Unleashing Mini-grid Potential for Scaling Energy Access: Beyond supply methods to addressing demand-side challenges and enhancing community engagement with the Community Energy Toolkit (COMET)
The deployment of mini-grids and renewable energy solutions in communities requires effective engagement and meaningful participation and buy-in from the community. The Community Energy Toolkit (COMET) is an interactive software-based tool deployed in community workshops to facilitate learning about mini-grids, build consensus, and align expectations about costs and level of service, streamlining community engagement and making it more effective at addressing demand-side risks in mini-grids. COMET is a networked mini-grid simulator that enables mini-grid developers and operators to work closely with community members using a workshop format to walk end users through various mini-grid design scenarios. In the process, COMET produces datasets to create robust demand estimates under different scenarios.
This presentatio will describe how COMET can support mini-grid programs with a tool or solution for more effective community engagement. We will highlight the key aspects of the COMET user interface and the workshop approach to community engagement and data collection. Additionally, we will present case studies of COMET deployments in Malaysia, Somaliland and Nepal. Through these examples, we will demonstrate how the learning-by-doing approach of COMET not only facilitates community understanding and inclusion, but also produces data and insights into community demand estimates and can influence demand-side management and/or stimulation. Furthermore, we will illustrate how COMET can integrate into larger programs promoting renewable energy adoption, clean cooking and productive energy use. COMET?s cost-effectiveness and capacity-building features make it a valuable tool for sustainable energy access programs that prioritize community involvement and ownership.
Speaker:
Ayu Abdullah
Executive Director
Community Connect LLC
Ayu has over 15 years of international experience in renewable energy and energy transition policy, and as an energy access researcher and practitioner focused on inclusive energy planning within renewable energy mini-grids. She is co-founder and Executive Director at the international nonprofit Energy Action Partners, an organization that focuses on capacity building and community development through collaborative mini-grid programs. Currently, she is co-creator and co-founder of the mini-grid software tool COMET, a community energy exploration tool designed to uniquely explore and manage demand for rural mini-grids. She has M.S. and B.S. degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Purdue University and an M.Sc. in Engineering Systems & Management from the Masdar Institute.
Executive Director
Community Connect LLC
Ayu has over 15 years of international experience in renewable energy and energy transition policy, and as an energy access researcher and practitioner focused on inclusive energy planning within renewable energy mini-grids. She is co-founder and Executive Director at the international nonprofit Energy Action Partners, an organization that focuses on capacity building and community development through collaborative mini-grid programs. Currently, she is co-creator and co-founder of the mini-grid software tool COMET, a community energy exploration tool designed to uniquely explore and manage demand for rural mini-grids. She has M.S. and B.S. degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Purdue University and an M.Sc. in Engineering Systems & Management from the Masdar Institute.