ENERGIZING FINANCE: SCALING AND REFINING FINANCE IN COUNTRIES WITH LARGE ENERGY ACCESS GAPS

The report finds that finance for energy access is significantly below the levels required to meet SDG 7 by 2030. While electricity commitments averaged $19.4 billion annually in 2013-14, this is far short of the estimated $45 billion needed. Clean cooking finance is described as 'shockingly low', averaging only $32 million per year for residential use. The analysis highlights a heavy bias toward grid-connected infrastructure and a critical lack of funding for decentralized solutions, which receive only 1% of electricity finance. It recommends integrated policy approaches, the scaling of market-based clean cooking strategies, and the removal of financial barriers for small energy enterprises.

• Annual finance commitments for electricity in the 20 high-impact countries averaged $19.4 billion for 2013-14, which is substantially lower than the estimated $45 billion required annually to achieve universal electrification by 2030.
• Investment in residential clean cooking is critically insufficient, with trackable investments in high-impact countries averaging just $32 million per year in 2013-14, compared to an estimated global need of at least $4.4 billion annually.
• Finance for decentralized energy solutions is extremely limited, representing only about 1% of the total trackable electricity finance committed in 2013-14 across high-impact countries, totaling approximately $200 million per year.
• There is a significant geographic imbalance in electricity finance, with India, the Philippines, and Bangladesh receiving approximately 60% of total commitments, or $11.6 billion annually during 2013-14.
• Development finance for electricity is frequently hindered by disbursement delays, affecting 69% of commitments. These delays are more common in large-scale infrastructure projects like transmission and distribution than in renewable energy projects.
• Most electricity finance is aligned with climate goals, as two-thirds of the finance for grid-connected generation in 2013-14 was directed toward renewable energy, primarily wind and hydropower.
• Energy enterprises providing decentralized electricity (Tiers 1-3) struggle to access reasonably priced debt and rely heavily on corporate equity, except in Bangladesh where IDCOL provides local currency debt.
• The clean cooking sector is characterized by a lack of funding for infrastructure and fuel supply, with international investors focusing primarily on cooking technologies like improved stoves rather than the fuels (LPG, ethanol, biogas) that drive most revenues.

APA

Flemming, P., Messent, F., Singer, C. E., Swann, S., & Ebinger, J. O. (2017). ENERGIZING FINANCE: SCALING AND REFINING FINANCE IN COUNTRIES WITH LARGE ENERGY ACCESS GAPS. Sustainable Energy for All. http://www.seforall.org/sites/default/files/2017_SEforALL_FR4_PolicyPaper.pdf

Chicago

Flemming, Peyton, Fiona Messent, Christine Eibs Singer, Stacy Swann, and Jane Olga Ebinger. ENERGIZING FINANCE: SCALING AND REFINING FINANCE IN COUNTRIES WITH LARGE ENERGY ACCESS GAPS. Sustainable Energy for All, 2017. http://www.seforall.org/sites/default/files/2017_SEforALL_FR4_PolicyPaper.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{flemming2017energizing, author = {Flemming, Peyton and Messent, Fiona and Singer, Christine Eibs and Swann, Stacy and Ebinger, Jane Olga}, title = {{ENERGIZING FINANCE: SCALING AND REFINING FINANCE IN COUNTRIES WITH LARGE ENERGY ACCESS GAPS}}, institution = {Sustainable Energy for All}, year = {2017}, url = {http://www.seforall.org/sites/default/files/2017_SEforALL_FR4_PolicyPaper.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }