Get to know Energy for Refugees! by Energy for Refugees

Energy for Refugees is a foundation that aims to alleviate energy poverty among refugees and other displaced people around the world. The organization is run by volunteers, students mostly, and we have teams in four cities: Delft, Amsterdam, Leiden and Utrecht. The organization is growing rapidly, as we are also creating new teams in Eindhoven and Enschede. However, we would love to share what we have been working on here, in Utrecht. 

First, a little more about Energy for Refugees. The organisation was founded in 2018 in Delft by students of the Technical University of Delft to address energy poverty in refugee camps and communities all around the world. We do this by providing these communities with sustainable energy technologies, such as photovoltaics (PV) and battery energy storage systems (BESS). Ever since 2018, teams have taken up a project and aimed to complete it within one calendar year. With last year’s expansion to three new cities, we are now proud to say that we are working on four projects this year. And in 2027, we aim to find new enthusiastic people willing to put in the work with their own amazing project, just like we are doing this year!

So, why is this so important to us? The refugee community around the world is immense; the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimated that a total of 117.3 million people were forcibly displaced in 2025. To put that into perspective, the total population of Japan is only slightly bigger, being 123 million. And here’s the catch: 94% of these people lack access to electricity! That means no way to charge phones, reach your loved ones, turn on air conditioning when it’s hot, and all the other services which we take for granted but that are often not available to refugees. We do our work to give refugees a reliable source of electricity, whilst not contributing to global climate change. 

In Utrecht, we are currently working on a PV project in Kakuma, Kenya. This is a refugee settlement in the North-West of Kenya that hosts over 300,000 people who have fled from countries such as Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia and the D.R. of Congo. Here, we will bring together multiple refugee-led agricultural organizations into a collaboration that we call a Bio-Industrial Hub. All of these organizations create value by making sustainable products, such as mushrooms and bio-briquettes, and they are looking to increase their effectiveness via new machinery. For this, they need water and electricity, and that is exactly where we come in. The PV installation we are responsible for will power three boreholes, as well as all the required machinery, so that these local entrepreneurs can upscale their businesses. 

So, how do we make this possible? All in all, we expect to spend approximately €20,000 on this project. We actively seek out funding by approaching companies, funds and grants for our project. This is an enormous task; fundraising can be complicated, and we are ever learning how best to approach this. However, we also organize events, such as parties and conferences, for fellow students and whoever else would like to join. In this way, there is a very healthy balance of hard and meaningful work and fun within our teams. 

If you have been captivated by our story, we would be happy to talk to you sometime in the future! Next year, a new team in Utrecht will take on a new project, and for that reason, we are looking for enthusiastic people to join our community. We would love to tell you more about our organisation in a call, and if you would like to receive updates from us about when applications start for next year, you can send an email to events-utrecht@energyforrefugees.com. Let’s connect and make a positive impact together!