Advancing gender equality in the renewable energy sector

The document asserts that gender equality is essential for achieving universal energy access by 2030, noting that women reinvest up to 90% of their income into community livelihoods. It provides a framework of recommendations for renewable energy (RE) companies to use gender-disaggregated data and promote female leadership, and for investors to fund capacity building and digital tools for women. The paper illustrates these points through three case studies: a solar irrigation project in Jharkhand, India; the DESFERS vocational training programme in the Sahel region; and a female-led solar enterprise in Maharashtra, India.

• Women act as significant catalysts for community development, reinvesting a substantially higher portion of their income—up to 90%—into essential services and livelihoods compared to 35% for men.
• The renewable energy sector has a higher female participation rate (estimated at 32%) than the traditional energy sector, which is male-dominated with only 16% female participation.
• Gender parity and female leadership in local companies are linked to higher profitability and performance than in companies led by men; similarly, balanced gender representation in senior management improves innovation, transparency, and sustainability impact.
• Renewable energy companies are advised to collect gender-disaggregated data during project conceptualisation to tailor products and financial support to the specific needs of local women.
• International funding partners and investors should adopt gender mainstreaming and prioritize technical capacity building through universities and TVET institutions to increase the pool of female talent in the sector.
• In Jharkhand, India, the Project ASTHA replaced diesel pumps with solar-powered ones and established the Ghagra Women Farmer Producer Organisation, resulting in a 25% increase in women-led initiatives and reducing seasonal migration rates from 54% to 17%.
• The DESFERS programme in the Sahel region (Senegal, Mali, and Niger) has provided green skills training to 7,204 women and supported the establishment of 6,099 women-led green enterprises.
• The Clean Energy Entrepreneur Network in Maharashtra, India, has enabled women like Pallavi Jayabhaye to transition from homemakers to business leaders; Jayabhaye's company, SK Solar & Power Solutions, achieved a turnover of ₹5.2 million (USD 61,180) by 2024.

APA

Neidhardt, O., & Jæger, J. (2025). Advancing gender equality in the renewable energy sector. Alliance for Renewable Electrification. https://www.renewelec.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ARE_SchneiderElectric_PositionPaper_A4_250611_PRINT.pdf

Chicago

Neidhardt, Otto, and Jens Jæger. Advancing gender equality in the renewable energy sector. Alliance for Renewable Electrification, 2025. https://www.renewelec.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ARE_SchneiderElectric_PositionPaper_A4_250611_PRINT.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Neidhardt |first1=Otto |last2=Jæger |first2=Jens |title=Advancing gender equality in the renewable energy sector |publisher=Alliance for Renewable Electrification |date=April 2025 |url=https://www.renewelec.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ARE_SchneiderElectric_PositionPaper_A4_250611_PRINT.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{neidhardt2025advancing, author = {Neidhardt, Otto and Jæger, Jens}, title = {{Advancing gender equality in the renewable energy sector}}, institution = {Alliance for Renewable Electrification}, year = {2025}, month = apr, url = {https://www.renewelec.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/ARE_SchneiderElectric_PositionPaper_A4_250611_PRINT.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }