Sudan’s electricity infrastructure has sustained up to three billion dollars in damage since the civil war erupted in April 2023, according to a new United Nations Development Programme assessment that documents the systematic destruction of power systems that once served millions of Sudanese households, hospitals, and farms. The report paints a picture of a country that is being slowly stripped of its technical capacity, with civilians bearing the consequences of destroyed grids, soaring diesel costs, and the near-total collapse of the formal electricity supply chain.
The study, published on Monday, describes how the fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces has targeted substations, transmission lines, and generating plants across multiple states, with particular concentrations of damage in Khartoum, Darfur, and Kordofan. The destruction has forced utilities and private businesses to rely almost entirely on diesel generators, a fuel that has itself become scarce and prohibitively expensive as supply lines have been disrupted by the fighting.
Solar Becomes the Last Refuge
According to the UNDP, the destruction of Sudan’s conventional electricity infrastructure has triggered an unprecedented surge in demand for solar power systems across the parts of the country that remain outside active combat zones. Households, small businesses, health clinics, and telecom operators have all turned to solar installations as the primary alternative to an unreliable and often non-existent grid supply. The report describes a vibrant but fragile solar market emerging in cities like Port Sudan, Wad Madani, and Kassala, where entrepreneurs have opened installation businesses and repair workshops to meet the growing demand.
“The solar transition happening in Sudan is not driven by policy or environmental ambition — it is pure survival,” said Luca Renda, the UNDP’s Resident Representative in Sudan. “People are spending whatever they can to keep the lights on, the phones charged, and the vaccines cold. Without that solar capacity, the humanitarian situation would be catastrophic.”
The price data in the UNDP report is stark. A single 550-watt solar panel that cost roughly 75,000 Sudanese pounds before the war now sells for approximately 330,000 pounds — a fourfold increase driven by currency collapse, import bottlenecks, and supply chain disruptions. Batteries, essential for storing solar energy, have tripled in price, making the upfront cost of a basic home solar system beyond the reach of most families. Despite these challenges, the demand for solar equipment has outstripped supply in several markets, with dealers reporting weekly sell-outs of panels and batteries.
Critical Services on Solar Life Support
The UNDP report documents how solar power has become essential to keeping critical infrastructure functioning. Telecom operators — the backbone of Sudan’s information and financial systems — have invested heavily in hybrid solar-diesel systems to maintain mobile network coverage. Hospitals in safer areas have installed solar arrays to preserve vaccine cold chains, power operating theatres, and maintain emergency lighting. In farming communities in El Gedaref and Blue Nile states, solar-powered irrigation pumps have replaced diesel generators, allowing farmers to continue producing food despite the collapse of conventional fuel supply chains.
Salil Idris, a cattle herder in El Gedaref, told UNDP researchers that the switch to solar had been essential but difficult. “Diesel pumps posed major challenges, with frequent breakdowns and interruptions in water supply,” he said. “The solar pumps are more reliable, but the installation cost is beyond what most herders can afford without support.”
The UNDP said it had installed hundreds of solar-powered water systems across Sudan over the past five years, working in partnership with local communities and municipal authorities. The organisation called on donor governments and international financial institutions to increase their support for solar deployment in Sudan, arguing that the technology represented the most viable pathway to restoring basic electricity access for millions of people. “Solar can provide reliable power for millions of Sudanese,” Renda said. “But only if the international community is willing to fund it at the scale that is needed.”