knowledge sharing and driving equitable energy access across Ethiopia and beyond.