5 Life Is On | Schneider Electric www.se.com 2021 Social Impact Report 1.3.2 Electricity for Life Actions towards “Electricity for Life” focus on delivering access to green electricity for off-grid households and small businesses, and the humanitarian sector. Almost 800 million people live in off-grid areas, and our world has no less than 80 million people forcibly displaced. These people are in need for energy as a fundamental right answering to essential needs in homes (lighting, cooking, social connection, education, etc.). Whether due to the geopolitical context, natural disasters, or climate change, emergency situations continue to rise in an increasingly uncertain world. With nearly 80 million people displaced in 2019, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has seen an unprecedented number of people uprooted by war, violence, or persecution worldwide. According to the NGO Oxfam, an estimated 23.5 million people were forced to leave their homes in 2016 due to extreme natural disasters. Since 2016, Schneider Electric has committed to offering energy access solutions in emergency situations and has been working closely with the UNHCR to find solutions that are suited to the specific needs of refugees or displaced persons. In 2018, Schneider and the UNHCR signed a memorandum of agreement to seal their commitment with the deployment of Mobiya lamps in refugee camps over a three-year period. This agreement has been extended to 2022. Schneider has provided camps around the globe with modern energy systems and services. Such systems and services range from Mobiya lamps to microgrids – including with connection to EcoStruxure ™ for Energy Access – energy dispensers, solar streetlights, and training in electricity trades. 1.3.3 Electricity for Livelihood Actions towards “Electricity for Livelihood” focus on delivering access to green electricity for households and small businesses connected to an unreliable grid, and for productive businesses. Around one billion people depend on an unreliable, intermittent grid, and are in need for quality energy with solar backup equipment. Micro-businesses and micro-industries in rural areas need solar power generation and storage equipment; for example, in agriculture where solar systems can power water pumping and processing activities. “Electricity for Livelihood” proves that energy is a driver of economic development and poverty reduction. Electricity can make a real difference to the lives of farmers and ensure food security through irrigation, food storage, and processing, or linking to the market to ensure better prices, while allowing people to be the agents of their own transformation. In India, the “Energy for Livelihood” Schneider initiative is transforming the lives of farmers, in particular women, through the innovative Villaya Agri-business solution. This project promotes sustainable livelihood activities in the farming, agri-enterprises, food processing, livestock, handicraft, and other micro-enterprises. Sustainable and reliable electricity is also a prerequisite for enabling effective health services, especially in the fight against pandemics such as COVID-19. Providing local infrastructures with modern energy also contributes to socio-economic recovery through better health and a greater capacity to work and enhances rural appeal. In Nigeria, the COVID-19 isolation facility of the Eleme General Hospital in Rivers State needed a reliable system to provide uninterrupted power supply to its medical equipment. Schneider Electric supplied a solar mini-grid and power storage. Provide access to green electricity to 50 million people Schneider Electric is equipping five remote cities with solar hybrid microgrids in Chad, providing electrical distribution and monitoring software. The five sites are currently grid- connected but with only two hours of power per day on average and with priority given to productive hubs – homes are not connected. Thanks to this project, hybridization and batteries will make it possible to provide 24-hour energy to all 150,000 inhabitants. Equal SSI #9 50M 30M Baseline 2025 target 2021 Progress +4.2M
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