Hybridisation of Urban Electrical Configurations in Dakar

Tomy Goulding will be sharing her research on the deployment of rooftop PV solar in the Dakar region, Senegal, exploring how it transforms the urban utility grid, in terms of its material, regulatory, political, and social aspects. Drawing on empirical data from nine months’ fieldwork, and policy document analyses, this talk examines what social and sociotechnical imaginaries are driving the hybridisation of urban electrical configurations in Dakar. She is interested in how these imaginaries behind hybridisation (interwining of centralised and distributed electric systems) relate to energy and spatial justice. This research highlights that urban energy transitions are shaped not only by sociotechnical, political, and territorial dimensions, but also by deeply rooted social imaginaries.

Tomy is a PhD Student at the Laboratory Techniques, Territories, and Societies (LATTS) at Université Gustave Eiffel, Paris. She is an architect and urban planner. She engages with Urban Studies and Social Technical Sciences (STS) to explore justice in urban energy transitions in African cities.