ELECTRIFY HAITI
Turning waste into light
Vaudreuil, near Cap-Haitien, northern Haiti
A MAC4 Design initiative | Project in development | October 2026

THE PROBLEM
Bottles, cans and plastic bags fill the streets and canals of northern Haiti. Only about one Haitian in three is connected to the grid (World Bank), and even connected homes often get only 4-6 hours of power a day (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2022). Electrify Haiti tackles both at once.

THE PROJECT
A campus at Vaudreuil, near Cap-Haitien, that:
- pays families, schools and neighbourhood groups by weight for the waste they collect ("cash for trash");
- collects it with eight electric refuse trucks charged by the campus's own power;
- sorts out and sells recyclables (plastic, metal and other materials with buyers);
- seals the remaining waste in engineered, lined landfill cells with leachate collection and treatment;
- captures the methane-rich landfill gas, cleans it and burns it in engine-generators to make electricity;
- adds a solar farm with battery storage so electricity flows from the first phase, while the landfill builds up its gas;
- builds every new cell with its own excavators, loaders and bulldozers.
There is no incinerator and no open burning. The only fuel is captured, cleaned landfill gas.

COMMUNITY BENEFIT
Goal: a free basic electricity allowance for every connected home. Businesses and larger users pay for what they use. The allowance will be sized from real operating numbers so it can always be honoured.

BUILT TO PAY FOR ITSELF
After the first investment the campus is designed to run on its own income, with no further outside funding.
Income: paid electricity; connection equipment (meters, cables, home kits) sold at the campus service centre; waste-service contracts with the city, markets and businesses; recycling sales; carbon credits for captured methane.
Costs covered: the free household allowance; cash-for-trash payments; staff and maintenance; new landfill cells; a replacement reserve for batteries, trucks and engines.

THREE PHASES
1. Validate (now): confirm the land; screen it for flooding, groundwater, access and airport limits; measure the waste; survey electricity demand; form the project organisation; collect delivered supplier quotations. Milestone: a reviewed feasibility study and a priced first phase.
2. Build: launch paid collection with electric trucks; first lined cells, drainage and sorting hall; solar with batteries and the first customers; gas wells installed as cells fill. Milestone: real operating costs, service quality and income.
3. Grow: add landfill-gas engine-generators once the gas supply supports them; extend collection and the network; set the household allowance from real data. Milestone: a campus that runs on its own income.

FUNDING
Phase one: US$8-10 million (preliminary estimate, to be confirmed by supplier quotations and site studies).
Lean approach: solar panels and batteries bought direct from manufacturers; inspected used heavy machinery; gravel roads; local Haitian labour; gas engines bought only when the gas is there.
The first funds go to project development: site studies, waste measurement, engineering and quotations. Construction funding follows once the plan is priced and reviewed.
Funds will be managed by an accountable project organisation with its own bank account, spending controls and regular public reporting. Funding is arranged directly with the team, never through the website.

PARTNERS SOUGHT
Foundations and sovereign/development funds; impact investors; engineering teams (landfill, gas, solar, grid, environment); equipment suppliers; community partners in Cap-Haitien and Vaudreuil.

CONTACT
mac4design@gmail.com | https://mac4.org
Website available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew, Russian and Chinese.

Illustrations on the website are AI-generated concepts, not photographs or engineering designs.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND
https://www.epa.gov/lmop/basic-information-about-landfill-gas
https://www.irena.org/Publications/2025/Jul/Renewable-power-generation-costs-in-2024