Children of the Nations

Children of the Nations (COTN) is dedicated to providing holistic, Christ-centred care for orphaned and destitute children, enabling them to create positive and lasting change in their nations. Our vision is: “Raising Children Who Transform Nations”.

The Issue

The goal of this project is to upgrade the electrical system on the main ministry campus of COTN Malawi so that it is safe, efficient, reliable, and able to meet the demands of our staff and students.

COTN’s Njewa Campus in Malawi is utilised by 20 administrative staff and over 200 secondary school students, 160 of whom reside in our on-site boarding accommodation during school terms. The Njewa Campus therefore requires a reliable energy supply for its computer lab, general lighting, cooking, cleaning, refrigeration, and air conditioning needs. However, access to electricity in Malawi is a major challenge, with only 10% of the population benefiting from power in their homes.

The Solution

This proposal covers the cost of batteries, an inverter and remote monitoring equipment that will first operate as battery storage and then form the basis of a site wide solar energy system. The battery storage system will make an immediate impact by meeting the power needs of our offices, secondary school, computer lab, refrigeration appliances and kitchen ranges during blackouts. The most appropriate storage technology available are Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries. These are safe, no maintenance, long life batteries guaranteed for 10,000 80% depth of discharge cycles and 10 years.

Action Renewables has helped fund this project with a donation of £14,000

You can find out more about a recent staff visit to our two Malawi projects here.