Find out about recent activities and the upcoming events where Power for All will be profiling decentralized renewables—and get involved!
July/August Highlights: 200 campaign partners
Momentum for the DRE sector continues to grow, with Power for All recently surpassing 200 campaign partners. We’re very proud and honored to welcome many new global partners including Christian Aid, Florence School of Regulation, Hivos, Rockefeller Foundation, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, Smart Villages, Solar Sister, The Resources and Energy Institute (TERI), World Resources Institute (WRI) and among others (see the whole coalition here).
Globally, both campaign CEO Kristina Skierka and deputy director Aaron Leopold participated in the recent Mission Innovation meeting in Paris at the IEA, sharing key learnings and emphasizing the need to support an enabling environment, not just business and financial models — and rethinking investments away from only technology R&D to ecosystem development that boosts demand from the communities that companies serve.
Power for All launched an India country page on its website, with sector profiles and updates drawn from the new Powering Rural India publication, as well as partner reports. Please let us know if you have anything to share, and if you’re interested in joining the India DRE communications secretariat that we started earlier this year, please email with Subject: India DRE communications secretariat.
In Nigeria, Power for All has been very active as a partner in convening several key sector meetings. Power for All was a strategic partner at the Nigerian Energy Forum 2017, which focused on Sustainable Energy for Economic Development. Country campaign manager Ify Malo gave a presentation on opportunities and barriers for renewable energy in the off-grid sector. The event is an annual capacity building, training, and development program for the energy sector in Nigeria and other African countries. Power for All was also a technical partner at TechPlus 2017, Africa’s largest technology conference, where we developed and curated the first ever renewable energy track session, which brought together representatives from government, development banks, investment funds, solar developers, technology providers, IPPs, EPCs and other solar stakeholders to discuss the “Renewable PAYG Revolution, Developing Market for Tech Solutions in Renewable Energy, Financing and Incentives, and Future Potential and Growth.” The event was well attended, with over 700 unique visitors to the Power For All stand with a number of new participants joining the campaign in Nigeria and across Africa. Power for All also presented on the politics of the solar industry at the Innovative Technologies in Development exposition organized by Crown Agents and the British Department for International Trade, with Ify Malo highlighting significant opportunities for advocacy and civil society to accelerate the industry. Finally, Power for All, the Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria (REAN) and the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) were part of a public hearing organized by the local chapter of the Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE Nigeria) led by Dr. Bukar Abba Ibrahim, who is also the Chairman, Senate Committee on Ecology & Climate Change. The hearing, which was held at the National Assembly complex and coordinated by Heinrich Böll Foundation, had both members of the House and Senate Committees on Power, Environment and Climate Change. Power for All spoke about how lack of clear legislative frameworks in the DRE sector are limiting the potential for development, job growth and productivity across the country.
September/October: Campaign Events Calendar
Barcelona, 4-6 September: 5th Microgrid Global Innovation Forum
Power for All’s Aaron Leopold and William Brent will speak at this event on the topics of women leadership in clean energy development, microgrid productive uses and the latest developments in India. Off-grid, remote & island systems will be a key focus of the event, which brings together top microgrid experts to examine key case studies, tech advances, and business models. Enter the special code “P4ALL” for a 15% discount when registering.
Lusaka, 4-5 September: Energy Access Practitioners Training
In collaboration with Practical Action, Club-ER, Alliance for Rural Electrification and Strathmore University’s Energy Research Center, the Africa EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) Energy Access Work Stream will lead an Energy Access Practitioners Training during the 2nd General Assembly of the African Association for Rural Electrification. The target audiences are staff of rural electrification agencies (REAs) in the region, and the goal of this training is to strengthen decision-making capacity across African REAs and to learn from collective experience in rural electrification planning and policy implementation. Power for All’s research director Dr. Rebekah Shirley will facilitate training sessions on mini-grid business and tariff pricing models.
Brussels, 23-25 October: Global Science Technology and Innovation Conference (G-STIC)
Power for All is a “thematic partner” for the energy track of G-STIC. The event aims to help the international community, including the UN system, understand what is happening in technology innovation related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The event, which will bring together leading innovators from the private sector and research institutions, is organized by VITO (the prime research and technology organization on cleantech and sustainable development in Belgium) and its international partners AIT (Asian Institute of Technology), IITD (Indian Institute of Technology) and TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute).