Reeep Annual
Report 2022
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20 YEARS of REEEP

REEEP annual
report 2022

About Reeep

REEEP was established in 2002 as an international multilateral partnership to accelerate the uptake of clean energy technologies in developing and emerging markets, promote modern energy access, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and support low-carbon development.
For over twenty years, REEEP has been a driving force in the global energy transition by accelerating reliable and affordable clean energy solutions in low- and middle-income countries. We mobilise financing to build dynamic, sustainable markets and ultimately make clean energy technology accessible and affordable for peri-urban and rural populations, down to the very last mile. Through a combination of financial instruments, capacity building, facilitation of stakeholder cooperation and technical assistance, REEEP’s programmes fill financing and knowledge gaps and drive private sector investment, enabling frontier markets to thrive. We work closely with stakeholders across the public and private sectors to ensure holistic programme design and implementation are rooted in local needs, decreasing risk in clean energy investment to create long-lasting ecosystem change.
200+
projects supported
56
countries
Our unique approach hinges on extensive on-the-ground experience and the agility and expertise of our small team, which can innovate, adapt and design at a speed and flexibility unmatched by larger organisations. REEEP is a pathfinder: we identify market needs to develop and implement groundbreaking programmes which build up and strengthen local markets which, once proven, can be scaled up and replicated in multiple markets. For example, the Ashden and UN Global Climate Action Award-winning Beyond the Grid Fund for Zambia (BGFZ) has successfully connected over one million Zambians to affordable, reliable off-grid energy access. The programme has now been expanded into the Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA), which aims to connect 6.5 million people in six sub-Saharan African countries by 2028.

A MOON employee holds the hands of two young boys getting light for the first time in their village in Sansaba, Senegal.

We support global efforts under the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with a focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all and taking action to combat climate change and improve resilience. Our work also contributes to achieving food security, reducing damage to the environment, ending poverty, achieving gender equality and facilitating decent work and economic growth where it is most needed.

REEEP’s focus lies in advancing clean energy solutions for off-grid and distributed small-scale power as well as promoting the productive use of clean energy within agri-food value chains. Our mandate is global, with a current focus on low- and lower-middle-income countries across sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia.

REEEP is a co-hosting and implementation partner for two large programmes: The Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA), which incentivises off-grid energy service companies to accelerate access to affordable clean energy, and the Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN), which provides project preparation support and investment facilitation for clean energy and climate adaptation businesses. We also provide first-loss loan reserves and green lending capacity building to local financial institutions to extend affordable local currency finance for energy access, productive uses, small-scale renewables and energy efficiency investments through two innovative financing facilities – the Austria Nepal Blended Finance Facility supporting clean energy projects in Nepal and the Southern African Renewable Energy Investment and Growth Programme (SOARING), which channels climate finance towards clean energy businesses targeting productive use technologies leveraging solar in Tanzania and Zambia.

REEEP’s strength lies in our broad global network of experts and partners. In all our programmes, we work on multiple levels, facilitating cooperation between governments, international organisations, the private sector, SMEs, civil society and local stakeholders. These partnerships are built to last far beyond REEEP’s direct engagement and are critical for the realisation of far-reaching, long-term impact on the ground.

A solar panel used to power solar water pumps by Futurepump in Kenya, supported by REEEP’s 10th call. Credit: Futurepump

Foreword

author
Leonore Gewessler
Federal Minister for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology of Austria

 

Just 10 years before REEEP’s founding, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted to address the global issue of climate change. This historic policy framework agreement put the emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, facilitating global adaptation to the impacts of climate change and promoting sustainable development.

Mango harvest in Cambodia by farmers supported by the the Clean Energy Revolving Fund (CERF), which offered access to finance to small enterprises in the agrifood sector looking to invest in clean energy technologies. Credit: CERF

In Austria and around the globe, everyone has a stake in sustainable thinking and action.

Since then, Austria has been actively engaged in advancing the goals of the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, which introduced a binding worldwide agreement on climate change to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C. It also recognised climate change adaptation as an equally important objective as mitigation, a stance we have held and pursued since the early 2010s. To this end, Austria was one of the first EU Member States to put forward a comprehensive strategy for climate change adaptation, aimed at mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change on the environment, society and the economy, and we are on a decarbonisation path towards becoming climate-neutral by 2040.

Our collective future relies on the efforts of everyone from governments, academia and NGOs to lead the way, to SMEs and each individual to act sustainably in the race to combat climate change. To further define what is required, the international community achieved a significant milestone with the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda. These goals serve as a universal guide for sustainable living on our planet, while also ensuring that ‘’no one is left behind’’, a policy institutionally safeguarded in Austria.

A smallholder farmer using low-pressure drip irrigation in Nicaragua from iDEal Tecnologias, supported by REEEP’s 10th call. Credit: iDEal

Reaching these goals wouldn’t be possible without organisations like REEEP, which we have supported since 2003, as part of our commitment to combating climate change. For twenty years, REEEP has played an important and independent role, together with Austria, to facilitate change in the developing world and catalyse long-lasting market development.

Energy access and energy security are critical components to the success of these aforementioned agreements – access to a diversified supply of clean, affordable and reliable energy is essential for socio-economic development, poverty eradication and improving quality of life, especially in the countries of the Global South where REEEP works. The UN Climate Change Conference is an excellent barometer of the primary concerns of the global sustainability community, and as evidenced in the discussions at COP27, energy, food security and increasing resilience to climate-related challenges are high on the list of priorities.

 

 

REEEP’S FOCUS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Affordable and Clean Energy
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Climate Action
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

ADDITIONAL GOALS

No Poverty
End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Zero Hunger
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
Gender Equality
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Decent work and economic growth
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Reduced Inequalities
Leadership workshops and specialized training, fit for purpose green product design.
Responsible Consumption and Production
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Partnerships for the Goals
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

REEEP’s Story

2002
The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) is founded at the Johannesburg World Summit for Sustainable Development as an international multilateral partnership for sustainable development whose mission is to advance market readiness for clean energy and energy access in developing markets.
2003
A total of 48 projects are funded in the First and Second Programme Cycles, managed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Global Opportunities Fund under the REEEP banner from October 2003 – March 2005.
2004
Establishment of International Secretariat, hosted by UNIDO at the Vienna International Centre in Austria.
2005
The Third REEEP Programme Cycle announces €1.1 million in funding for 18 projects.
2006
In the Fourth and Fifth Programme Cycles, 28 projects are funded with €2.2 million.
REEEP, working in cooperation with REN21, establishes reegle as a clean energy information portal presenting detailed country energy profiles for all countries.

reegle drew on primary data gathering through REEEP, as well as a wide range of open data sources from the World Bank and UN Foundation through OpenEI to the CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia. Also incorporating a clean energy search function amongst a curated selection of trustworthy sources, it was broadly used throughout the world, with 220,000 individual users per month at its peak.

2007
The Sixth Programme Cycle distributes €3.2 million for 35 clean energy projects.
2009
The Seventh Programme Cycle offers €4.3 million in funding to 48 low-carbon energy projects.
2011
The Eighth Programme Cycle allocates €3.6 million to 26 low-carbon energy projects.

REEEP promoted the take-up of open data and data sharing across the clean energy sector, running a series of workshops in Europe, the USA, the Middle East and Southeast Asia for governments, multilateral development banks, NGOs and civil society, research institutes and academia. REEEP also published two editions of an Open Data handbook, Linked Open Data: The Essentials, in partnership with the Semantic Web Company.

2012
REEEP reaches a total of 400 partners, including 45 national governments; the clean energy portal reegle exceeds 220,000 users monthly.
REEEP celebrates a decade of success including supporting more than 150 projects in 57 developing countries and begins the next decade with a strategic refocus on supporting clean energy SMEs in low- and middle-income countries.
2013
REEEP launches its 9th programme call aimed at supporting SMEs offering solutions within the water–energy–food nexus in low- and middle-income countries.
2014
REEEP expands its role in the global knowledge broker community, developing new products and helping create the new Climate Knowledge Brokers Group which expanded collaboration and cooperation between knowledge brokers well beyond the climate and development community to new sectors and fields, helping bridge the gaps that exist between them.
REEEP develops its Climate Tagger toolkit, a growing suite of tools to help organizations better structure and link their data within and across sectors.
REEEP hosts the newly-created CKB Coordination Hub that orchestrates efforts to make the vision of a joined-up information world a reality.

REEEP was a founding member and later operated the coordination hub of the Climate Knowledge Brokers Group, a pioneering community of practice for people and organisations with a brokering role for knowledge relating to climate change. Its members produced lasting products and services including the Climate Knowledge Brokers Manifesto and Climate Tagger. REEEP led the development of Climate Tagger, which automatically scans, labels, sorts and catalogues data and document collections to help knowledge-driven organisations in the climate and development arenas streamline information resources and connect to the wider climate knowledge community.

2015
REEEP receives a grant from The Rockefeller Foundation to study the evidence and lessons learned from the Smart Power for Rural Development (SPRD) programme supporting mini-grids in India and to analyse trends in the market and enabling environment, leading to publication of ‘Scale and Sustainability: Toward a Public-Private Paradigm in Powering India.’
REEEP and SANEDI launch the SWITCH Africa Green project, providing training programmes and direct capacity building to 93 SMEs, which increases awareness, uptake and successful implementation of SCP practices and sustainable energy opportunities in SMEs in agri-food value chains in South Africa.
REEEP and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) team up to massively enhance the Climate Tagger renewable energy-specific vocabulary through the release of the Renewables Tagger.
2016
The Swedish Government and REEEP launch the Power Africa: Beyond the Grid Fund for Zambia (BGFZ), an ambitious new undertaking to bring clean energy access to one million Zambians and accelerate private-sector growth in energy generation and distribution in the country.
Initiated by UNFCCC and CTI in 2006 and managed by ICETT until 2016, the Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN) is now hosted jointly by UNIDO and REEEP.
The Climate Change, Clean Energy and Urban Water in Africa programme, funded by the European Commission, implemented by UNIDO and executed by REEEP, aims to empower South African municipalities to upgrade their water infrastructure with clean energy and energy efficiency solutions, to reduce energy use, costs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and improve service delivery.
2017
REEEP and GIZ carry out a study to identify potential entry points for clean energy cooling solutions in the dairy value chains of India and Kenya. In this follow-up project, Greening India’s Dairy Value Chain, REEEP develops concrete opportunities for furthering clean energy in India’s dairy sector.
2019
The Swedish Government, REEEP and the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) launch the Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA).
REEEP develops a working prototype of an innovative dedicated software system to manage data collection, storage, access, analysis and visualisation called Edison, which is used to verify remotely the deployment of energy services under the results-based financing mechanism of BGFZ.
The Clean Energy Revolving Fund (CERF), managed by Nexus for Development and supported by the Austrian Government, Blue Moon Foundation and REEEP, offers access to finance to small enterprises in the agrifood sector that wish to invest in clean energy technologies. In 2019, the Fund is fully operational and supports a healthy pipeline of renewable energy investments.
REEEP launches the Southern Africa Renewable Energy Investment and Growth Programme (SOARING), a programme designing and implementing a prototype approach to prepare, bundle and structure investments into small- and medium-sized clean energy projects in Zambia and Tanzania.
REEEP launches the Austria-Nepal Renewable Energy Blended Finance Facility, establishing a first of its kind blended finance instrument for small-scale renewable energy projects in Nepal and carries out capacity-building activities.
2021
BGFZ reaches its goal to bring modern energy services to more than one million Zambians.
REEEP and the Rural Electrification Authority of Zambia (REA) sign a memorandum of understanding outlining a joint effort to leverage REEEP’s Edison data platform to monitor and support Zambia’s broader electrification efforts with advanced data collection and analysis.
2022
PFAN reaches the milestone of leveraging USD 3 billion of investment since its inception in 2006.
The Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa programme signs its first projects with off-grid energy service companies in Burkina Faso, Liberia, Uganda and Zambia and expands to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
REEEP’s SOARING programme kicks off outward facing operations with its first workshops on ”Financing Renewable Energy Technologies’’ for SMEs in Tanzania and Zambia.

20 years of REEEP

Creating long-lasting shift in clean energy markets
  1. REEEP has a long track record of success in policy development, managing funds for 10 global calls as a multi-donor financing channel and directly supporting more than 200 projects worldwide.
  2. The Beyond the Grid Fund for Zambia won the 2019 Ashden Award in the category of “Innovative Finance”, a 2019 Momentum for Change UN Global Climate Action Award and the 2020 Energy Globe Prize for Zambia, and reached its goal to connect over one million Zambians to affordable energy access in 2022.
  3. In the mid-2000s, REEEP’s contribution to strategic developments in clean energy policy was instrumental in kick starting major policy shifts in the BRICS countries – such as wind power in Brazil and solar PV in China – that are still shaping these economies’ energy policies today.

  4. The innovative Austria-Nepal Renewable Energy Blended Finance Facility established a blended finance instrument for small-scale renewable energy projects, the first green portfolio-based guarantee instrument in the country.
  5. REEEP’s 2015-2017 investment portfolio ”Powering Agrifood Value Chains” was a forerunner in supporting the water-food-energy nexus, comprised of eight high-potential SMEs active in Asia, Eastern Africa and Central America.
  6. The Private Financing Advisory Network, co-hosted by REEEP and UNIDO has leveraged over USD 3 billion in investment for climate and clean energy by over 1300 PFAN-supported projects and businesses.
  7. REEEP co-created and ran the Sustainable Energy Regulators Network (SERN) from 2006-2014, a deeply influential network which guided government institutions charged with clean energy development in knowledge exchange with regulators to create stable policy and regulatory mechanisms, helping to grow the clean energy market.
  8. REEEP’s design and implementation of the Beyond the Grid Fund for Zambia served as the successful pilot of the Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa, which is now a EUR 126 million programme active in six sub-Saharan countries with the aim to connect 6.5 million people to affordable energy access by 2028.

Past Projects & Programmes

Over the past twenty years, REEEP has supported hundreds
of projects in the climate and clean energy sector
A few highlights from our portfolio:
Empowerment through a women’s clean energy co-operative in India
  • Project
  • Video
Empowerment through a women’s clean energy co-operative in India
Establishing a women’s energy co-operative as an independent energy services provider
read more
Solar Irrigation in Kenya
  • Project
Solar Irrigation in Kenya
Enabling smallholder farmers in Kenya to adopt sustainable irrigation solutions
read more
Innovative Clean Energy Finance for Cambodian Farmers
  • Project
Innovative Clean Energy Finance for Cambodian Farmers
An innovative blended finance approach which provided affordable loans to Cambodian farmers to purchase clean energy technology
read more
Financing Energy Efficient Street Lighting in India
  • Project
  • Video
Financing Energy Efficient Street Lighting in India
Reducing the energy consumption of the street lighting network in the cities of Madhya Pradesh.
read more
RETScreen Expert – Decision Intelligence Software Platform
  • Project
  • Video
RETScreen Expert – Decision Intelligence Software Platform
The RETScreen Clean Energy Management Software platform is the world’s leading clean energy decision-making tool, enabling low-carbon planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting.
read more
Hotel sector energy efficiency in Fiji
  • Project
  • Video
Hotel sector energy efficiency in Fiji
Developing a structured marketplace for energy efficiency and renewable energy services and technologies tailored to Fiji’s hotel and resort sector.
read more
Climate Change, Clean Energy and Urban Water in South Africa
  • Project
  • Video
Climate Change, Clean Energy and Urban Water in South Africa
Empowering municipalities to build capacity, identify appropriate interventions, access finance and deploy clean energy technologies and systems in their water infrastructure.
read more

HOW REEEP WORKS

REEEP’S MARKET DEVELOPMENT APPROACH

 

In the 20 years since REEEP was launched, we have gained deep experience and understanding of market development, evolving a unique approach to achieving catalytic impact.

We design and implement holistic market actions to address barriers, tailoring programmes to the prevailing market conditions and stage of market maturity, using proven tools or creating new ones where none exist.

Working with small and medium enterprises (SMEs), REEEP facilitates the adoption at scale of clean energy solutions where the technology is proven through pilot demonstrations or prior successful deployment in different countries, and questions of product/market fit have substantially been addressed. We support SMEs as they refine and prove out business models and deploy at scale, design programmes making effective use of public (donor) finance to support the sector during wider rollout, and ensure private financing is available to sustain market growth as public support is reduced and eventually withdrawn. We simultaneously prepare the ground for larger-scale multi-country programmes based on these successful market engagements.

Our actions are primarily supply side measures, whilst keeping a strong focus on demand side energy needs and the sustainability of the market. Detailed market scoping is conducted to understand market and community needs and the potential to address suppressed demand through support and de-risking measures for SMEs as well as improvement of market conditions. In all cases when selecting companies for support, we ensure they have a coherent understanding of the market and demand, market-appropriate models and solutions, capacity to implement and appropriate plans for marketing and awareness-raising. We insist on high-quality standards, as well as means to advance gender equality across their operations and impact on the market.

Securing suitable finances represents one of the key barriers to clean energy SMEs – in frontier markets too many fail in the so-called “valley of death” between seed funding and scale – so one of our functions is to design public and private financial instruments. An enabling environment is also essential, so we work with governments and other key stakeholders on relevant policy and regulation. Furthermore, we collect and disseminate market intelligence so that public and private stakeholders are better informed in decision-making. Furthermore, we collect and disseminate market intelligence so that public and private stakeholders are better informed in decision-making. In addition to its initial importance in removing barriers to market growth, the regulatory role remains vital as those markets grow, ensuring consumer protection and control of pollution from e-waste and allowing strategic planning of national energy systems.

We honed this approach working with our partnership of governments, international organisations, the private sector and civil society as well as research institutes, think tanks and academia. REEEP already has a wide network, and when entering a market, we fill in any gaps by developing intentional relationships with all the right market stakeholders necessary to remove barriers to growth.

This holistic perspective, with no vested interests and taking into account the needs of all stakeholders, befits our status as a not-for-profit Quasi-International Organisation (QuIO). Combined with a speed of response impossible for larger organisations, it sets REEEP apart from the field.

 

Our key levers to advance overall market development are:

  1. to design public (donor)-funded financial instruments leveraging private finance
  2. to structure private financial instruments to ensure availability of adapted and affordable private finance
  3. to support a cohort of SMEs to refine their business models and accelerate deployment at scale
  4. to support SMEs in accessing private finance locally and on international markets
  5. to support a suitable enabling environment, working with governments and targeted key stakeholders on policy and regulation
  6. to collect and disseminate market intelligence so public and private stakeholders are better informed in decision-making

Focus Countries and Regions

 

REEEP applies our approach to market development flexibly and can adapt it rapidly to different countries – we are currently active in Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Liberia, Nepal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. It also suits different clean energy solutions (market sectors) and allows us to respond to market shifts.

Within these regions, we work where we encounter specific interest, committed partners, and tangible opportunities. We focus on low- and middle-income countries as defined by the World Bank, with a per capita GDP of up to USD 4,000. Exceptions can be made when a country has, for instance, the function of a trailblazer in the region.

Furthermore, through the Private Financing Advisory Network we are active in low- and middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Central America and the Caribbean Islands.

map

FOCUS SECTORS

Rural electrification and energy access are high priorities for REEEP: some 675 million people still lack access to electricity. We are increasing our focus on productive uses of renewable energy (PURE), particularly in agri-food value chains, which provide livelihoods for the majority of people in rural areas of many African and Asian countries. Off-grid clean energy solutions can contribute to increased production through solutions such as solar irrigation as well as reduced food loss and waste, for example through cooling and processing solutions which extend the life span of agricultural yields. Mini-grids can support these more intensive energy uses, as well as supplying domestic clean energy, and we look to support innovative ways to unlock demand.

We are continuously exploring potential areas of expansion where our market development approach can be applied successfully to drive transformative change. E-mobility is one such area, with increasing options to implement electric transport solutions for smaller vehicles such as two- and three-wheelers, or electric boats for fishing communities, including ancillary services necessary to grow markets such as battery swaps and establishing recharging stations.

As the world continues to warm, adverse impacts increase and risks escalate for vulnerable communities, ecosystems and infrastructure. REEEP is evaluating further ways to support climate adaptation efforts through renewable energy solutions, both by building consideration of adaptation impacts into our work on PURE in agri-food value chains, whilst also researching the potential for a specific future programme on the topic.

Data use to improve decision-making in energy access

 

As with our projects and programmes, REEEP’s role as an innovator, incubator and trusted partner extends to our work with data. We developed the Edison platform to monitor the Beyond the Grid Fund for Zambia (BGFZ), making it possible for the first time for a results-based funding programme to accurately monitor the sustainability of every single electricity connection for which a subsidy is provided. This unique insight into the impact of the programme prompted SIDA, the funder of BGFZ, to provide additional grant funding to investigate the possibility of other organisations in the energy access sector using Edison.

We carried out a lengthy consultation process with actors in governments and public sector agencies responsible for energy access, as well as programme managers in the development sector, other funders and financiers, AMDA, GOGLA and individual energy service providers/solar distribution companies (ESPs). These discussions led to a pilot programme with the Rural Electrification Authority of Zambia.

REA Zambia is acting as a trailblazer for similar organisations across Africa with its commitment to take full advantage of modern data collection, analysis and visualisation across all the activities under its auspices, both on and off-grid. Together with our counterparts in the REA IT team we carried out a detailed scoping exercise on how data can improve decision-making across the whole organisation, including engineering services, monitoring and evaluation, economics, as well as the programme management team for the World Bank financed Electricity Service Access Project (ESAP).

Following this success – and growing interest in the platform across the sector – REEEP has now transferred the data platform to a new collaboration that is better placed to support its rapid expansion. The Access to Energy Institute (A2EI), a not-for-profit software and hardware research and development institute based in Berlin, is now chiefly responsible for software engineering, combining Edison with its own existing platform CLIPP into: Prospect, the Primary Open Source Platform for Energy and Climate Tracking. A2EI works in collaboration with the Global Energy Transition Programme’s GET.invest pillar, operated by the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), with GET.invest taking the lead on promotion and development of the Prospect initiative – data use and open data collaboration across the energy access sector.

REEEP will continue to use Prospect to inform its delivery of technical assistance services to ESPs under the Beyond the Grid for Africa (BGFA). And of course, we remain on the lookout via our other programmes for new opportunities where improved data use can accelerate the transition to clean energy, in keeping with our long history of helping partners make better use of data, information and knowledge.

Financial Instruments

As part of our holistic approach to building dynamic, sustainable markets, REEEP designs and implements tailor-made financing and support mechanisms attuned to local market conditions and needs. Through a combination of financial incentives, capacity building, facilitation of stakeholder cooperation and technical assistance, REEEP’s programmes fill financing and knowledge gaps and enable private sector players to operate successfully in frontier markets.

REEEP’s Toolbox

Results-based financing to SMEs
Risk mitigation for financial institutions
Technical assistance to SMEs
Capacity building for financial institutions
Stakeholder engagement (Country Platforms for Change)
Facilitation of a market learning effect through collection and aggregation of data
Pipeline origination and development
Local currency enabler

Market transformation

Market transformation is complex and multidimensional. REEEP develops pioneering ways of monitoring, evaluating and learning from its programmes, combining in-depth qualitative information with ground-breaking quantitative data to improve our own and our partners’ understanding of the systems we work in, identifying opportunities and barriers to success and lower risk for market actors. We share the insights and knowledge we gain with government and private sector stakeholders, helping to improve policy and investment decisions. This knowledge also informs the continuous adaptation of our methodologies to build scale within and enable replication of our programmes across markets.

Results-based financing

REEEP develops results-based financing (RBF) schemes that deploy public sector funding as incentives for the private sector to overcome early structural challenges in early-stage markets, incentivise start-up and medium-term scale-up needs of clean energy service providers and create conditions for long-term sustainability as well as leverage private finance and commercial investment. The financing takes place on a grant basis as “free-equity” across multi-year project lifecycles, subject to rigorous monitoring and verification of milestones. The Beyond the Grid for Zambia (2017-2022) and the Beyond the Grid for Africa (2019-to date) are two examples of the effective approach to spurring market activity in nascent markets.

Risk mitigation for financial institutions

REEEP designs and implements first loss reserves to cover local financial institutions’ portfolios of eligible loans, using cash-backed and on-demand guarantees for simple and effective reduction of provisions, credit risk mitigation and to address collateral requirements. For example, the Austria Nepal Blended Finance Facility provides a specialised first loss Credit Guarantee Facility (CGF) of 25% to a fund operated by NMB, our partner Nepalese bank, for loans to renewable energy projects, along with other support to the renewable energy ecosystem. The CGF is a revolving fund, so monies not needing to be drawn by the bank in respect of non-performing loans can be recycled to support future projects after loan maturity.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO SMES

REEEP provides technical assistance on a broad range of challenges that SMEs are facing and that are critical to their success. Through the PFAN programme, project developers receive technical assistance mainly in the areas of business planning, financial modelling, investment structuring and transaction management. Technical assistance in the BGFA and SOARING programmes covers these as well as additional areas such as e-waste policies and action plans, environmental policies and management systems (ESMS), GHG monitoring, gender policies and action plans, consumer protection and satisfaction, procurement and standard operating procedures (SOPs), regulations and licensing, key performance indicators (KPIs), management structure and HR management among other aspects.

CAPACITY BUILDING FOR FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

Capacity building support includes engagement of senior management, improvement of internal processes, policy frameworks and standardised approaches for due diligence and credit analysis which are appropriate for green projects and SMEs. It also includes support to access climate finance as part of the strategic diversification of funding sources of local financial institutions. The SOARING programme provides targeted trainings to participating development and commercial banks as well as microfinance institutions, aiming to build internal risk assessment methodologies for investments in and financing of renewable energy companies/projects and their end users in Tanzania and Zambia. Furthermore, SOARING provides trainings on renewable energy business and delivery models to management level bank and MFI representatives.

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT (COUNTRY PLATFORMS FOR CHANGE)

REEEP aims to support a coordinated improvement of market conditions and enable action-driven discussions to resolve regulatory and policy issues with members from private and public bodies. To that end, REEEP establishes platforms to engage local stakeholders, including representatives of renewable energy associations, rural electrification authorities, financial services regulatory bodies, bankers’ associations, micro-finance associations, etc. In the BGFZ programme (2017 -2022), REEEP facilitated the establishment and the management of the Off-grid Energy Taskforce in Zambia (OGTF), a concept that is now being replicated in all countries of the scale-up BGFA programme.

Facilitation of a market learning effect through collection and aggregation of data

REEEP facilitates a market learning effect through the collection, aggregation and sharing of data contributing to reduction of risks, filling information gaps for the public and private sector and providing evidence for impact and opportunity along with an increased understanding of trends and market characteristics. As part of the BGFZ programme, REEEP established a data-driven monitoring approach which facilitated collection of unique data on energy access in a newly established sector in a nascent market as well as leveraged the experience of the portfolio of off-grid energy service providers towards policy improvements, planning of additional market supporting efforts and leveraging private finance.

Pipeline origination and development

Through a variety of programmes, REEEP supports SMEs in early-stage sectors and markets helping to mature the private sector base offering investment opportunities. As part of our programmes, REEEP provides support to fulfil due diligence requirements, loan application documentation and post-disbursement monitoring and financial advisory services among other potential support required to secure finance.

Local currency enabler

REEEP is currently working on a solution to solve the exchange risk problem within local markets. Our goal is to provide local currency hedging that would otherwise not be available to lenders and that would support the borrowers in terms of exchange risk protected lending. The hedging facility would reduce the risk of possible upside of interest rates when borrowing in hard currency (e.g. in EUR or USD).

Current programmes and projects

Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa
  • Programme
Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa
Bringing clean, affordable, off-grid energy access to millions.
read more
Beyond the Grid Fund for Zambia
  • Project
  • Video
Beyond the Grid Fund for Zambia
The Beyond the Grid Fund for Zambia (BGFZ) reached its successful conclusion – the delivery of energy service subscriptions to over 1 million Zambians.
read more
The Private Financing Advisory Network
  • Programme
  • Video
The Private Financing Advisory Network
The Private Financing Advisory Network is a global network of locally based climate and clean energy finance experts which offers free business coaching and investment facilitation to entrepreneurs developing climate and clean energy projects in low and middle-income countries.
read more
Southern African Renewable Energy Investment and Growth Programme (SOARING)
  • Project
Southern African Renewable Energy Investment and Growth Programme (SOARING)
read more
Austria-Nepal Renewable Energy Blended Finance Facility
  • Project
Austria-Nepal Renewable Energy Blended Finance Facility
Combining an innovative blended finance instrument with capacity-building activities for renewable energy projects
read more

Strategy and direction

An off-grid home using VITALITE solar home systems in in Kafue, Zambia.

Credit: Jason J Mulikita

Urgent need for scaling up climate finance

The clean energy transition is well underway, but it is still not progressing fast enough to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and the SDG. So whilst we are celebrating the 20 years of market development experience in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America we have achieved, as we look towards the future we prepare to redouble our efforts.

A picker on a longan farm in Battambang province, Cambodia, which is irrigated through a solar pumping installation purchased with a Clean Energy Revolving Fund loan.

Credit: Jeremy Meek

Rural Electrification

Rural electrification and clean energy access have been at the heart of REEEP’s recent work and will remain a priority. Our efforts have contributed to the rapid development of Solar Home System (SHS) markets in off-grid areas, bringing about economic development, social empowerment and improved quality of life.

As communities aim to move up the energy ladder, mini-grids, which are capable of supporting more intensive energy use, as well as standalone productive uses of renewable energy (PURE), come into focus.

The municipality of Belaoko Lokoho in Madagascar, where PFAN-supported project has mobilised finance to build a hydropower plant.

Credit: Photomap

Productive use of renewable energy in agrifood value chains

Productive use of renewable energy (PURE) offers the opportunity to lock in low GHG emission development pathways for the Global South, improving lives and livelihoods and building resilience to future shocks. In rural areas in many African and Asian countries, the majority of people make their living from agriculture and related enterprises. Much of the energy used in these value chains is still supplied by manual labour, and in cases where electrical appliances are available, they often run on imported and increasingly expensive fossil fuels or depend on an unreliable national grid. Domestic agricultural yields are impacted by climate change while populations, as well as demand for food, are growing.

Off-grid clean energy solutions have proven to be effective in rural agricultural settings, contributing to increased domestic production and reduced food loss and waste, for example through cooling solutions extending the life span of agricultural yields. Building upon our solid experience within the energy/food nexus, REEEP has designed our 11th Programmatic Call with the productive use of energy at the forefront. Through it, we aim to build sustainable markets for clean energy use in agricultural value chains including on-farm needs such as irrigation, downstream storage (cooling) and processing solutions. The programme – ready to be launched in late 2023 – will leverage REEEP’s toolbox in a holistic way to increase the adoption of clean energy for productive use in the agri-food sector, engage with policymakers and activate financial institutions to foster market growth.

REEEP’s key areas

REEEP strives to actively engage in markets and sectors where we can make a significant lasting impact, leveraging our expertise and collaborative networks. We are continuously exploring potential areas of expansion where our market development approach can be applied successfully to drive transformative change.

Mini-grids

REEEP has been supporting the development of markets for mini-grids through the Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa, with funding windows for mini/micro-grids in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia. As the sector continues to scale in sub-Saharan Africa, mini-grid developers still face multiple challenges. High upfront costs remain a problem, along with the cost and frequency of equipment replacement, particularly batteries, when set against current low demand levels and therefore revenues. Issues to be resolved also include the lack of long-term private financing options that are willing to treat mini-grids as infrastructure. REEEP sees the potential for business model innovation and is actively developing approaches to unlock demand, increasing the commercial viability of mini-grids.

Climate adaptation

Climate adaptation efforts are crucial to safeguard vulnerable communities, ecosystems and infrastructure from the escalating risks and adverse impacts of climate change, and the importance of these efforts is being increasingly recognised at the international and national levels. The majority of clean energy applications are traditionally seen as mitigation efforts, but renewables also have a significant role to play in climate adaptation by, for example, enhancing energy resilience, powering desalination and irrigation and providing clean cooling solutions in the face of rising temperatures and frequent heatwaves.

By facilitating access to decentralised clean energy services – which are more reliable than the grid – REEEP’s programmes contribute to strengthening the resilience of electricity infrastructure to extreme weather events. For example, the Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN) has been originating climate adaptation projects and providing them with business coaching and investment facilitation since 2014. During last year’s COP28 in Egypt, we showcased three of these projects and hosted a lively discussion around the topic. As we move forward, REEEP is evaluating further ways to support climate adaptation efforts through renewable energy solutions, both by building consideration of adaptation impacts into our 11th Programmatic Call, whilst also researching the potential for a specific future programme on the topic.

E-mobility

Clean transport is high on the international development agenda, particularly in light of the pollution crises in many major cities. In addition to contributing to the decarbonization of the economy, e-mobility also provides other benefits, for example making transportation more accessible to low-income communities. In rural areas, affordable electric motorcycles coupled with solar photovoltaic systems can lessen the reliance on costly or difficult-to-obtain gasoline, improve accessibility to markets and address first and/or last-mile travel challenges associated with using public transit. Given our extensive expertise in market development, REEEP is well-equipped to support SMEs in implementing electric transport solutions for smaller vehicles such as two- and three-wheelers, or electric boats for fishing communities, including ancillary services necessary to grow markets such as battery swaps and establishing recharging stations.

Events in 2022

  • 14 June 2022
  • Organised by Asian Development Bank
Eva Kelly, REEEP’s CEO, presented ”Blended Finance for Upscaling Clean Energy in Nepal”.
  • 22 June 2022
  • Organised by ICF Institutional Capital Forum
Dusko Stjepanovic, REEEP’s Head of Green Banking, particpated in the Panel: “How will Decarbonisation and the Climate Change Agenda Impact Infrastructure?)
  • 18-20 October 2022
  • Organised by GOGLA
Merja Laasko, REEEP’s Head of Programme, Southern Africa for BGFA, spoke at the Country Sessions on DRC and Liberia.
  • 9 November 2022
  • Organised by UNIDO and REEEP
REEEP co-organised an evening event on the sidelines of COP27 on PFAN’s role in scaling up adaptation finance.
  • 11 November 2022
  • Organised by REEEP, SNV and WWF
REEEP co-organised and participated in the discussion on climate adaptation and how to strengthen resilience in energy and food systems in an official UNFCCC COP27 side event.
  • 12 November 2022
  • Organised by REEEP, Efficiency for Access, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Global Resilience Partnership and World Economic Forum
REEEP co-organised and participated in the session which higlighted key examples of technical, social and financial solutions that are already available, and how they might help us mitigate and adapt to climate change, enabling the discussion on the challenges and opportunities posed by these innovations in reaching scale.

REEEP Governing
Board Members

REEEP’s Governing Board is responsible for the conduct of business in accordance with REEEP Statutes, and holds office for a period of four years. The Governing Board develops and oversees key strategic direction, targets, timeframes and priorities; prepares financial rules and accounting systems; and guides the operations of REEEP’s International Secretariat.

Members

Martijn Wilder
Individual Member | Pollination
position: Chair
Silke Krawietz
Individual Member | SETA Network
position: Vice-Chair
Elfriede Anna More
Institutional Member | Austrian Government
position: Rapporteur
Mark Fogarty
Individual Member | First Energy Asia
position: Treasurer
Christine Eibs Singer
Individual Member | Senior Energy Access Advisor
Tareq Emtairah
Institutional Member | UNIDO
Arab Hoballah
Individual Member | SEED
Mark Lambrides
Individual Member | Organization of American States
Greg Murray
Individual Member | KOKO Networks
Twarath Sutabutr
Individual Member | Office of Knowledge Management and Development, Thailand

Our Donors

REEEP’s work is made possible by generous donors who share our strong belief in clean energy markets for climate smart growth. REEEP and the programmes we work on are funded primarily by sovereign governments, multilateral and international organizations.

Austria – BMK
The Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK) funds REEEP and the Austria-Nepal Blended Finance Project.
Austria – BMAW
The Austrian Ministy for Labour and Economy (BMAW) funds the Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN).
Australia
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) funds the Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN).
Denmark
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark funds the Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA).
Germany – BMU
The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) funds the Southern African Renewable Energy Investment and Growth Programme (SOARING) as part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI).
Germany – KfW
The KfW Development Bank funds the Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA).
Norway
The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) funds the Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA) and the Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN).
Sweden
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) funds the Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA), the Beyond the Grid Fund for Zambia (BGFZ) and the Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN).
United States of America – Power Africa
Power Africa funds the Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa (BGFA) and the Beyond the Grid Fund for Zambia (BGFZ).
United States of America – USAID
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funds the Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN).