Decentralizing Power: Enabling Local Energy Resilience and Equity in Accra

Over 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity. While Ghana is projected to achieve universal access by 2030, this national milestone obscures lived experiences of energy insecurity— particularly in urban centers like Accra. Despite a reported 91% grid connection rate, only 17% of Accra’s households consider their electricity supply reliable (Afrobarometer, 2022). Traditional, binary metrics— focused solely on grid connection—fail to capture essential social dimensions such as reliability, affordability, equity, and resilience, particularly under intensifying climate and urban pressures. My thesis investigates persistent energy insecurity in Accra, Ghana’s capital, through the lens of dumsor—a term used to describe recurring power outages that disrupt daily life and expose the fragility of the centralized electricity system. Drawing on the frameworks of splintered urbanism and the techno-politics of infrastructure failure, the thesis explores how dumsor reflects institutional fragmentation, political contestation, and inequality in the energy infrastructure space. In response to dumsor, I examine whether decentralized energy systems, particularly solar, can offer a pathway to local energy resilience—defined here as the place-based capacity to withstand dumsor through cleaner, more affordable alternatives for sustainable and reliable power. The study combines a technical assessment of Accra’s solar potential with a critical analysis of policy frameworks, climate finance mechanisms, and political agendas. Grounded in fieldwork and interviews with stakeholders across the energy value chain—from regulators and municipal actors to utilities, solar providers, financiers, residents, and advocacy groups—my thesis identifies on-the-ground barriers to and opportunities for the energy transition. While distributed solar presents a promising alternative with broad reach, persistent challenges in affordability, coordination, and delivery capacity threaten its scalability. Without targeted policy interventions, there is a risk of reinforcing a new form of energy infrastructure splintering—where only the affluent benefit. My thesis concludes that addressing energy insecurity in Accra requires strategic institutional and policy reforms to reconfigure governance, empower municipalities, and enable inclusive financing and policy at the most local level to enable solar alternatives. Energy decentralization offers a promising path forward, but the thesis underscores the ongoing role of the state as a critical enabler of an energy transition that is sustainable and just.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Kulkarni, Nikita

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Carolini, Gabriella

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
• Copyright retained by author(s)

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/162074

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/162074