Ten women in Yemen’s Abs district have built and now run a solar microgrid. The project was set up in 2019 with the help of the UN Development Programme. It helped the women build the power station.
The all-female team now runs a solar microgrid in Abs, Yemen, as their own business, providing affordable, renewable energy to a community living near a war zone.
As a result of the project’s success, there are plans to build 100 microgrids around the country, employing more local women, BBC reports.
Station manager Iman Ghaleb Hadi Al-Hamali explained to the media how the work had given the group confidence and hope. After they’ve fixed steel bases, they connected the solar panels with batteries and connected them to the houses. “Now there are diverse roles., Some of us read the meters and converters, while the others clean the batteries and solar panels,” she said.
Women make up around 7% of the workforce in Yemen. The country has one of the most significant gender gaps globally, and career opportunity for women is limited. Solar energy eco-project is challenging this.
More than half of rural Yemenis do not have access to electricity and rely on diesel generators. The women provide affordable, renewable energy to a community living 40 lm from the frontline of a civil war that has displaced 3,6 million people. One can access electricity for two cents per hour using this solar microgrid, where for fossil fuels, you have to pay 42 cents, which is for two or three hours. This microgrid is providing electricity for 10 to 12 hours.
There are now plans to build 100 microgrids across Yemen employing people who the war has displaced.
