Neve is a doctoral researcher in the Geography and Environment department at Loughborough University. She holds a Masters of Arts in Climate Change Politics and Policy and a Bachelors of Arts in Politics and International Relations from Loughborough University.
Alongside her PhD research, she is also a part-time research assistant for the FCDO funded Kenya-UKPACT project looking at Kenyan energy devolution, national and county energy planning and support for county-level interfacing on modelling data exchange. She is also a collaborator and contributor to the UK government FCDO funded Climate Compatible Growth (CCG) research programme.
Advancing Modelling Tools to Aid Multi-level and Inclusive Planning in Devolved Energy Systems: The Case Study of Kenya.
Supervisors: Professor Mark Howells and Professor Ed Brown
Globally, the energy sector is responsible for over two-thirds of greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, energy transitions are widely seen as a core component of climate change mitigation and adaptation. Decentralised energy systems are rapidly increasing globally as a method of responding to ‘last mile’ electrification efforts, alongside the unique needs and challenges associated with high shares of intermittent renewable energy sources within the overall energy mixes. Kenya provides an interesting case study of energy decentralisation as they are considered to have one of the most ambitious decentralisations plans in the world, with the formal devolution of energy planning processes from central national governments to the forty-seven county administrations. However, since the government mandate for devolution, only six out of forty-seven counties have completed county energy plans. As such Kenya presents an interesting case for the development of energy planning methodologies and tools to meet changing needs and respond to historic barriers. Quantitative energy modelling has been employed globally as an ‘evidence based’ approach to energy planning and policy development. Yet, such methods are often critiqued for their reductionary nature, and failure to capture the wider contextual real-world complexities in which energy decisions are made. In parallel, qualitative community and people focused methodologies have been developed for integrating such considerations into energy planning, including the capturing gender disparities and differing needs, into energy policy frameworks. Yet traditionally the two ‘camps’ of energy planning, quantitative modelling tools, and qualitative community focussed research have scarcely inter-connected. Energy modelling methodologies and practices should evolve to the needs and contexts of the case studies examined, to produce meaningful and useful outputs, inclusive of people-focused, community-based considerations.
Through examining the case study of devolved energy planning in Kenya, this research explores how modelling tools can be developed to look beyond techno-economic optimisation, responding to the needs of the people, and encouraging transition research to move beyond exploring 'clean' transitions to encompass 'just' transitions. This project aims to explore how energy modelling tools can be advanced to respond to the specific needs and context of communities and energy planning goals, employing a mixed-methods, collaborative, and culturally sensitive approach to the co-production and co-development of energy modelling tools and practices within Kenya.
Fields, N., Leonard, A., Mutembei, M., Nganga, A., Martindale, L., Bergman, M., Kaoma, M., Howells, M., Brown, E. (2025) Endogenous integration of qualitative factors into quantitative energy transition modelling for development. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 220, 115917. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2025.115917
Fields, N., Millot, A., Mutembei, M., Nganga, A., Lubello, P., Hofbauer, L., Howells, M., Brown, E. (2025) Demand starter data kit: Selected socio-economic and technical energy system demand modelling data for all 47 counties in Kenya. Data-in-Brief. 60, 111556. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2025.111556
Hofbauer, L., Millot, A., Heredia-Fonseca, R., Fields, N., Lubello, P., Hawkes, A., Pye, S. (2025) CORE-WESM: A multi-scale whole energy system model to support integrated energy planning in Kenya. Zenodo Repository. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15115501 Fields, N., Howells, M., Brown, E. (2025) Energy Modelling Research Landscape in Kenya: A Systematic Review. Cambridge Open Engage (Pre-print). https://doi.org/10.33774/coe-2025-7lmg3
Irbah, M., Slade, R., Howells, M., Fields, N., Plazas-Nino, F., Richardson, E. (2025) Empowering Indonesia’s energy transition planning through long-term energy system modelling: A technoeconomic dataset. Data-in-Brief. 60, 111563. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2025.111563
Fields, N., Collier, W., Kiley, F., Caulker, D., Blyth, W., Howells, M. (2024) Long-Term Forecasting: A MAED Application for Sierra Leone’s Electricity Demand (2023–2050). Energies. 17(12), 2878. https://doi.org/10.3390/en17122878
Tan, N., Vrochidis, I., Luscombe, H., Richardson, E., Plazas-Nino, F., Alexander, K., Martindale, L., Fields, N., Howells, M., Foster, V., Harrison, J. (2024) IMPACCT: Developing an Integrated Energy Modelling Framework to Enhance Political and Financial Decisions. Zenodo Repository. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10474695
Fields, N., Ryves, D., Yeganyan, R., Cannone, C., Tan, N., Howells, M. (2023) Evidence-Based Policymaking: Insights and Recommendations for the Implementation of Clean Energy Transition Pathways for Kenya’s Power Sector. Energies. 16(23), 7904. https://doi.org/10.3390/en16237904