SELCO Foundation, 2023
Implementing Partners: India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and associated organizations, local health staff and personnel, IKEA Foundation, DOEN Foundation, The Lemelson Foundation, Good Energies Foundation, HT Parekh Foundation, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), World Health Organization
Published In: COP28 Prospectus of Climate-Health Solutions, 2023
Health facilities provide care for the poorest in our societies and they are critical for India’s rural communities. Without a reliable energy source to power appliances, these health facilities can struggle to provide emergency services, maternal care and vaccination.
Climate events like heat-stress, excessive rainfall and flooding adversely affect their operations. Service interruptions require patients to wait for treatment or incur out-of-pocket expenses to travel to the nearest functioning facility. Resilient energy systems at these primary health facilities therefore ensure that critical medical appliances (e.g., efficient baby warmers, maternal kits, vaccine refrigerators and diagnostic equipment) can continue to function in extreme weather events.
SELCO Foundation’s ‘Energy for Health’ initiative provides solar power systems and energy-efficient equipment to health facilities across resource-constrained, climate-vulnerable regions of India. The goal is to reach 25,000 health facilities by 2026. So far 3,000 such facilities have been powered. Each solar system has a capacity ranging from 3 kWp to 15 kWp, with a battery back-up provided to ensure reliability.
SELCO Foundation and its partners work together on:
SELCO works with state health departments and district administration to assess the health facilities, decide financial allocations and design protocols for servicing. SELCO is documenting processes such as energy system design, equipment standards, costing and operations and maintenance into national-level guidelines. There has been government support for the program given that the program is in line with their goal of strengthening health systems. For instance, in April 2023, India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, sent out a circular to 12 Indian states confirming targets and financial contribution towards clean energy assets for health centers.
The pilot was financed by a mix of sources including philanthropy, and COVID-19 relief funds. The solarization of the full 25,000 facilities will leverage philanthropic resources (e.g., IKEA Foundation), corporate social responsibility funds and government resources (e.g., state health departments, district funds, National Health Mission). The program requires approximately $110 million. Out of this, $48 million has been committed by the IKEA Foundation.
The program is seeing positive impacts at multiple levels.
The initiative is improving healthcare access for over 9 million people. By the time 25,000 health facilities are reached, 170 million people will have access to better healthcare. Specifically, the initiative has ensured timely and better-quality access to healthcare, safer maternal care and reduced out-of-pocket expenses. In the North-East states of India like Manipur and Meghalaya, the initiative has helped in delivering state-mandated health schemes such as telemedicine and improved maternal care, despite challenges such as connectivity, road access, and difficult terrain
Reliable energy and equipment availability is improving quality of life for over 9,000 health workers. It enables health staff to better care for patients leading to greater work satisfaction and confidence. When fully implemented, the initiative will impact over 160,000 frontline health staff.
The initiative provides estimated 50-70% savings on monthly electricity and diesel expenses. Furthermore, more than 80% of facilities reported a reduction in vaccines wasted.
By ensuring continued healthcare provision in the aftermath of extreme weather events, the solarization of health facilities is building climate resilience.
In partnership with International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), WHO, and country Ministries of energy and health, aspects of the program are being replicated across Sub-Saharan Africa including in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone. The processes and guidelines for solar system designs, equipment procurement, quality installation and operations and maintenance are being documented for use by global stakeholders involved in energy-for-health initiatives in other developing country contexts.
