Access to Electricity in Informal Settlements: Literature Review and Load Curve Estimation

Today, about one in four people in cities live in informal settlements with severe lack of basic needs such as modern, safe, and reliable energy services. This study analyses the topic of electricity access in informal settlements, apporting two main important contributions. Firstly, a systematic literature review regarding the electricity access in informal settlements is presented, followed by an integrative literature review, highlighting a gap in this study field. Secondly, a load curve estimation based on survey data from an informal settlement in Nairobi is presented. Results show a load curve with two peaks (260 kW around 9:30 and 210 kW around 21:45) and overall, an energy consumption of 2.8 MWh/day. To conclude, the research examines the extended energy deprivation suffered by the community, which results in an average increase of 143% in the electricity tariff.