Search Climate Insights Directory

The Malawi Integrated Energy Planning (IEP) Tool, developed by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) and the Malawian government, provides geospatial analytics and modelling to optimize energy investments. The tool identifies the most cost-effective technologies—including grid expansion, mini-grids, and solar home systems—to address Malawi's low electrification rate (15%) and clean cooking access (1%). A specific module for health-facility electrification has already informed GIZ's installation of solar-battery systems at 93 health facilities.

The Universal Energy Facility (UEF), managed by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), launched the 'Stand-Alone Solar for Productive Use' (SSPU) programme in Nigeria in 2022. This results-based financing (RBF) initiative provides grants to renewable energy companies to deploy solar and storage solutions for businesses and households, aiming to displace polluting generators. An initial USD 10 million in funding was allocated to ten companies to provide over 3,500 electricity connections. The programme seeks to improve energy access, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and foster economic productivity by lowering the up-front costs of solar installation.

Since October 2022, SEforALL, IBM, and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have collaborated to create an open-source planning tool using machine learning and satellite imagery. The tool aims to address data gaps regarding building footprints—locations and sizes of residential and commercial buildings—which serve as proxies for human activity. By providing more accurate foundational data, the tool helps policymakers and the private sector estimate future energy demand and determine the most suitable energy technologies for specific communities, thereby reducing investment risk and increasing the efficiency of energy infrastructure interventions. The project is currently developing a 'Minimum-Viable-Product' (MVP) for testing in pilot geographies before wider deployment.

The Universal Energy Facility (UEF), managed by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), uses a results-based financing (RBF) strategy to deploy clean energy mini-grids in remote communities. In Madagascar, the UEF has signed grant agreements for nine mini-grid sites, with one developer constructing eight solar-hybrid mini-grids and verifying 786 connections to households and small businesses. A second funding round announced in September 2022 received proposals for 28 additional sites targeting 16,300 solar connections.

The document details the creation of Nigeria's Energy Transition Plan (ETP), which aims for net-zero emissions by 2060. Developed through a partnership between SEforALL and the Nigerian government, the plan identifies a total investment need of USD 1.9 trillion and an initial project pipeline of USD 23 billion. The ETP focuses on five sectors—power, cooking, oil and gas, transport, and industry—which account for 65% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions. Implementation is supported by the Energy Transition Office, which has helped secure over USD 3.6 billion in finance commitments as of 2022.

The statutes of Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll) define the organization as a non-profit association headquartered in Vienna, dedicated to advancing SDG7 and the Paris Agreement. Its primary activities include data collection, technical research for energy access, and professional training for women and youth in the clean energy sector. The organization is governed by a General Assembly, a Board, and a Chief Executive Officer, with a membership structure comprising sovereign states, international organizations, and private entities. Financial resources are derived from voluntary contributions, grants, and asset sales, and must be used exclusively for the organization's non-profit purposes.

Researchers found that climate hazards like flooding and drought drive migration from rural to peri-urban areas in Namibia. While migration provides benefits such as better access to electricity and educational opportunities, it creates human capital deficits in origin communities, often increasing the labour burden on women.

The assessment reveals that 85% of primary schools and 45% of senior secondary schools in Sierra Leone lack power, with nearly 10,000 schools requiring power solutions. Closing the gap for secondary schools alone would cost approximately USD 90 million. The roadmap recommends investing in reliable data, establishing minimum technical standards for electrification, and piloting innovative private-public models to ensure long-term operation and maintenance sustainability.

Natural gas is the fastest growing source of CO2 emissions from fossil fuels, with methane leakage potentially making its climate impact equivalent to coal. To align with the 1.5°C goal, global gas production and consumption must decrease by 30% by 2030 and 65% by 2050, with developed countries phasing out gas power by 2035. The document rejects the use of gas as a bridge fuel or a solution to the 2022 energy crisis, noting that expanding infrastructure creates stranded asset risks, particularly for non-OECD countries. It further argues that converting gas infrastructure to hydrogen is technically unproven and economically inefficient, and highlights severe public health risks associated with gas extraction, flaring, and domestic use.

SAO Energy deployed a mesh-grid in Omolege, Nigeria, using a "keymaker" business model where high energy consumption at a Primary Health Centre offsets tariffs for 96 surrounding households. While the project improved healthcare services, such as enabling nighttime births, it faced challenges including 6-month customs delays and low residential energy consumption due to declining community income. The pilot aims to expand to 200 households and eventually scale to 100 health centres and 30,000 households across Ondo and Kwara states.

Colombia possesses significant wind and solar potential, particularly in the La Guajira region, though these sources represented only 1.5% of the capacity mix in 2022. The document details a robust framework of incentives—including tax deductions and VAT exemptions—and predicts that approved projects could increase the solar and wind share of the capacity mix to nearly 40% by 2027. It also examines financing mechanisms, environmental licensing, and the integration of social safeguards such as Free Prior Informed Consent and benefit-sharing schemes for Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities.

The UK's Contracts for Difference (CfD) policy, introduced in 2014, uses a competitive auction system to provide price certainty for large-scale renewable energy projects, primarily offshore wind. By guaranteeing a 'strike price' and utilizing a two-way payment mechanism, the policy reduces private-sector investment risk and lowers the cost of capital. While successful in driving down costs and increasing capacity—with the fourth allocation round adding nearly 11 gigawatts—the policy is noted as regressive due to its funding via a consumer levy. The author suggests Canada could adapt this model for mature technologies, carbon capture, and clean hydrogen, emphasizing the need for independent administration and robust market competition.

The pilot project in Bassa, Nigeria, utilized Okra's mesh-grid technology to create a 'Hub-and-Spoke' topology, allowing high-powered prosumers and businesses to share excess renewable energy with low-powered residential households. This configuration reduced the average CAPEX cost per connection from an initial estimate of $642 to $450 and enabled the energization of 46 more households than originally planned. The network currently maintains over 99% up-time, though the actual Average Revenue per User (ARPU) of ₦3,500 Naira is ₦500 lower than the ₦4,000 Naira target. Following the pilot's success, Creeds Energy is seeking funding for a 1,000-household scale-up across 18 additional locations.

The report outlines the second phase of a project by the Climate Solutions Accelerator of the Genesee-Finger Lakes Region and the Stockholm Environment Institute to identify emission reduction pathways. It builds upon a baseline emissions assessment of the region's counties to evaluate long-term mitigation potential, aiming to produce a final Climate Action Strategy with specific targets and measures.

The report argues that the rapid scale-up of renewables in the Global South often replicates 'energy colonialism' and 'green grabbing,' where land and resources are appropriated for climate goals while host communities suffer from loss of livelihoods, water scarcity, and continued energy poverty. Through case studies in India, Palestine, Bangladesh, and Argentina, it highlights systemic barriers including patriarchal structures that exclude women from decision-making, outdated grid infrastructure, and a lack of effective environmental impact assessments. It recommends a shift toward small-scale, socially controlled, and decentralized renewable energy that prioritizes human rights and ecological conservation over corporate profit.

The analysis finds that interactions between key SDG targets are generally synergetic at a global level under a 1.5°C warming limit, with climate finance and policy mainstreaming acting as primary accelerators for other goals.

The LUCI tool provides a five-step analytical framework to identify unintended consequences of development interventions by mapping the overlap between identity groups and impact groups. It emphasizes 'horizontal inequalities'—group-based disparities related to gender, ethnicity, or class—and how these can be exacerbated by poorly planned projects, leading to 'maladaptation' or increased conflict potential. The guide demonstrates the tool's application through a case study of solar hybrid mini-grid projects in Turkana County, Kenya, illustrating how access to electricity can create differential benefits and losses across various social and economic groups.

The briefing highlights a severe energy affordability crisis in the US, where high fossil fuel prices and rising electricity rates are increasing household bills, with estimated winter increases of 10 percent for electricity and 28 percent for natural gas. It details how this burden disproportionately affects low-income, Black, and Latinx households, often forcing them to choose between energy payments and basic necessities. The document proposes a suite of regulatory solutions, including shutoff moratoriums, arrearage management programs, expanded outreach for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and the implementation of fuel cost-sharing structures to protect ratepayers from volatile fossil fuel prices. Long-term recommendations include adopting totex ratemaking, performance-based regulation, and leveraging Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funds to transition toward a clean energy system.

The Power-Blox project in Vanuatu utilizes a decentralized, self-regulating nano-grid system to overcome the high costs and fragility of traditional mini-grids. By deploying modular solar battery cubes, the project provides electricity to households and critical infrastructure on Lelepa Island, utilizing a prepaid business model operated primarily by women. The initiative aims to scale across 60 islands to support productive uses in fishing and tourism while reducing CO2 emissions.

The document details a project in Cameroon where upOwa deployed 24,715 solar home systems (SHS) to provide first-time electricity access to 117,455 people. Funded by Camco Clean Energy's REPP and other partners with a total of EUR 9,700,000, the initiative utilizes a pay-as-you-go model to overcome high upfront costs. The project has avoided 4,269 tonnes of CO2e and supported 758 micro businesses and 211 essential services, including healthcare facilities that used the power for COVID-19 vaccine storage and respiratory equipment.