Eyes on the Ground: Giving Energy Access Policymakers the Right Tools to Enact Change

Background

Over 666 million people still live without access to modern energy sources, essential to maintaining modern living standards and economic activity (IEA, 2025). Achieving universal energy access by 2030 is a central objective in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SGD7), which has guided efforts globally. This has lead to significant progress over the last decade in most regions of the world, with the notable exception of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Across SSA, population growth has outpaced energy access, leading to a stagnation in access rates, particularly in rural areas. In this context, different technologies and programs have been proposed to meet the population’s energy needs in the quickest and most cost-effective manner, from traditional national grid extension programs, to decentralised energy system solutions providing a myriad of energy services (IEA, 2025). This new and technologically varied electrification strategy has, however, inadvertently also increased the complexity of coordinating efforts for local governments and international organisations. Therefore, energy access agencies across the region are investing significantly into the adoption of digital tools and data platforms to support policy efforts.

There have been significant advancements in the development and dissemination of Spatial Electrification Planning tools designed for the SSA energy access context. These tools combine Geographic Information System (GIS) modelling with energy system optimisation algorithms to calculate the least-cost electrification strategies, allowing policymakers to allocate public funds and coordinate the private sector with greater efficiency and accountability. Typically, these systems rely on a combination of publicly available datasets - e.g., census, and grid infrastructure data - and privileged data sources - e.g., mini-grid installations. Crucially, however, Spatial Planning tools have historically not had access to data related to decentralized energy systems installation, since there has been no requirement or facility to register these installations. Therefore, planning efforts have not been able to account for the actual distribution of decentralized devices, such as Solar Home Systems (SHSs), clean cooking stoves, or solar water pumps.

In parallel, there has also been an increased focus on digital data platforms to support policy monitoring and evaluation, particularly in relation to Results Based Financing (RBF) subsidy programs. Both large international donor organisations (e.g., World Bank) and governments across SSA are redefining their energy access strategies, bringing a renewed focus on direct public sector interventions through RBF programs, and both are looking to digital Monitoring Reporting and Verification (dMRV) tools to enforce their transparency and accountability standards. This has resulted in unprecedented data sharing requirements, which has led to the accumulation and aggregation of decentralized energy systems data at a scale never before witnessed in the energy access sector. Although this data is limited to subsidised installations, it nevertheless implies that dMRV platforms now aggregate the distributed energy systems data that Spatial Electrification tools have been missing; albeit, under a structure that may limit the interoperability between the two platforms.

Thesis objective and scope

The student will be given the opportunity to have direct real-world impact on the policies and practices supporting energy access agendas in Sub-Saharan Africa. Through a collaboration between KTH’s Division of Energy Systems and the Access to Energy Institute (A2EI), the student will analyse data from an ongoing RBF program - hosted by A2EI’s dMRV platform, Prospect - and propose technical and policy recommendations to facilitate its integration with Spatial Planning tools. The Prospect platform hosts data containing a wide range of elements related to the RBF’s operations, including:

• The number, location, and model specifications of installed devices, such as: solar home systems, clean cooking stoves, and solar water pumps. From these details, the student can derive various indicators, such as:

  • Total Photovoltaic (PV) installed capacity

  • Total battery storage installed capacity

  • Type and number of household appliances (e.g., TVs, radios, lights, etc…)

• Contract specifications of individual installations, as well as initial and recurrent payment data, which the student can use to derive metrics linked to affordability constraints.

• Sociodemographic indicators about the users, households, and business that acquired the device, such as gender, household composition, and rates of business female ownership.

Crucially, however, the nature of the data on Prospect reflects the design and requirements of the RBF program, with no present consideration for its interoperability with GIS-based planning tools. Therefore, the student is tasked with carrying out a critical examination of the requirements of both platforms and propose both a technical methodology for their integration and a set of policy recommendations to improve interoperability. This work should include at least the following core elements:

• An analysis of the scope and underlying methodological requirements of Spatial Electrification tools to identify which dMRV data elements are needed to achieve their effective integration and improve these tools’ utility during their respective policy phases.

• A methodology to systematically integrate all relevant Prospect data into GIS-based tools, defined programmatically in an open-source language (i.e., Python). This methodology should identify and address the real-world data constraints to achieve the highest possible geographical resolution for the various relevant data categories.

• A critical assessment of the main barriers and opportunities for the effective integration of the dMRV and Spatial Planning tools, including technical barriers, data sharing requirements and misalignments, and the potential improvements to RBF program evaluation through GIS-based tool integration.

Thesis structure

The expected deliverables are:

• An open-source python code published in an open-source platform like GitHub with proper documentation for it to be used by others and integrated into the Prospect platform.

• A thesis report following standard KTH’s thesis structure and answering all research questions.

• Furthermore, if the work is of good quality and the student(s) are interested, the research project will be designed to be suitable for a peer-reviewed publication in a high-quality journal.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand the role of digital tools and data interoperability in achieving universal energy access and advancing Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) in Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Analyse the methodological foundations and policy relevance of Spatial Electrification Planning tools and digital Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (dMRV) platforms within the energy access sector.

• Develop and implement a data integration methodology (using open-source programming languages, e.g., Python) to link dMRV datasets with GIS-based planning tools for enhanced spatial energy access analysis.

• Evaluate the technical, institutional, and policy barriers that constrain interoperability between planning and evaluation platforms, and propose actionable recommendations to address them.

• Derive and interpret key energy access indicators (e.g., installed capacity, affordability metrics, demographic variables) from real-world RBF program data to inform evidence-based policy decisions.

• Communicate findings through scientific writing and data visualization, reflecting critically on the methodological, ethical, and policy implications of integrating digital energy access tools.

Criteria for Evaluation

Critical criteria in the complete work, method development and metric for the final assessment are:

• Fulfilment of the ILOs for Master Thesis at KTH's ITM School;

• The student's initiative and independence in developing the overall research design;

• A critical discussion of the assumptions and results;

• Consideration of the literature.

• The ability to communicate the results of scientific work clearly and coherently.

Prerequisites

This project is a fit for students that are comfortable working with multidisciplinary subjects. Basic previous knowledge on how to conduct a literature review is required. Previous programming skills, preferably using the Python language, are required and knowledge of SQL is an advantage but not required. Previous experience with GIS modelling and energy system modelling (e.g., OnSSET) is also an advantage, but not required.

Duration

5–6 months, start January/February 2026.

Specialization track

Transformation of Energy System (TES)

Division/Department

Division of Energy Systems – Department of Energy Technology

Research area

Energy Access and Development

How to apply

Send an email expressing your interest in the topic to Camilo Ramirez (camilorg@kth.se) and Vasco Mergulhao (vasco.mergulhao@a2ei.org).

Supervisor at KTH

Supervisor at A2EI

Vasco Mergulhao - vasco.mergulhao@a2ei.org

References

IEA (2025), Tracking SDG7: The Energy Progress Report, 2025, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/tracking-sdg7-the-energy-progress-report-2025, Licence: CC BY NC 3.0 IGO

Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP). Off-Grid Solar Market Trends Report 2024: Outlook (English). Washington, D.C. : World Bank Group.