An inadequate understanding of the energy needs of forcibly displaced populations is one of the main obstacles in providing sustainable and reliable energy to refugees and their host communities. Here, we provide a first-order assessment of the main factors determining the decision to deploy fully renewable mini-grids in almost 300 refugee settlements in sub-Saharan Africa. Using an energy assessment survey and publicly available traditional and earth observation data, we estimate a total electricity demand of 154 GWh yr^–1. This figure includes lighting, air circulation and phone charging for 1.15 million households and the estimated demand of almost 59,000 microbusinesses and around 7,000 institutional loads. Using a set of techno-economic modelling tools, we thus compute a corresponding upper-bound total up-front cost of providing electricity access of just over US$1 billion. Deploying solar photovoltaic mini-grids instead of diesel implies avoiding greenhouse gas emissions for 2.86 MtCO_2e over 20 years.

对被迫流离失所人口的能源需求了解不足是向难民及其收容社区提供可持续和可靠能源的主要障碍之一。在这里，我们对决定在撒哈拉以南非洲近 300 个难民定居点部署完全可再生微型电网的决定的主要因素进行了初步评估。使用能源评估调查和公开的传统和地球观测数据，我们估计总电力需求为 154 GWh yr ^–1. 这一数字包括 115 万户家庭的照明、空气流通和电话充电，以及近 59,000 家微型企业和约 7,000 家机构负荷的估计需求。因此，我们使用一组技术经济建模工具，计算出提供电力接入的相应上限总前期成本略高于 10 亿美元。部署太阳能光伏微型电网而不是柴油意味着在 20 年内避免 2.86 MtCO _{2e的温室气体排放。}