Around 1.2 billion people worldwide do not yet have access to electricity. With microgrids, even remote places can be electrified, with renewable energies that are climate-neutral and sustainable. Upper Blinkwater in South Africa is a model village.
When Neliswa Gaju wants to know what's going on in the world right now, she goes into the living room and turns on her TV. That may sound trivial, or like a boring, self-evident routine. But it's not. Because Neliswa lives in Upper Blinkwater in the Eastern Cape of South Africa about 200 km north-east of Port Elisabeth. The small village with about 70 households is so remote that it was not connected to the national electricity grid. For a long time, there was no electricity here until 2020, when a small independent power grid - a so-called microgrid - was installed. Many different companies and associations are involved in the project, which was initiated by the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa and the federal state of Lower Saxony in Germany.
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When Neliswa Gaju wants to know what's going on in the world right now, she goes into the living room and turns on her TV. That may sound trivial, or like a boring, self-evident routine. But it's not. Because Neliswa lives in Upper Blinkwater in the Eastern Cape of South Africa about 200 km north-east of Port Elisabeth. The small village with about 70 households is so remote that it was not connected to the national electricity grid. For a long time, there was no electricity here until 2020, when a small independent power grid - a so-called microgrid - was installed. Many different companies and associations are involved in the project, which was initiated by the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa and the federal state of Lower Saxony in Germany.
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“Everything is easy now”
“Our life was very, very difficult at that time of our parents, the old time,” says Gaju. “At that time, we were using fire for cooking, even for making warm water. Every morning, staying up early in the morning and doing that job. And cooking, everything we were doing on the fire. Even lighting, we were using candles and paraffin to light at night. Now, everything has changed. Everything is easy. We can use electricity for cooking, ironing, fridge, washing machines. We have electric lights and TVs. We can watch everything, even from overseas.”
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