Driven by the community
The water committee started this work and has the backing of the wider community. It is a local plan, not a solution brought in from outside.
Independent Green Projects
Local visions.
Lasting change.
We help communities turn green ideas into practical solutions and lasting improvements to everyday life.
We are starting with solar-powered water pumping and distribution in Kitheuni, Kenya. Our purpose reaches further: supporting sustainable development that is rooted in the communities it serves.
Explore our first project
Our purpose
Green solutions.
Built around people.
Independent Green Projects is a nonprofit initiative supporting green and sustainable development on the African continent, with a current focus on Kenya and Malawi.
We bring together local knowledge, technical experience and funding to help communities replace costly fossil based electricity generation systems with green solutions they can afford, operate and maintain. Kitheuni is our first project, and the starting point for this work.
Our first project / Kenya
Kitheuni · Machakos County
Replacing a diesel generator at Kitheuni’s water pump with solar power.
Kitheuni is a rural village of around 1,000 people in Machakos County, Kenya. It already has a water system with a borehole, a pump and pipes reaching the local market and around 40 homes. What it lacks is an affordable way to power it.
The current pump runs on a diesel generator that the village can no longer afford to operate and maintain. Together with the local water committee, we want to replace diesel with solar power and set up a community-owned water company that sells water to pay for the running costs of the system.
The community started this project before we became involved. Our role is to help secure the funding and technical support to make it happen.
- People the project aims to serve
- ~1,000
- Community institutions served
- School &
Clinic - Estimated first-phase budget
- US$15,000
- Estimated time from funding to first water
- 3–6 months
Kitheuni / Background
Today, households rely on rainwater tanks and water carried from the river.
Without the borehole pump, households in Kitheuni rely on the water they can collect themselves. Rainwater tanks fill during the rainy seasons, which together last no more than about five months of the year. By August, three months into the long dry season, most households and the village dispensary risk running out.
The alternatives are hard. River water has to be fetched and carried home by hand. A private seller offers water from a shallow well, but it is salty and almost dries up in the dry season. The community would rather have a shared, reliable supply of its own than depend on a private source.
The infrastructure for that supply already exists. In 2009, the Red Cross installed a diesel generator and pump at the borehole, feeding a selling point at the market. Around 40 households have since paid for their own connections. But fuel and repairs now cost more than the village can afford, so the system cannot be kept running.
How the project came about
- 30 years ago
Our grandmother helps start the Kitheuni dispensary, works there as a nurse, and establishes the borehole with the village’s first water pump.
- 2009
The Red Cross installs a new diesel-powered pump at the borehole, and the community builds a pipe network to the local market.
- Recent years
Diesel and maintenance costs become too high for the village. Residents fall back on rainwater, the river and the salty private well.
- August 2026
Jeppe visits Kitheuni to renew the family connection. The head teacher explains the problem and shares the community’s vision to switch to solar power.
- Now
Together with the committee and a Kenyan water and energy contractor, we are firming up costs through site surveys and equipment quotations.
Kitheuni / Why this project
The need is real.
Capital is the missing piece.
Built on what is already there
The borehole, pipes, selling point and household connections are in place. The main work is installing solar equipment and servicing or replacing the pump, which keeps the project technically simple.
Designed to pay its own way
Water will be sold at around the price residents have paid before. Early estimates show sales covering operation and maintenance from day one, with a modest surplus set aside for repairs and future expansion.
Kitheuni / The plan
What the first phase includes.
Solar power for the borehole
Solar panels, a pump controller, mounting and fencing replace the diesel generator. The existing pump will be serviced or replaced.
Storage for day and night
An additional tank stores water pumped while the sun is up, so supply continues in the evening and overnight.
Repairs and metering
Renovated pipes and new water meters reduce leaks and improve water management.
A community-owned water company
Kitheuni Water Company, run with the water committee, sells the water, funds maintenance and creates 2–4 part-time local jobs.
Kitheuni / Water access
Connecting the water source
with daily life.
The borehole sits apart from the village's market, school and dispensary. Restoring the water system would bring its supply back to the places where residents collect and use water.
- The water source
- The pump site is marked in red near the river.
- The community selling point
- The selling point beside the market provides a place for residents to buy and collect water.
- Household connections
- The existing network also serves around 40 private outlets. Further selling points are being considered to widen access.
Kitheuni / Looking ahead
What reliable water
makes possible.
A steady supply gives back the hours now spent fetching water and helps the school and dispensary keep going through the dry season.
Once the first phase is running, savings from water sales could fund a second phase: extending the network to more residents and to local farmers, whose harvests today depend heavily on the rains.
How we work
A project the community
can carry forward.
Local priorities come first
We support needs identified by the people who will use and manage the solution.
Plan beyond installation
Running costs, maintenance and local responsibility are part of the project from the beginning.
Make funding concrete
In Kitheuni, we are seeking support for solar equipment, installation and improvements to the existing water system.
The people behind INGP
A personal connection.
A shared purpose.
Started by Lasse Hvid Schmidt and Jeppe Baarup Aaby, supported by a small team and working with the people of Kitheuni.
Our connection to Kitheuni is a family one, going back to our grandmother’s work at the village dispensary. Today we bring that connection together with practical skills in engineering, coordination and fundraising.
Lasse Hvid Schmidt
Engineering and renewable energy project experience.
Jeppe Baarup Aaby
Communication and coordination with local stakeholders.
Andreas Nørgaard Schou
Organizational development and fundraising.
Cajsa Hvid Schmidt
Engineering and renewable energy project experience.
The Kitheuni committee
The committee brings together local knowledge and representatives of the school, dispensary and wider community.
- Benjamin M. Mgovi — Head teacher, Kitheuni Primary School
- Jeremiah Kithuke — Board member, Kitheuni Primary School
- Mourice Munguti — Board member, Kitheuni Primary School
- Peter Munyao — Area Assistant Chief
- Timothy Onyancha — Chairman, Kitheuni Dispensary
- Jonathan Muema — Former chairman, Kitheuni Dispensary
Get involved
Help the first project
take shape.
Interested in supporting Kitheuni or discussing our work?
Get in touch to talk about funding, technical support or collaboration.
Kitheuni / Technical overview
From the borehole
to the selling point.
Solar power would drive the borehole pump, lifting water into an elevated storage tank. From there, water would flow through the pipe network to community selling points and household connections.
Where people collect water
The existing network connects the borehole to a selling point at the market and around 40 private household outlets. Restoring supply would allow residents to buy water at the community selling point, while connected homes could receive it directly. Additional selling points are being considered to improve access.
Storage and local operation
The tank would store water pumped during daylight hours and supply the network by gravity when the pump is not running. A float switch would stop the pump when the tank is full. Water sales are intended to cover local operation and maintenance.
Local technical partners bring expertise in water systems and solar energy to help assess the existing infrastructure and develop a practical installation plan.
