In Omdurman, Sudan, Randa al-Mansour relies on rooftop solar panels to keep her household functioning amid a severe energy crisis. The Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been fighting since April 2023, a conflict that has killed at least 59,000 people, according to aid groups who note the true toll could be higher, and displaced some 13 million residents.
Infrastructure Collapse and Power Generation Losses
The ongoing war has severely crippled Sudan’s power infrastructure. According to the United Nations Development Program, the damage inflicted on the electricity grid has reached $3 billion. Power production plummeted from 4,400 megawatts before the conflict down to 1,100 megawatts. Two electricity department officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they lacked authorization to brief the media, reported that the drop stems directly from RSF drone strikes hitting various power plants.
The operational capacity of the grid has also been drained by a massive brain drain. Nearly half of Sudan’s top electrical engineers and technicians have left the country since 2023, based on a survey cited by a local labor union. Consequently, grid-connected urban centers face power cuts lasting up to 16 hours daily. Across the nation, at least 30% of the population lives without any access to electricity, with rural areas experiencing the most severe shortages, according to the World Bank.
The Financial Barrier to Solar Adoption
To cope with the blackouts, billboards advertising solar panels, batteries, and inverters have proliferated across Khartoum. Yet, transitioning to solar remains out of reach for a significant portion of the population. Mohey Eddin Abu-Bark, a solar systems business owner in Khartoum, explained that a standard household 10-kilowatt solar setup costs nearly $5,000. For lower-income families, the installation represents a massive financial strain.
Randa al-Mansour manages the expense because her husband works in Saudi Arabia and sends remittances home. Other residents lack such support. Manahel Madany, a 43-year-old diabetic civil servant living in a two-bedroom house in Omdurman with her mother and sister, cannot afford a solar system. She requires a functional refrigerator to store her insulin, but continuous outages spoil her supply.
“Every three to four days, I am forced to throw away all my insulin stock after it goes bad due to heat and power outages,” Madany said. She added that many local pharmacies also lack solar installations for proper medical storage, rendering essential medications unavailable. The Sudan Doctors’ Network has warned that persistent blackouts threaten vulnerable hospital patients, particularly those requiring constant care.
Untapped Potential and Import Hurdles
While the United Nations estimates that Sudan enjoys abundant sunshine exceeding 4,000 hours annually—giving the country virtually limitless potential for solar power generation—the domestic transition is severely hampered. High upfront costs for imported hardware and a rapidly depreciating local currency continue to block widespread adoption, leaving residents to navigate the sweltering heat and protracted blackouts as best they can.
