News & Events
News & Events
News & Events

Students’ mini-grid project brings new sustainable technologies to Philippines

With the United Nations reporting that 1 in 10 people are still without access to energy worldwide, a team of eight EIT InnoEnergy Master School students wanted to do their part. Passionate about creating energy access for everyone, the team has taken on a challenging mini-grid project in the Philippines for their integrated Project of the Year (iPoY). We spoke with Natasha Witto and Emet Zeitz to hear how the renewable energy project is going and how they can help others do the same!

Project background

The “Yuzu Project” team collaborates with Okra Solar, AEIC, and Element Renewables ILAW to design and implement a mini-grid upgrade that introduces new sustainable technologies into the energy mix. The chosen location is the small fishing village of San Isidro. Emet shares, “In 2018, Okra Solar and their partners installed clean electricity (solar PV) in the community for the first time as an initial stage of a much larger electrification project in the Philippines. However, during typhoon season in the Philippines there are many cloudy days, leading to grid blackouts – so there’s a real need to hybridise the grid by adding a secondary source of sustainable electricity. Based on the weather conditions, we chose wind turbines.”