UK-funded Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP) has said that it has just achieved a milestone, connecting more than one million people in Sub-Saharan Africa to electricity for the first time. REPP is managed by Camco Clean Energy.
According to the figures the company released yesterday in its latest quarterly impact report, REPP said it has provided clean energy access to approx. 1,083,000 people through its diverse portfolio of solar mini-grids, solar home systems and isolated grid projects (metro grids).
It said the new connections are providing far-reaching health and socio-economic benefits to rural communities and businesses, as well as directly supporting individual countries’ national climate action targets set out in their nationally determined contributions.
The report said that up until REPP’s intervention, most of the newly connected households had to either typically rely on kerosene, candles and diesel for their energy needs or go without.
“With access to a clean, reliable and more affordable energy supply, they are now able to enjoy improved air quality while benefiting from increased educational and income-generating opportunities through round-the-clock lighting and the productive use of energy (PUE) activities,” Investment director, and lead at Camco Clean Energy, Ben Hugues, said.
“Passing one million connections is a huge achievement for REPP and reflects all the hard work and determination of the Camco team, REPP’s board and investment committee and, of course, the developers themselves.
“But we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that around half of Africa’s population – with some 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa alone – still does not have access to electricity. REPP has been instrumental in developing a thriving and dependable market for the region’s small-scale and decentralised renewable energy sector. Now we just need to scale it up by 600 times.”
REPP was set up in 2015 to stimulate the growth of Sub-Saharan Africa’s small scale and distributed renewable energy market through investing in a mix of off- and on-grid projects that would have either never been realised or which would have faced extensive delays.
In addition to the new connections, REPP’s portfolio of on-grid projects has improved the stability of the national grid supply for a further 97,000 people.
REPP, managed by Camco Clean Energy, works to mobilise private sector development activity – and investment – in small to medium-sized projects (typically up to 25MW) in Sub-Saharan Africa.
It is supported with funding from the UK’s International Climate Finance through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and, to date, has agreed contracts with 37 renewable energy projects across 18 countries, employing seven different technologies, from SHS and PV mini-grids to onshore wind and run-of-river hydro.
Camco Clean Energy is a specialist climate and impact fund manager, leading the clean energy transition in emerging markets.
UK International Climate Finance (ICF) is the UK’s primary international instrument to help deliver on client commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement.
The UK’s ICF helps developing countries mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change, reduce deforestation and pursue clean economic growth. The ICF is focused on driving transformation in line with the scale of action required to tackle climate change.
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