Written and photographed by Alexandra Wall, Project Manager at nLine
nLine recently traveled to Senegal to install sensors that will remotely monitor the quality of electricity delivered to customers in the Kaolack and Kaffrine regions of Senegal. This remote sensing is part of monitoring and evaluation efforts, led by Social Impact, of the Senegal Power Compact (a five-year, $600 million effort to strengthen Senegal’s energy sector).
For the next four years, nLine will remotely collect power quality and reliability data and generate key performance indicators (KPIs) to evaluate to what extent large investments in medium voltage lines and grid protective devices achieved its targeted outcome: to reduce technical losses and the frequency and duration of power outages for customers outside of Dakar.
This blog provides an overview of this project and a behind-the-scenes look at what it means to deploy 175 sensors across 49 communities in 6 days.
The Senegal Power Compact: An Overview
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. foreign aid agency, aims to reduce poverty through economic growth. One of the ways it achieves this mission is through the creation of “Compacts” which are five-year grant agreements between MCC and an eligible country. Compacts fund programs that are designed to create an enabling environment for private sector investment. MCC undertakes constraints and feasibility analysis to understand the primary constraints to economic growth in each country and then, a Compact is designed to address those constraints. For Senegal, two major identified constraints to economic growth are:
(i) the high cost of energy and low access to electricity for households and businesses and
(ii) a regulatory framework that is unfavorable to investment and growth
In December 2018, a $600 million MCC Senegal Power Compact ($550 million from the U.S. and $50 million from the Government of Senegal) was signed to address these significant constraints to economic growth.
The Senegal Power Compact includes three projects that are all aimed at strengthening the nation’s power sector:
(i) improving the transmission network
(ii) increasing electricity access in rural and peri-urban areas (”Access Project”)
(iii) improving overall governance and financial viability of the sector
At nLine, we provide real-time, longitudinal measurements of electricity quality and reliability at the edge of the grid (in fact, our first contracted project was for monitoring the Ghana Power Compact in 2018!). In support of an independent evaluation of the Senegal Access Project led by Social Impact, we are remotely monitoring electricity in 49 communities for a minimum of 6 months prior to — and 4 years after — grid network improvements are completed.
A key, recurring question in MCC Compacts is whether or not the investment achieved its projected outputs and outcomes. We are answering this question, in collaboration with Social Impact, by using our sensors to measure whether there is a reduction in service interruptions and improved voltage stability for consumers (i.e., do households experience less power outages and voltage fluctuations?).
MCC Senegal Power Compact’s Distribution Network Reinforcement Activity
One activity under the Compact’s Access Project is the Distribution Network Reinforcement Activity (DNRA), which aims to improve the quality of service and reduce losses in the distribution network in targeted regions outside of Dakar, the capital of Senegal. This activity is focused on medium voltage network improvements in Kaolack and Kaffrine regions. Improvements will be made to the 30kV distribution network and approximately 157 km of MV lines will be constructed to serve around 66 communities in key cashew production areas.
nLine installed 175 sensors in a sample of 49 communities along the MV networks that will be affected by the DNRA project.
Behind the Scenes: Installing Remote Monitoring Sensors
So how do we agilely install 175 sensors that remotely monitor the grid across 49 communities in Senegal? The process generally happens in four steps: (1) recruiting and training a survey team, (2) engaging in community outreach, (3) geolocating grid infrastructure and (4) installing sensors.
Scroll below for a direct view into this process.
Recruiting and Training a Survey Team
We recruited 15 individuals to join our five-day surveyor training program. For nLine, surveyors fill the role of engaging directly with households and businesses to carry out brief informational surveys and to install sensors. A majority of the trainees had prior surveying experience, while for others, who were local university students, this was their first exposure to field surveys and human subjects research. It was a level learning field though, and we started from ground zero by covering topics such as an overview of the grid network and how to identify a transformer (lower left) to how to engage with households and business owners (lower right).
After three full days of survey training, we accompanied surveyors as they walked through the community surrounding the training facility. The day’s goal? Every surveyor practiced installing sensors with at least two households or businesses (photos below).
Our practice day provides a valuable learning experience for surveyors. I shadowed a pair of surveyors that had success with finding business owners who were curious enough about the project to sit down with us for a practice survey. Sometimes this meant joining in drinking tea under the tree with the owner of an animal feed store (above) or sitting outside a barbershop while the owner met with clients and cheered on a soccer match (below).
Engaging in Community Outreach
We first had to do some prep work before survey teams could arrive at the 49 communities and begin installing sensors. Assane Fall, our Senegal Project Manager, met with governors, mayors and village chiefs to explain the project’s objectives and address any concerns or questions with sensor installations and data collection.
Geolocating Grid Infrastructure
nLine installs sensors at the edge of the grid (i.e., at wall outlets inside homes and businesses). However, we aggregate our sensor measurements to produce key performance indicators at the low-voltage level (i.e., transformer-level) and the medium-voltage level. To do this, we install at least 3 sensors under the same transformer. In each community we located the transformer and installed sensors with three households and/or small businesses connected to the same transformer.
While we traveled to communities in advance for engagement with local leadership, we took the opportunity to verify the location of transformers.
Installing Sensors
Surveyors sat down with potential household decisionmakers and business owners to understand if they met basic eligibility criteria for sensor installation (e.g. is there utility power at this location and does the individual plan to remain at the location for the foreseeable future). If so, surveyors proceeded with a brief set of questions to understand the individual’s experience with utility-provided electricity.
If eligibility criteria were met and the individual consented to sensor installation, then a safe and private location was chosen to install the sensor. In most cases, this meant the sensor was installed in the bedroom (below left and middle) or in a protected area behind a shelf or refrigerator (below right). Sensors plug directly into wall outlets or provided power strips; no electrical experience or interference with the meter is required.
By strategically splitting up the 49 communities, which spanned an area of over 55 miles, survey teams could visit three communities each day. It was a whirlwind 6 days of sensor installations that was a memorable and enjoyable experience for the team, as captured by these quotes from our field team on the final day:
Training was interesting and the field work was different from what we were used to. It was a pleasure working on this project.
It was a rich experience for me. Thank you!
Survey went well and we met our goal!
Overall, everything went well. Just knowing that the project will have a positive impact on these communities is a big satisfaction for me.
I enjoyed the learning from this project, such as now knowing what a transformer is.
What struck me the most about this project was the solidarity between teammates.
A Visit to the Regional Power Generation Plant
We stopped by the SENELEC (Senegal’s state-owned electricity company) generation plant in Kahone and two neighboring solar plants to learn more about the origins of the electricity that our sensors are measuring. Segments of the medium voltage network stemming out from the Kahone II Power Plant are expected to be impacted by the Senegal Power Compact’s Distribution Network Reinforcement Activity (DNRA).
The two solar plants (below) are producing electricity that can feed onto SENELEC’s 30kV three-phase grid network. As a result, the Kahone II Power Plant can produce less electricity from heavy fuel oil and diesel.
Continuing to Provide Rigorous, Real-time Measurements for MCC Power Compacts
MCC’s Power Compacts place a strong emphasis on investments in electricity reliability — ensuring the grid can provide a continuous, reliable supply of power to customers — and in promoting reliability as a necessary pre-condition to expand electricity access.
nLine is excited to continue to bring rigorous measurement to MCC’s energy compacts by measuring and monitoring the performance of electric grids. With nLine data, stakeholders can know exactly how many outages are experienced by customers, exactly how long outages last for, and whether or not voltage quality is within recommended levels.
Interested in learning how nLine can support your data needs? Please reach out, we would love to hear from you at https://nline.io/contact or info@nline.io