In the remote village of NE Tlangnuam in Saitual district, healthcare worker C. Lalrelpuii is often the only medical professional available to serve residents. Located near the Manipur border, the village has long experienced an unreliable power supply.
Power cuts frequently interrupted routine healthcare services and made it difficult to provide care during emergencies or after sunset. That changed with the installation of a solar energy system through the Energy for Health (E4H) initiative.
Today, the health facility has dependable lighting and power for essential operations, enabling healthcare services to continue even during prolonged outages.
“We are very happy. We use the solar system for lights and fans. As the village is remote and near the Manipur border, power supply is not regular, and the system is very useful for our work,” says Lalrelpuii.
For the 677 people served by the facility, the benefits extend beyond electricity. Reliable energy has increased confidence in local healthcare services and strengthened the community’s ability to access care when it is needed most.
In Mizoram’s remote hills, a partnership between the Government of Mizoram and SELCO Foundation (SF) is demonstrating how sustainable energy can make health systems more resilient.
Through the Energy for Health (E4H) initiative, solar-powered healthcare facilities are improving service delivery, supporting frontline health workers, and ensuring that communities receive uninterrupted care when they need it most.
Launched in 2023, E4H is SELCO Foundation’s flagship initiative to strengthen public healthcare through reliable, decentralised clean energy. Implemented with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and National Health Missions across states, the programme aims to deploy 100 MW of solar energy systems across 25,000 public healthcare facilities in 12 states by 2026, ensuring uninterrupted healthcare services at the last mile.
For many communities across Mizoram, access to healthcare has been about more than just the availability of doctors, medicines, or health facilities.
Unreliable electricity disrupted vaccination sessions, and limited service delivery after dark has created challenges for healthcare workers operating in remote and difficult-to-reach areas.
For primary health facilities that serve as the first, and often only, point of care, interruptions in electricity could directly affect patient safety and healthcare outcomes.
Recognising this challenge, the E4H initiative set out to strengthen healthcare infrastructure through clean and dependable solar energy solutions. Today, all 530 primary healthcare facilities across the state have been solarised.
The impact extends far beyond keeping the lights on, enabling safe deliveries, emergency care at night, vaccine preservation, and better working conditions for frontline health workers.
The impact of E4H extends beyond individual health centres. One of the initiative’s landmark achievements is the establishment of the Northeast Region’s first solar-powered Walk-in Vaccine Cooler at Mizoram’s Directorate of Health Services.
Developed jointly by SELCO Foundation and the Department of Health Services, the 5-Metric-Tonne dual-chamber facility uses solar energy, thermal storage, and temperature-control technology to safely preserve vaccines and essential medicines.
The facility has strengthened the state’s vaccine distribution system. By reducing dependence on conventional power sources, it helps ensure that temperature-sensitive medical supplies remain protected even during heavy rainfall and other climate risks that disrupt the cold chain for immunisation.
The facility represents an important step toward ensuring that life-saving vaccines reach primary health facilities and the communities they serve safely and effectively.
While facilities such as NE Tlangnuam demonstrate how solar power improves day-to-day healthcare delivery, the experience of Kawlkulh Primary Health Centre highlights its broader social and economic impact.
Serving seven villages and more than 5,000 people across 1,614 households, Kawlkulh PHC plays a vital role in providing maternal and primary healthcare services. Frequent electricity disruptions, however, often affected its ability to deliver services consistently.
Following the installation of a solar energy system, the facility now benefits from reliable lighting, fan operation, mobile phone charging, and uninterrupted support for maternal care services.
Within six months of the intervention, the PHC successfully conducted 18 deliveries, giving expectant mothers greater confidence in accessing care closer to home.
Reliable lighting during night-time deliveries has improved both patient safety and trust in the facility, reducing the need for families to travel long distances to urban hospitals.
The intervention has also generated savings of approximately ₹9.74 Lakhs per month, which translates to roughly ₹1.17 Crores in annual electricity bill reductions. These savings have been redirected toward patient welfare initiatives, including paying water bills for sub-centres, waiving OPD fees for elderly patients and supporting economically vulnerable patients requiring diagnostic services.
The experience demonstrates how renewable energy investments can create benefits that extend beyond infrastructure, improving accessibility and affordability for underserved communities.
Beyond the technology, however, the story of Mizoram’s healthcare transformation is ultimately about people. It is about health workers who can now continue providing care during power outages, mothers who can access essential services with greater confidence, and children whose vaccines remain safely stored and effective.
It is also about strengthening healthcare in the face of growing climate challenges. Mizoram’s hilly terrain, dispersed settlements, and intense monsoon rains can make travel difficult, with landslides, road disruptions, and extreme weather events often affecting access to health facilities and the timely delivery of medical supplies.
Climate change is expected to further amplify these challenges, increasing pressure on already vulnerable infrastructure and making it harder for communities to access care when they need it most.
By combining renewable energy with resilient healthcare infrastructure, Mizoram is demonstrating how innovative solutions can help address multiple barriers to healthcare access.
From village clinics to state-level health infrastructure, these investments are helping build a more climate-resilient healthcare system, improving both the reliability of services and the capacity of communities to withstand future shocks.
For communities like NE Tlangnuam and Kawlkulh, that resilience is measured not in megawatts or technology, but in the confidence that when a medical emergency arises, the lights will stay on, healthcare workers can do their jobs effectively, and patients can receive the care they need without interruption.
Through the E4H initiative, solar energy is illuminating a path toward healthier, more resilient communities across Mizoram.
Dr Vanlalpeka P. L. Pachuau has been serving as the Medical Officer at Hnahlan Primary Health Centre in Champai district since 2023. His experience highlights a key lesson: lasting impact comes not just from technology, but from ensuring systems can be maintained and sustained over time.
Remote Monitoring Systems and data loggers support real-time monitoring of the system’s performance. A user-friendly app ensures that health staff can log complaints for timely servicing and maintenance.
“Since most equipment in a health centre relies on electricity, in 2021 an attempt was made to solar power the centre, but the system stopped working because no one looked after it. Till 2023, the centre relied on diesel -powered generators for a few hours of backup power.
“That too failed when fuel prices skyrocketed. So, when the government, the National Health Mission, and Selco Foundation solar powered the Centre and provided a process for use and maintenance, it came as a blessing like no other,” he added.
Views expressed are that of the author and do not reflect EastMojo’s stance on this or any other issue. The author is a consultant at Selco Foundation.
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