Insights
Long the only choice for off-grid, under-the-grid and back-up power generation in emerging economies, diesel is now on a death watch with the rise of renewable-powered machinery, growing solar adoption by rural enterprises, and business and finance innovation. That means billions of dollars saved and gigatons of emissions avoided.
Power for All gathers together various predictions and trends that we see unfolding for electricity access and the distributed renewable energy sector in 2019.
Distributed renewables play an increasingly important role in promoting energy access, already accounting for 6 gigawatts of capacity in the developing world, with an expectation of providing over 60% of new electricity connections in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030. New analysis in Escaping the Energy Poverty Trap shows that national governments need two things to succeed in creating markets for distributed renewables: 1) institutional capacity and 2) local accountability mechanisms.
Based on input from a diverse set of sources including the Mini-Grids Partnership (MGP) steering committee and the Africa Mini-grid Developers Association (AMDA), this guide is a reference tool to help various stakeholders understand the importance of the global mini-grid sector. With this guide, sector stakeholders, including businesses, funders, government and civil society, should be able to easily discuss mini-grids at a high level or in-depth, using clearly sourced evidence.
Our latest video looks at how micro-grids have successfully helped countries bring electricity to their farmers and rural industries. Examples include the United States, Cambodia, and most recently Nigeria.
Power for All and partners kicked off the Decentralized Renewable Energy Data Network (DREDN), further advanced the Utilities 2.0 pilot in Uganda, hosted #PoweringJobs focus groups in 3 countries.
The deployment of off-grid electricity is one important pathway toward reducing energy poverty. Off-grid technology can meet basic needs at an increasingly affordable cost and, when powered by renewable sources, in a clean manner. Yet until recently, we knew little about the current state of affairs: how much capacity do off-grid systems currently provide? And where?
With more than 600 million people lacking access to electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa, off-grid renewable energy has the potential to transform economies and lift millions out of poverty. But green power can do something else, too: it can help solve the continent’s mounting unemployment crisis. A perspective by Mugo Kibati of M-KOPA and Gilles Vermot Desroches of Schneider Electric.
Home to 80 million people, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the largest and fourth most populated country in Africa, but also the least electrified. SEforALL Africa hub in conjunction with the African Development Bank published a market assessment as part of the Green Mini-Grid Market Development Programme (GMG MDP) document series. Here we highlight the key messages.
Despite an increase in investment for distributed renewable energy companies over the past 5 years, most of it went to a handful of companies and 93% say they are still trapped in a "Pioneer Gap" between seed and commercial capital. More patient capital is needed. This is according to a recent report, Accelerating Energy Access: The Role of Patient Capital, from campaign partner Acumen.
As demonstrated in by new data from IRENA, off-grid renewable electricity has grown tremendously across the world over the last decade, but growth was very uneven. Why was off-grid successful in some places and not others?