{"id":29748,"date":"2025-09-29T11:03:03","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T09:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartinnovationnorway.com\/?p=29748"},"modified":"2025-09-30T10:29:55","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T08:29:55","slug":"kraft-til-muligheter-sesa-avslutter-fire-ar-med-eu-afrika-samarbeid-om-ren-energi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartinnovationnorway.com\/en\/nyheter\/kraft-til-muligheter-sesa-avslutter-fire-ar-med-eu-afrika-samarbeid-om-ren-energi\/","title":{"rendered":"Powering Possibility: SESA wraps up four years of EU\u2013Africa collaboration on clean energy"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the EU-funded SESA project (Smart Energy Solutions for Africa) reaches the finish line this September, partners across Europe and nine African countries mark tangible progress on energy access, entrepreneurship, and policy\u2014while laying out a practical path for replication.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From October 2021 to September 2025, Smart Energy Solutions for Africa (SESA)<\/a> set out a clear mission: co-develop, test, validate, and replicate affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy solutions adapted to local urban and rural contexts\u2014improving access while avoiding lock-in to carbon-intensive systems. The consortium\u2019s work stretched across Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Tanzania, combining technology pilots with business models, capacity building, and policy dialogues.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Aaditya Dandwate is an Energy Systems Researcher at Smart Innovation Norway.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cSESA proved that clean energy innovation scales faster when it\u2019s co-created with communities and businesses on the ground,\u201d says Aaditya Dandwate, Energy Systems Researcher at Smart Innovation Norway. He adds:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLocal context isn\u2019t a nice-to-have\u2014it\u2019s the difference between a pilot that fades and a solution that lasts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Living labs and a toolbox for replication<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

SESA\u2019s modular approach connected demonstration, validation, and replication sites: a core living lab in Kenya, validation projects in Morocco, Ghana, Malawi, and South Africa, and replication actions in Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Nigeria. The intent was not just to test technologies but to build the methods and evidence needed for scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To speed up that scale-up, the consortium launched the open SESA Toolbox<\/a> \u2014an expanding, practical library of guides, datasets, and resources designed for policymakers, utilities, startups, and communities seeking to replicate solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technologies piloted ranged from decentralized solar PV and smart microgrids to energy storage (including second-life EV batteries), clean cooking, waste-to-energy and biogas, rural internet access, e-mobility, and climate resilience measures\u2014each coupled with business model development and policy engagement to enable uptake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Smart Innovation Norway\u2019s role: from incubator leadership to knowledge transfer<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Smart Innovation Norway played a cross-cutting role throughout the project, contributing to multiple work packages while leading the SESA incubator and accelerator in collaboration with Siemens Stiftung. Across two Calls for Entrepreneurs, the programme selected and supported 20 SMEs with a blend of non-financial mentoring and training as well as project subcontracts\u2014pairing EU mentors with regional mentors to ensure on-the-ground relevance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe adapted our European incubator playbook to African markets\u2014short, intensive sprints, regional mentorship, and a relentless focus on viable revenue models. That mix helped entrepreneurs navigate last-mile challenges and move faster from prototype to paying customers,\u201d explains Dandwate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond venture support, Smart Innovation Norway contributed to SESA\u2019s capacity-building tools and peer-to-peer exchanges, the energy-efficiency content in the toolbox, business model work, and demonstration planning alongside living-lab partners\u2014plus ongoing communication and dissemination to extend the project\u2019s reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What changed on the ground<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Across the living labs and replication sites, SESA:<\/p>\n\n\n

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The SESA project consortium.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n