Oxford alumni and academics win UKRI backing to deliver clean energy to communities in Nigeria

A consortium which also includes two academics from Oxford’s Department of Engineering Science has won £700,000 funding for the project through the ZE-Gen Technology Accelerator.

Along with Oxford Said Business School alumni Ishaq Bolarinwa, CEO of Anfani and Gyre Energy founders Tom Gibson, Michael McKenna and Dougald Coulson, they will create a network of storage-integrated solar/wind hybrid systems across the African nation, using wind turbines, solar panels and thermal storage at cold storage sites.

World Bank research has shown 85 million Nigerians (43% of the population) do not have access to grid electricity, making Nigeria the country with the largest energy access deficit in the world. Lack of reliable power is a significant constraint for citizens and businesses - resulting in annual estimated losses of $26.2 billion.

“People’s limited access to energy is holding Nigeria back. What we’re doing has the potential to change things – and it hits that sweet spot of being good for the wider economy and saving people money, while also helping protect the planet and improve air quality”, says Ishaq Bolarinwa, CEO of Anfani, SBS MBA alumni and project lead.

Professor Lucia Corsini and Professor Jesus Lizana, along with Postdoctoral Research Assistant Ana Outeirinho Morgado and DPhil student Bogosi Msutwana from the Department of Engineering Science, are part of the consortium. Outside of Oxford, it includes Sirius-X Energy (Anfani’s Technical Partner in the Phase 1 Discovery Phase) and ThinkClock Battery Labs.

"We’re excited to collaborate on this groundbreaking project to develop circular economy solutions to ensure that future wind-solar energy systems are designed to be reused, repaired, remanufactured, and recycled from the very beginning."

Professor Lucia Corsini, Department of Engineering Science

After competing against 20 other projects during the first ‘Discovery Phase’ of the programme, the Anfani-led consortium is one of just five consortia to have been moved through to the second ‘Lift Off’ phase, that will see them focus on industrial research, product development and testing. Following this second stage, the most successful projects will be put forward to the final ‘Flight’ phase of the ZE-Gen Technology Accelerator, focused on experimental development, involving the demonstration and validation of innovations in-country.

Commenting on the success, Ishaq added: ‘We are all passionate about the cause and have put in a huge amount of work to bring this to life. So, getting through felt like a reward for all that effort, and also recognition of what we are trying to achieve.’

Commenting on their hopes for the future, Gyre Energy co-founder Tom Gibson, who graduated from his Oxford MBA in 2024, said: ‘We’re excited for Gyre Energy to deploy into the Nigerian landscape, accelerating the opportunities that can be unlocked with renewable-energy powered off-grid cooling systems globally”. 

“This project is truly a 'coming-together' of the Oxford ecosystem to drive meaningful innovation into action.”