The WEFE (Water–Energy–Food–Ecosystems) cluster is a collaboration of EU-funded research and innovation projects developing clean energy solutions for off-grid communities in Africa. It centres on energy access, water availability, food security and healthy ecosystems as key interconnected factors that should be addressed together. Through knowledge exchange, sharing best practices, joint communications and participation in events, the cluster helps constituent projects learn from one another and increase their collective impact; and thus improves outcomes across the EU project landscape, and eventual applications and impacts. Its aim is to support sustainable, scalable solutions that improve livelihoods and strengthen climate resilience.

WEFE involves seven EU projects. In addition to LoCEL-H2, Africa Energy Parks is developing a renewable energy park in rural Ghana that combines solar power, battery storage and biomass energy with productive uses of electricity and improved cookstoves. RePOWER is developing modular, plug-and-play renewable microgrids to deliver reliable electricity and support local businesses in off-grid African communities. SUNNY is adapting renewable energy technologies, including solar home systems, clean cooking and refrigerated food storage, to meet the needs of refugee and host communities in Uganda and Rwanda. AGRICOOL is developing solar-powered, containerised cooling and storage systems to reduce post-harvest food losses and strengthen rural agricultural livelihoods in Africa. SWARM-E connects households and businesses through modular renewable electricity-sharing networks, improving energy access and supporting water and food-related activities in Rwanda and Tanzania. REFFECT AFRICA is demonstrating how agricultural and food-industry waste can be converted into renewable energy through biomass gasification in Morocco, Ghana and South Africa.

LoCEL-H2 is hosting the WEFE cluster for 6 months between September 2026 and February 2027. During these meetings we will discuss activities across the seven projects, conduct joint communications and dissemination activities, and in general host a forum where we can share common findings and strategies for the delivery of our similar projects.

Our project is proud to be hosting these meetings. We have already held the September and October meetings, during which we have discussed some interesting themes. From my own perspective, acting as a host/chair for these calls was initially somewhat daunting. Although I’ve many years of experience in chairing, I am a relative newcomer to large European projects, let alone project clusters. But only two meetings in, and I am already looking forward to the next meeting – and before that to foster more collaboration. We have found that challenges across our projects can be similar. For instance, external risks such as those associated with logistics and transportation, and the financial strains on small project partners, present major difficulties for our European projects. In addition, the power of networking and sharing activities is becoming very evident.

The September and October WEFE cluster meetings brought projects together to share progress on renewable energy installations and clean cooking activities in Africa, exchange lessons on project delivery and risk management, and explore opportunities for future collaboration. Discussions also covered upcoming webinars on sustainable energy access, financing and battery technologies, alongside opportunities to share publications, coordinate communications and connect at sector events. Across both meetings, the emphasis was on learning from shared experience and extending the reach of project results through collaboration. In our next cluster meeting, we will welcome the first of our external speakers, Devine Matare of Renew’n’Able Malawi (https://www.renewnablemalawi.org/) .

We will share upcoming webinars for all partners across LinkedIn and this website, going forward. Links to each of the projects are below…

Africa Energy Parks

RePOWER

SUNNY

AGRICOOL

SWARM-E

REFFECT AFRICA