Electric Cooking Can Improve Lives, Reduce Emissions, and Boost Solar-Powered Microgrids

by Andy Bilich

EarthSpark is delighted to announce the release of "Kwison Elektrik: Solar Power for Electricity Access and Electric Cooking in Haiti." The report, in partnership with SUNSPOT™ and with the UK Government's Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) program details the pilot project

A research project in rural Haiti demonstrates the effectiveness of electric cooking technologies powered by solar microgrids to improve the quality of life for community members while generating new revenue streams and opportunities for energy access providers.

The full report is available for free download here.

Executive Summary:
Around the world, people are realizing that fire-based cooking is neither good for the cooker nor for the climate. As urban centers with natural gas infrastructure grapple with transitioning off fossil fuels for cooking, over 2.8 billion people are still relying on biomass or kerosene to cook. Traditional cooking fuels are often expensive, bad for people’s health, and bad for the environment. “Black carbon” soot from cooking smoke lands on glaciers and lodges deep in people’s lungs. The tiny particles accelerate climate change and kill millions of people—mostly women—each year.

Global “clean cooking” efforts have focused on improved cookstoves, biomass briquettes, and expansion of LPG. However, clean cooking has lagged significantly compared to the need, and the solutions have often not fully solved the problems. Recent initiatives focusing on electric cooking are a welcome shift. For too long access to electricity and access to improved cooking technology have been siloed. Combining the two issues has the potential to more effectively meet people’s basic needs while boosting the business model for solar-powered electricity systems in remote communities.

This study explores the potential of electric cooking in rural Haiti by deploying electric pressure cookers and induction stoves with integrated smart meters in 20 households connected to a community scale solar PV microgrid as well as cookers and stoves supported by stand-alone solar+battery systems in 8 off-grid households. Overall, the pilot project has showcased the value of electric cooking for both local communities and microgrid operators. Key findings indicate that electric cooking in this context is a:

• Catalyst for improved quality of life – Participants’ primary observation was the time savings and convenience of electric cooking compared to traditional fuels. Indicative willingness to pay values for most participants met or exceeded existing microgrid tariffs which highlights the opportunity for electric cooking to support improved livelihoods for vulnerable households. The electric cooking deployments also significantly reduce the risk of household air pollution.
• Risk and opportunity for microgrid operators – Electric cooking requires significantly more energy than what most “energy access” microgrids have been designed to deliver. This is both a challenge and an enormous opportunity for microgrid developers. The significant new revenue stream may be an incentive to build more robust infrastructure which, in turn, delivers additional benefits to the community and operator. That cooking in Haiti coincides with mid-day solar availability enhances the potential economics.
• Opportunity for smart incentives – Results-based financing and other smart incentives could specifically connect clean cooking to other sustainable development goals, especially food security, energy access, poverty alleviation, and health. This deliberate connection could help to catalyze and coordinate investments and service delivery to target communities.

Overall, the project is a first-step working to prove the viability, effectiveness, and attractiveness of electric cooking technologies powered by robust, reliable solar(+storage+smarts) energy systems supporting critical socioeconomic development outcomes in Haiti. The hope is that this will help to demonstrate key demand for the solution and create actionable evidence for how to effectively design business models, policy, and financing frameworks to better support future electric cooking roll outs.