Independent auditors of the world’s critical infrastructure

We develop sensors and analytics to measure and improve energy systems, from micro-grids to national grids

See our projects→How it works→

Projects supported by

Mathematica
UC Berkeley
USAID
UKAID
University of Massachusetts Amherst
International Growth Centre
Millennium Challenge Corporation
Energy Institute at Haas
Crown Agents

Remote monitoring of power quality and reliability

Our GridWatch technology is built on a novel sensor that plugs into outlets and offers remote monitoring of power quality and reliability. Using our agile deployment methodology and insight-focused dashboards, we support decision-makers in transforming the energy sector.

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Flow diagram of the PowerWatch platform

Partnerships across Sub-Saharan Africa

GridWatch has been successfully deployed at scale from urban Accra to rural Kenya; from health clinics in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to markets in Nigeria.

See our projects→
A child stands outside a building with power lines nearby.
Freetown, Sierra Leone

Monitoring and evaluating electrified healthcare facilities

A view of a street with power lines overhead in Accra, Ghana.
Accra, Ghana

Monitoring and evaluating the Ghana Power Compact

A large roadside market where goods are being sold in Nigeria.
Nigeria

Monitoring economic clusters for mini-grid planning and investment

Photo of the nLine team at a retreat in Dakar, Senegal
Photo of the nLine team at a retreat in Dakar, Senegal

We want to make critical infrastructure work for everyone

nLine’s mission is to measure and improve the performance of critical infrastructure in order to meet the needs of all people and support sustainable, inclusive economic development.

We’re inspired by calls for equal access to the benefits of modern systems, inclusionary decision making, and open access to information.

Recent research & writing

Read our blog→
Avatar for Mohini Bariya
Mohini Bariya

What Can Voltages Tell Us About the Structure of the Grid?

Knowing the structure of the grid—how lines interconnect and what phases loads are on—is vital for efficient grid maintenance and operations, informing applications ranging from fault localization to phase balancing. Yet, grid structures, especially in distribution, can change over time and are often poorly known. This blog starts to explore how nLine’s voltage data could be used to infer grid structure, with a vision toward eventually providing such insight to utilities.
Avatar for Mohini BariyaAvatar for Molly HickmanAvatar for Genevieve Flaspohler

From Measurements to KPIs: Estimating SAIDI at nLine

How can we estimate SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index)—the average power outage duration experienced across all customers served—from PowerWatch sensor measurements of only a subset of customers? This post describes nLine’s statistical approach to estimate SAIDI from such a dataset. The nLine method has several favorable statistical properties that make it well-suited to calculating SAIDI in the real world where data is generally limited, which traditional SAIDI calculations neglect to consider.
Avatar for Margaret OderoAvatar for Mohini Bariya
Margaret Odero and Mohini Bariya

A Clustering Algorithm for Power Outage Detection

nLine installs power sensors at outlets in homes, small businesses, and social infrastructure. How do we estimate the extent of a grid outage from individual sensor reports? And in the real world, where sensors can be unplugged or prepaid credit can run out, how do we separate real grid outages from false outage reports?

Get in touch

We’re open to new partnerships, or sharing more with people interested in our work.

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