Under the Grid

The report introduces 'undergrid minigrids' as a solution for communities in sub-Saharan Africa that are within distribution company territories but remain underserved due to unreliable or nonexistent power. It outlines a five-step implementation pathway—awareness, business model development, pilot projects, market scaling, and benefit evaluation—to improve economics and reliability for customers, distribution companies, and developers, with a primary focus on Nigeria.

• Many communities in sub-Saharan Africa are 'undergrid,' meaning they are located within the territory of a distribution company (DisCo) but suffer from low-quality, inconsistent, or completely absent electricity service.
• The report proposes 'undergrid minigrids'—systems that integrate distributed energy resources and existing distribution infrastructure—as a means to better serve these underserved populations.
• The proposed pathway for deploying undergrid minigrids consists of five stages: promoting awareness, developing business models, implementing pilots, enabling market growth and scaling, and evaluating benefits.

APA

RMI (2018). Under the Grid. https://rmi.org/resources/under-the-grid/

Chicago

RMI. Under the Grid. 2018. https://rmi.org/resources/under-the-grid/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Under the Grid |date=19 November 2018 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/under-the-grid/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2018under, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Under the Grid}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2018}, month = nov, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/under-the-grid/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }