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The document discusses the need for lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) and low-income countries (LICs) to optimize their limited public spending on food and agriculture. It highlights that many sub-Saharan African nations fail to meet the Maputo goal of allocating 10% of national budgets to these sectors and often employ trade policies that implicitly penalize farmers to protect poor consumers. To address this, the FAO's Policy Monitoring and Analysis of Food and Agriculture (SAPAA) program uses a Pareto-optimality tool to help governments reallocate budgets across measures such as irrigation, seed subsidies, and rural electrification. A study of six sub-Saharan African countries (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Uganda) suggests that optimizing budgets for 2025-2030 could create nearly one million non-farm rural jobs, lift 2.8 million people out of poverty, and enable 16 million more people to afford a healthy diet by 2030 without increasing total spending.

The SRVALI project aims to address acute water scarcity and energy deficits in Southern Iraq. It proposes converting 68 km of open irrigation canals to closed piped systems, installing 1 MWp of solar photovoltaic systems on canals to power water pumps, and training 10,000 farmers in climate-resilient agriculture. The project also focuses on empowering women through a 'Climate Wise Women' cadre and developing national strategies for water allocation and rural solar electrification.

The Power Decarbonization Funding Tracker lists various US federal incentives for power sector decarbonization. It categorizes funding into three sectors: Transmission and Electric Grid, which includes the $10.5 billion Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program and the $2.5 billion Transmission Facilitation Program; Clean Firm, featuring the $6 billion Civil Nuclear Credit Program and $2.5 billion for the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program; and Rural Electrification, highlighted by the $9.7 billion Empowering Rural America (New ERA) Program and the $2.025 billion Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). Additionally, it identifies key tax credits for clean electricity production, investment, and carbon sequestration.

Hamara Grid is implementing a PPPP model in Mon district, Nagaland, to deploy solar mini-grids (30 kWp to 45 kWp) as a solution to the poor reliability of the national grid. The project integrates energy access with livelihoods, health, and education, utilizing a blended finance structure of grants, debt, and equity. As of August 2023, six mini-grids are operational, with a target of 50 villages by June 2025. Key findings highlight the importance of incubating energy-based livelihoods to accelerate energy utilization and the strategic prioritization of larger villages to reach commercial viability faster.

The report advocates for 'Just Resilience' in Bangladesh, combining climate resilience with climate justice to prevent marginalized groups from being overlooked in adaptation planning. It examines the disproportionate impacts of climate hazards—such as salinity intrusion affecting 53% of coastal areas and erratic rainfall causing floods—on women, children, the elderly, and landless farmers. The document analyzes three key sectors: agriculture, where it highlights the need for climate-resilient crops and the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100; disaster risk management, focusing on the National Plan for Disaster Management 2021–2025; and energy, noting the low share of renewables (2.76%) and the need for rural energy security. It concludes with recommendations for inclusive decision-making, standardized accountability metrics, and the use of biotechnology and indigenous knowledge to build equitable resilience.

This Request for Proposal (RFP), issued by the GreenCape Sector Development Agency on 21 November 2023, seeks partners to provide renewable energy services to the Nomzamo Agricultural Village in Mpumalanga. The project aims to deliver sustainable energy to at least 300 households, establish an independent operations and maintenance (O&M) business, and create local jobs and skills.

The report analyzes the job creation potential of decentralized renewable energy (DRE) in Ghana and Senegal. It introduces a 'job factor' to quantify direct employment per kWc installed and finds that with forward-looking policies, both countries could create over 20,000 direct DRE jobs by 2030. The study highlights the role of DRE in formalizing the informal economy and empowering women and youth, while recommending the removal of import duties and the implementation of targeted training programs to address skilled labor shortages.

The report assesses the direct job creation potential of decentralised renewable energy (DRE) in Ghana and Senegal, finding that both countries could create over 20,000 direct jobs by 2030 under forward-leaning policy scenarios. It introduces an 'Employment Factor' to quantify jobs per kWp installed and highlights the role of DRE in formalising employment for women and youth in rural areas.

A fact sheet by the Alliance for Renewable Electrification (ARE) and Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) highlighting the potential for decentralized renewable energy (DRE) to create over 40,000 direct jobs in Ghana and Senegal by 2030. It emphasizes that DRE creates more jobs than fossil fuels or large-scale renewables and provides a pathway to formal employment for women, youth, and informal workers. The document outlines policy recommendations for West African governments, including VAT exemptions for equipment, carbon finance exploration, and gender-inclusive energy policies.

The document highlights the potential for decentralised renewable energy (DRE) to create significant employment in West Africa, projecting that Ghana and Senegal could create over 40,000 direct DRE jobs by 2030 with appropriate policy measures. It emphasizes that DRE generates more direct jobs than utility-scale renewables and creates numerous derived jobs in agriculture and local businesses. To achieve this, the authors recommend a series of governance, financial, and social interventions, including VAT exemptions for equipment, the establishment of dedicated rural electrification agencies, and targeted training for women and youth.

H2 Energy Sdn Bhd installed a 2.88 kWp solar-powered hydrogen system at the Long Loyang Clinic in Sarawak on 8 August 2022. The system provides 24/7 electricity for essential medical equipment and refrigeration, replacing a costly and irregular diesel-based supply. The project is estimated to benefit 2,172 people indirectly and avoid 6 tonnes of CO2 annually. H2 Energy is exploring further scalable applications for rural clinics, schools, and settlements in Malaysia, Australia, and Cambodia.

The University of Southampton installed two 13.5 kWp PV-battery mini-grids in rural Uganda to replace kerosene and diesel power. While the project successfully connected over 144 businesses, two health centres, and two schools, rapid demand growth eventually exceeded design capacity, leading to battery failure and blackouts. Future upgrades involving lithium-ion batteries and diesel backup are planned in collaboration with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).

The case study describes the installation of an off-grid solar photovoltaic system in the village of Ned, Datal Bonglangon, in South Cotabato, Philippines. Supported by the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center and Friends of the Earth International, the project provides essential lighting to 46 of 60 planned households and a community charging station. The initiative is framed as a move toward energy sovereignty for the T’boli-Manobo people, who face threats from industrial coffee plantations and proposed coal power plants, and as a model for low-carbon development in remote areas.

GDS International is implementing a solar mini-grid project in Benin with a capacity of 1.7 to 3 MW to address rural energy poverty. The project, costing less than 10 million EUR and partially funded by the Off-Grid Clean Energy Facility (OCEF), aims to serve up to 6,000 households and 2,400 productive activities over 20 years while promoting local economic development and gender-inclusive employment.

The document identifies decentralised renewable energy (DRE) as the most cost-effective option for over half of the electricity connections needed by 2030 in emerging markets. To scale this, it proposes three 'building blocks': increasing public investment to leverage private capital, establishing stable political and regulatory frameworks to mitigate investment risks, and creating an enabling environment through capacity building and innovation. The author highlights a partnership with AISER Benin as an example of concrete market development activity.

The project in Malenville, Benin, involves a 450 kWp roof-mounted photovoltaic solar power plant integrated with a Cegasa High Energy Storage solution. The system utilizes lithium LFP batteries with a storage capacity of 484 kWh (672 Vdc) to ensure a reliable power supply for the Juxtaposed Control Stations at the Benin-Niger border post, addressing the challenges of an underdeveloped local grid.

The Clean Energy Mini-Grid Policy Development Guide outlines models for public-private cooperation and the key policy decisions required to scale mini-grid deployment for universal electricity access. It emphasizes that government decisions directly influence the level of private sector involvement and highlights the inherent trade-offs between government control, subsidies, and consumer tariffs. The guide also stresses the need for demand risk mitigation instruments and the consideration of termination risks in rural electrification frameworks.

The report analyzes the mini-grid sectors in Sierra Leone and Nigeria, focusing on regulatory frameworks, tariff structures, subsidies, and the productive use of energy (PUE). It highlights that while Sierra Leone has established a regulatory framework, its market is nascent and characterized by a top-down, donor-funded approach, whereas Nigeria has a more mature, private-sector-led market. Key findings emphasize the need for Sierra Leone to shift toward a bottom-up approach, implement results-based financing (RBF), and integrate PUE to improve the commercial viability of mini-grids and reduce end-user tariffs.

The report assesses the mini-grid sectors in Sierra Leone and Nigeria, focusing on regulatory frameworks, tariffs, subsidies, and productive use of electricity (PUE). It highlights that Sierra Leone's mini-grid tariffs (averaging USD 0.79/kWh) are higher than Nigeria's (averaging USD 0.58/kWh) due to differences in market scale, planning approaches, and household income. The document recommends that Sierra Leone adopt a long-term national strategy, streamline import duty exemptions, and implement a hybrid up-front cash grant/results-based financing (RBF) subsidy scheme to lower costs and attract private investment.

The Totota Electric Cooperative (TEC) in rural Liberia, established in 2018 through a partnership between NRECA International and USAID/Liberia, has achieved financial self-sufficiency within two years. The utility utilizes a solar hybrid mini-grid to provide electricity to over 1,500 people across 341 households and businesses, supporting local economic growth through services like cold storage. To improve operational efficiency and monitoring, NRECA International developed the 'TEC Dashboard,' an automated web-based platform that tracks key performance indicators such as energy use, power outages, and bill payments in real time, replacing cumbersome manual data collection.