Timbuktu: Healthcare powered by solar energy
In the Timbuktu region of northern Mali, MSF teams have just equipped the Niafounké Hospital with a new solar panel installation. This energy transition strengthens the hospital’s autonomy and ensures that communities who live in this remote area can access care reliably.
Until recently, Niafounké Hospital relied almost entirely on a diesel-powered thermal power plant, which was prone to frequent power outages.
To maintain healthcare services, medical teams had to use a generator every day, at high cost and with limited reliability. The new solar installation now covers around 60 percent of the hospital’s energy needs, significantly reducing this dependence.
“This energy transition makes it possible to substantially reduce expenses related to the generator, its maintenance, and the purchase of diesel, allowing more resources to be allocated to patient care,” says Souleymane Ouattara, Timbuktu project coordinator.
“It ensures the continuity of vital care such as the operation of oxygen concentrators in neonatology and paediatrics, surgical and obstetric emergencies, as well as power supply for the laboratory, ultrasound equipment, and the cold chain essential for blood transfusions.”
The installation has a capacity of 90 kWp, with a 210 kWh lithium battery storage system, complemented by an 80 kVA generator.
Help us prepare for the next emergency
This hybrid system allows the hospital to alternate between solar energy, the city’s power grid, and the generator, ensuring a continuous power supply both day and night.
At this hospital, MSF teams provide care for children and newborns, and support hospital activities including the laboratory, radiography, and isolation and outbreak prevention.
The impact
For patients, this energy stability brings tangible improvements to daily life. Fadi fled the village of Léré following threats from armed groups and found refuge in Niafounké with her children.
She explains: “I fled with my children and my sister because armed men told everyone to leave the village. Today, I am accompanying my son, Ousmane, to the paediatric ward.”
In places where many people are displaced by the threat of violence and conflict, access to reliable healthcare remains essential.
This project is part of MSF’s Green Initiative, a strategy aimed at reducing the environmental footprint of our activities while improving operational efficiency. For several years, MSF teams have been deploying hybrid photovoltaic solar systems in various countries around the world, particularly in the Sahel, the hot, dry region that spans the top of the African continent. The goal is to limit dependence on diesel—an expensive and polluting energy source that’s complicated to transport to remote areas.
More than a technical solution
Beyond environmental benefits, reduced energy costs make it possible to redirect financial resources toward medical care.
Solar energy stabilises the functioning of laboratories, cold rooms, and essential hospital services, thereby improving working conditions for teams and the quality of care provided to patients.
In a fragile humanitarian landscape, solar energy represents far more than a technical solution: it is a lever for autonomy, resilience, and hope for health facilities and the people they serve.
Through these initiatives, MSF combines humanitarian action, environmental responsibility, and a long-term commitment in the service of life.
MSF in Mali
In Mali, our teams work to improve access to healthcare, including a community-based approach to treating conditions such as malaria, and malnutrition, and providing psychological care for survivors of violence.