As part of preparations for EEP Phase III the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) in association with the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) have commissioned and published a market landscape study on renewable energy, covering the current 13 EEP S&EA countries as well as Malawi and Zimbabwe. The report highlight’s EEP’s unique value in a combination of flexibility, much needed early stage financing, knowledge exchange and investor networking.
The study reviews the current status of energy access in the EEP S&EA region and analyses the sector’s challenges and opportunities related to institutional framework, technology and stakeholders, particularly reflecting on the needs of private sector actors in the off-grid markets. The report reveals that there is a great need for mechanisms such as EEP due to the substantial funding gap for mini-grid and off-grid technologies as well as for clean cooking technology. To support this, a clear message from the EEP project developers is that the greatest obstacle they face is access to finance.
Fast growth rates of solar market particularly in East Africa demonstrate that major opportunities in renewable energy business exist. In terms of different sectors and technologies, the potential of biogas and small-scale wind farms is particularly highlighted in the report. The report also calls for more serious recognition of energy efficiency issues and upscaling of quality cookstove manufacturing in order to effectively improve the access to clean cooking.
The importance of introducing renewable sources in the energy mix is commonly acknowledged as the rural electrification rates across Africa remain very low. However, the sparse population with limited purchase power causes reluctance from companies with market-based approach to expand to rural areas and anchor loads or subsidies to households are needed until the critical mass is reached.
Please find here the three components of the study: Volume I) Full Report of the Market Landscape Study; Volume II) Country Profiles and Stakeholder Maps for the 15 Southern and East African countries included in the study; and Volume III) Energy Sector Donor Mapping. Feel free to distribute this report with your relevant contacts and please share your thoughts about these topics on our social media channels.