Theme: Off Grid Utilities

Partnering to build Malawi’s premier PAYGo solar company

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Supporting early-stage innovators to develop income-generating energy technologies is at the core of Shell Foundation’s strategy. Alongside the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, through the TIME partnership, we have been supporting VentureBuilder since 2019.   Benefits of in country knowledge VentureBuilder looks to support African-owned and managed off-grid solar distribution businesses. These enterprises know their…

Aggregated procurement for Nigerian mini-grid developers delivers 40% cost savings

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A new research paper demonstrates how aggregated procurement presents enormous opportunity to facilitate access to distributed renewable energy (DRE) technology by improving supply chains within the sector and increasing cost-effectiveness for distributed energy projects. The research presents findings from a pilot programme testing aggregated procurement mechanisms for mini-grid developers in Nigeria. Download the full report…

How grain mills and fridges impact mini-grid profitability

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CrossBoundary Energy’sInnovation Lab has published a report on the impact of grain mills and fridges on mini-grid profitability, the latest in a series of insight papers testing business model innovations for the sector. The Innovation Lab is the first research and development fund exclusively focused on testing new business model innovations for mini grids. The…

Ethiopia, Nigeria and Uganda – exploring what’s needed to deliver a low-carbon energy access in three markets

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Today we launch our latest research at the COP26 conference in Glasgow, looking at what is needed to deliver a low-carbon universal energy access in three key markets – Ethiopia, Nigeria and Uganda – and highlighting potentially disruptive ‘game-changers’ for each market. The country deep dives represent the third phase of the research, conducted by…

Why Odyssey’s acquisition of Ferntech is a positive indicator for the mini-grid sector 

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SF partner Odyssey Energy Solutions recently announced its acquisition of the remote monitoring and control technology, Ferntech. This development will allow Odyssey to expand its service offering and provide multiple stakeholders with a more comprehensive asset management platform to scale investment in the renewable mini-grid sector.  Co-created by SF and Factor[e] in 2017 and co-funded with UK aid and USAID, Odyssey has successfully built the mini-grid sector’s only…

Five Grantees Announced for Health Electrification Pilot Programme

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Five mini-grid developers have been selected as part of a pilot programme to test and measure innovative financing mechanisms that can help scale electrification of health clinics across sub-Saharan Africa. Having invited applications to the programme in March, 25 applications were received and evaluated against five criteria: (1)  prior experience implementing and maintaining similar projects…

Equatorial Power

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KEY FACTS 1 MW of clean energy installed in four countries Over 5,300 households connected; 500 business powered 1 interconnected multi micro grid; 1 grid integration project Equatorial Power(EP) provides reliable and affordable access to energy to underserved communities via solar mini-grid, whilst also delivering water processing via an integrated reverse osmosis filtration system. EP…

What long-term changes will Covid-19 bring for the Access to Energy sector?

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The impact of Covid-19 on the Access to Energy (A2E) sector has been well documented, with multiple surveys identifying the negative impact on sales, disruptions in supply chains, increased risk in customer collections and the cumulative impact of these factors on working capital of A2E enterprises. Enterprises have had to adapt and evolve operations to…

Seeking proposals for new health electrification finance mechanisms

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Shell Foundation is seeking applications to fund health electrification projects via targeted financing mechanisms as part of a new pilot programme. As mini-grid companies, development finance institutions, health organisations, and non-profits announce initiatives to support the electrification of COVID-19 health facilities, a key challenge remains to strike a balance between rapid deployment and the long-term…

How to implement data-driven investment into mini-grids

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Mini-grids are essential to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7), which aims to provide universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy by 2030. In order to achieve this goal, 238 million households will need to gain access to electricity. It is estimated that mini-grids can serve nearly half of these…