Supporting Greenwheel’s mission to expand energy access in West Africa

At Gridcog, we’re a proud team of energy nerds - deeply passionate about how technology and innovation can accelerate the global transition to a cleaner, smarter energy future. Our mission here is to accelerate the deployment of flexible energy assets around the world, pushing global decarbonisation and net zero goals closer than ever. So when one of our very own Energy Analysts, Sebastien Behaghel, told us all about his project Greenwheel, a non-profit bringing solar power to off-grid communities in West Africa, we felt compelled to get involved!

Founded by Sebastien and his cousin in 2023, Greenwheel’s mission is simple yet transformative: to deliver solar kits - a panel, battery, lights, and sockets - to villages where electricity is still out of reach. Through hands-on installations, local partnerships, and a deep commitment to community impact, Greenwheel has already brought light and opportunity to hundreds of homes across Benin, Togo, and beyond.

In this interview, we chat with Sebastien about the origins of Greenwheel, the adventures and challenges of building a grassroots energy movement, and what’s next for their growing team of volunteers.

What is Greenwheel all about? Where did the idea come from?

“Greenwheel is a non-profit organisation whose mission is to increase electricity access in West Africa. This mission stems from the fact that 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to electricity, even though it is fundamental for health (think clinics, but also the health impacts of wood-based cooking), education (studying after dark), and economic development (charging phones, running tools, etc.).

The second key observation we’re built on is that the quickest and most resource-efficient way to provide electricity to many remote communities is through a simple setup: a solar panel, a battery, a few lightbulbs, and some sockets. This insight came from my time working in Senegal’s energy sector, before founding Greenwheel.

In short, that’s what we do - we fund solar kits for villages below the poverty line, personally travel to each site for installations, meet the beneficiaries, and ensure proper maintenance is in place.”

What’s been your role there?

“I co-founded the organisation with my cousin in 2023 while working in Senegal, and led Greenwheel’s very first initiative. It was quite an adventure - we set off on motorbikes from Senegal to Benin for four months. Before and during that journey, we reached out to numerous organisations to support the project. That year, we secured key sponsors such as TotalEnergies and Kermarec, thanks to whom we were able to install 89 solar kits with the help of our local partners, Qotto and Bboxx.

Today, we oversee the association’s operations and pass on our experience to each new group of young volunteers embarking on their missions.”

What successes have you seen so far?

“To date, Greenwheel has raised over €100,000 to fund solar projects across three major missions. We’ve installed more than 230 kits of different sizes in Benin and Togo, as well as completed five larger solar installations in Armenia during an early 2025 mission to a region affected by an earthquake.”

What are the plans for the future?

“In terms of geography, we're focusing on Benin and Togo, which is where we've got the strongest partners for now. We hope to become key electricity access actors in those regions.

In terms of local integration, we aim to include increasingly more local actors in our operation. For example, the latest initiative included 3 women from the Women in Africa organisation, who accompanied our team in the installations, crucially serving as interpreters but also providing them with a form of onsite training in the field.

In terms of cadence, we've been building one key initiative a year but hope to increase that to 2 or 3 a year once we get better at planning and communicating.”

How will Gridcog’s support help?

“Gridcog has generously contributed to the fundraising round for our third and most recent mission, alongside the Octopus Energy Equality Foundation. In this mission, led by Diego and Baptiste, we installed 150 solar kits across Benin and Togo - made possible in part thanks to Gridcog’s donations.”

We can't wait to see how Greenwheel's journey evolves as they continue to support local communities. You can find them on LinkedIn here.