Enabling access to climate-friendly energy supply

Context

Worldwide, 675 million people live without electricity, and 2.3 billion people have no access to environmentally friendly cooking technologies. This has a dramatic impact on social and economic development, health, education and the climate.

The project aims to contribute to achieving a lasting improvement in the lives of those most at risk of poverty by providing access to electricity and clean cooking technologies.

Objective

By 2025, the project will reach around 36 million people with access to needs-based, climate-friendly energy supply.

Approach

The project supports decentralised, climate-friendly energy solutions in over 20 countries. This includes access to electricity, for example through solar power systems, village mini-grids and clean cooking technologies. The project thus achieves a better energy situation for households and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and social facilities such as health centres and schools. There is a particular focus on poor sections of the population, women, refugees and host communities.

The project reduces energy poverty using a market-oriented approach:

• It develops entrepreneurial skills and competencies, distribution structures and business models and promotes product innovations in the regions and develops them further.
• It supports the demand for modern energy products and services by raising public awareness of these topics, for instance through targeted campaigns. At the same time, it promotes access to funding for people with limited ability to pay, for example through financial subsidies.
• The project provides advice on strategic and regulatory aspects and thus contributes to improving the general conditions, for example regarding quality standards for decentralised renewable energy solutions.

The project is currently funded by four core donors (Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland). A number of other government and charitable donors provide additional funding.

Members of the multi-donor partnership (alongside BMZ): The Netherlands Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS), the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)

Cofinancing partners: The European Union (EU), Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), Icelandic Embassy, Malawi (ICEIDA), IKEA Foundation (IKEA), Irish Aid, Korea Foundation for International Healthcare (KOFIH), Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Last update: June 2023